03-08-2004, 10:25 PM
Tests on roughly 10,000 Minnesota deer killed by hunters last fall have turned up no signs of chronic wasting disease, the Department of Natural Resources reported Thursday.
No wild deer in Minnesota has tested positive for the fatal brain disease.
So far, deer have been tested in more than half of the state's permit areas. The DNR hopes to complete testing in the remaining sampling areas next fall.
CWD is a fatal disease that attacks the brain tissues in deer and elk. Since 2001, the DNR has tested nearly 15,000 wild deer for the disease. CWD was detected in two elk on Minnesota farms in Aitkin and Stearns counties in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
Boosted by high deer numbers and availability of multiple deer tags, hunters killed a record 301,000 deer during the 2003 hunting season, the DNR said. The total, which includes deer killed by firearms, archery and muzzleloader, beats the previous record harvest of 243,000, set in 1992.
In 2002, hunters killed 222,000 deer.
Meanwhile, results from North Dakota's CWD testing effort have not yet come back from the lab. "I expect them sometime this month," said Jacquie Ermer, wildlife disease biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Riverdale, N.D. "At this point, no news is good news."
N.D. reduces elk tags
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is proposing fewer elk licenses this year because of a drop in the elk population.
The department is recommending 201 elk licenses, or 20 fewer than last year, and no second hunting period in the northeastern part of the state. The recommendation has been submitted to Gov. John Hoeven.
Hunters will be able to apply for 135 moose licenses, or six more than last year, if Hoeven approves. A disease problem in the Turtle Mountains' moose population will cut the number of licenses available in that unit, officials said.
The application deadline is March 17.
The bighorn sheep unit north of Interstate 94 will see two licenses instead of three under the department recommendation. One bighorn license is proposed for south of the interstate, an area that has been closed to bighorn hunting since 1999 because of disease problems.
Game and Fish said some areas will stay closed to hunters to protect bighorn sheep transplanted from Oregon.
With the tag raffled by the Minnesota-Wisconsin Chapter of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, the total number of bighorn licenses will stay at four.
Minnesota mulls spinning-wing ban
Minnesota DNR officials, citing impacts on locally breeding ducks, are discussing a new policy that would ban spinning-wing decoys in wildlife management areas and expand restrictions to private waters.
"We don't have a specific proposal yet, but we're trying to get some public comments on the issue," said Ed Boggess, assistant chief of the DNR's wildlife section.
Boggess said the current policy, which bans the use of the decoys during the first one or two weeks of the duck-hunting season on public waters, has been confusing to waterfowlers. He said wildlife officials are discussing applying the ban to all waters - public and private - during the same time period early in the season.
"It would be 'no motorized decoys, period,'" Boggess said.
Another proposal would ban their use in wildlife management areas during the entire waterfowl season. DNR officials say they are concerned that use of the decoys gives an unfair advantage to hunters who use them over hunters who don't.
Boggess added that the agency also is considering giving the DNR commissioner authority to prohibit the decoys in specific areas.
A recent study indicated that the spinning-wing decoys are effective in attracting ducks and lead to an increased number of ducks killed by hunters. DNR officials say the decoys' effectiveness is why they're pursuing new regulations to limit their use. Minnesota is the only state in the Mississippi Flyway with regulations limiting the use of the decoys.
Funding plan proceeds
A Minnesota House committee last week overwhelmingly approved a proposal that would dedicate one quarter of 1 percent of the state's taxable sales to natural resources. The bill, which would generate about $170 million annually, has passed two Senate committees and appears to be gathering steam at the Capitol.
The House version, sponsored by Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, was amended last week to include funding for a walk-in program similar to hunter access programs in other states. Such a program would pay private landowners for access to their lands. The bill passed the House Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee 17-3.
Did you know?
• The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association honored Dana Klos of Thief River Falls with its Presidential Award of Merit on Feb. 21 at the group's annual meeting in Rochester, Minn. A longtime MDHA member, Klos was honored for his hours of volunteer work on behalf of deer and deer Hunting in northwestern Minnesota.
• Local fishing group the Red River Hookers will be featured Tuesday night on Prairie Public Television's "Riverwatch" program. The segment will air at 9:50 p.m. on Grand Forks cable channel 13.
• A House bill that would create Minnesota's first mourning dove season in 50 years has been renewed. The bill is expected to pass the House and stands a good chance of passing the Senate, legislative observers say. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said he would sign the bill.
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No wild deer in Minnesota has tested positive for the fatal brain disease.
So far, deer have been tested in more than half of the state's permit areas. The DNR hopes to complete testing in the remaining sampling areas next fall.
CWD is a fatal disease that attacks the brain tissues in deer and elk. Since 2001, the DNR has tested nearly 15,000 wild deer for the disease. CWD was detected in two elk on Minnesota farms in Aitkin and Stearns counties in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
Boosted by high deer numbers and availability of multiple deer tags, hunters killed a record 301,000 deer during the 2003 hunting season, the DNR said. The total, which includes deer killed by firearms, archery and muzzleloader, beats the previous record harvest of 243,000, set in 1992.
In 2002, hunters killed 222,000 deer.
Meanwhile, results from North Dakota's CWD testing effort have not yet come back from the lab. "I expect them sometime this month," said Jacquie Ermer, wildlife disease biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Riverdale, N.D. "At this point, no news is good news."
N.D. reduces elk tags
The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is proposing fewer elk licenses this year because of a drop in the elk population.
The department is recommending 201 elk licenses, or 20 fewer than last year, and no second hunting period in the northeastern part of the state. The recommendation has been submitted to Gov. John Hoeven.
Hunters will be able to apply for 135 moose licenses, or six more than last year, if Hoeven approves. A disease problem in the Turtle Mountains' moose population will cut the number of licenses available in that unit, officials said.
The application deadline is March 17.
The bighorn sheep unit north of Interstate 94 will see two licenses instead of three under the department recommendation. One bighorn license is proposed for south of the interstate, an area that has been closed to bighorn hunting since 1999 because of disease problems.
Game and Fish said some areas will stay closed to hunters to protect bighorn sheep transplanted from Oregon.
With the tag raffled by the Minnesota-Wisconsin Chapter of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, the total number of bighorn licenses will stay at four.
Minnesota mulls spinning-wing ban
Minnesota DNR officials, citing impacts on locally breeding ducks, are discussing a new policy that would ban spinning-wing decoys in wildlife management areas and expand restrictions to private waters.
"We don't have a specific proposal yet, but we're trying to get some public comments on the issue," said Ed Boggess, assistant chief of the DNR's wildlife section.
Boggess said the current policy, which bans the use of the decoys during the first one or two weeks of the duck-hunting season on public waters, has been confusing to waterfowlers. He said wildlife officials are discussing applying the ban to all waters - public and private - during the same time period early in the season.
"It would be 'no motorized decoys, period,'" Boggess said.
Another proposal would ban their use in wildlife management areas during the entire waterfowl season. DNR officials say they are concerned that use of the decoys gives an unfair advantage to hunters who use them over hunters who don't.
Boggess added that the agency also is considering giving the DNR commissioner authority to prohibit the decoys in specific areas.
A recent study indicated that the spinning-wing decoys are effective in attracting ducks and lead to an increased number of ducks killed by hunters. DNR officials say the decoys' effectiveness is why they're pursuing new regulations to limit their use. Minnesota is the only state in the Mississippi Flyway with regulations limiting the use of the decoys.
Funding plan proceeds
A Minnesota House committee last week overwhelmingly approved a proposal that would dedicate one quarter of 1 percent of the state's taxable sales to natural resources. The bill, which would generate about $170 million annually, has passed two Senate committees and appears to be gathering steam at the Capitol.
The House version, sponsored by Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, was amended last week to include funding for a walk-in program similar to hunter access programs in other states. Such a program would pay private landowners for access to their lands. The bill passed the House Environment and Natural Resources Policy Committee 17-3.
Did you know?
• The Minnesota Deer Hunters Association honored Dana Klos of Thief River Falls with its Presidential Award of Merit on Feb. 21 at the group's annual meeting in Rochester, Minn. A longtime MDHA member, Klos was honored for his hours of volunteer work on behalf of deer and deer Hunting in northwestern Minnesota.
• Local fishing group the Red River Hookers will be featured Tuesday night on Prairie Public Television's "Riverwatch" program. The segment will air at 9:50 p.m. on Grand Forks cable channel 13.
• A House bill that would create Minnesota's first mourning dove season in 50 years has been renewed. The bill is expected to pass the House and stands a good chance of passing the Senate, legislative observers say. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said he would sign the bill.
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