Minnesota Mixed Bag: CWD tests available online for hunters – Outdoor News
CWD TESTS AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR HUNTERS
St. Paul — Hunters may check the Minnesota DNR’s website for chronic wasting disease test results for the deer they’ve harvested. The site also shows statewide CWD test results, summary statistics, and mapped locations of deer that tested positive.
Any additional deer harvested during Minnesota deer seasons that test positive for CWD will be reported on the CWD results page. The DNR also will directly notify any hunter who harvests a deer that tests positive. The DNR relies on hunters’ participation in providing samples to help with disease surveillance and appreciates all those who submitted samples.
BWSR AWARDS $10 MILLION IN CLEAN WATER FUND GRANTS
St. Paul — The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources has approved approximately $10 million in Clean Water Fund grants to improve water quality in streams, lakes, and groundwater across the state. Most of the grant funding is allocated for voluntary conservation projects across Minnesota, including funding for projects that focus on improving and protecting drinking water.
“These grants will equip local governments to work in partnership with landowners across Minnesota to put projects on the ground that protect our valuable water and soil resources,” said BWSR Executive Director John Jaschke.
An example: A Projects and Practices grant will support the Mustinka River rehabilitation project, which will replace the existing ditch with a 300-foot-wide, 260-acre floodplain corridor with a 6.7-mile meandering channel. The project will provide approximately 34 acres of constructed wetland habitat and 226 acres of native upland buffer areas within the stream channel and associated floodplain areas, permanently protected by the Bois de Sioux Watershed District.
The $10 million will fund 32 grants. Visit https://bwsr.state.mn.us for more information.
PROTECT TREES FROM WINTER AND WILDLIFE
St. Paul — Taking proactive measures now can help young yard trees survive winter weather conditions and hungry wildlife, according to the Minnesota DNR.
“Yard trees provide countless benefits to our environment and our well-being. They help clean our air, reduce our electric bills, and enhance our surroundings, to name a few,” said Nikki Henger, the DNR’s Forestry Division outreach specialist. “Supporting our yard trees during the winter months will help set the stage for them to thrive in the summer.”
Here are five things people can do to help care for trees in winter: mulch and water; tidy up around the trees; wrap young trees; add fencing; and talk to a certified arborist about pruning.
Following these winter tree care steps will give trees some extra protection during winter to start strong in the spring growing season. Visit mndnr.gov for more information.
N.D. SPECIAL LOTTERY APP DEADLINE IS JAN. 4
Bismarck, N.D. — Nonprofit organizations eligible to receive big-game hunting licenses in 2024 must have the application submitted to the North Dakota Game and Fish Department no later than Jan. 1.
North Dakota state law provides direction for the G&F director to allocate big-game hunting licenses to eligible organizations. Under this directive, up to two elk, moose, and pronghorn licenses, and 10 white-tailed deer licenses, may be issued to organizations for fundraising.
Successful lottery applicants must agree to donate at least 10% of the net proceeds of any license fundraiser to a conservation-related project, such as hunting access, conservation education, habitat development, or shooting range management.
ANGLERS FIND REMAINS OF WHAT COULD BE SHIP THAT RAN AGROUND DURING 1800S WISCONSIN FIRE
Green Bay, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin archaeologists are crediting a man and daughter with discovering the remains of what could be a ship that ran aground during the deadly Peshtigo Fire more than 150 years ago.
Tim Wollak and his 6-year-old daughter, Henley, of Peshtigo, Wis., were fishing on Lake Michigan in the bay of Green Bay near Green Island in August when their sonar picked up something Henley thought was an octopus, WLUK-TV reported last week.
Wollak posted photos of the sonar images on Facebook, which eventually drew the attention of the Wisconsin Historical Society. The society posted a note earlier this month on Facebook saying an underwater remote vehicle surveyed the site Dec. 4 and confirmed the object is the wreck of a three-masted sailing ship submerged in 8 to 10 feet of water.
Archaeologists believe the ship may be the 122-foot-long George L. Newman. The ship was hauling lumber from Little Suamico on the evening of Oct. 8, 1871, when it became enveloped in thick smoke from the Peshtigo Fire and ran aground on the southeast point of Green Island. The keeper of the island’s lighthouse rescued the crew, according to the historical society’s tweet, but the ship was abandoned and was eventually covered with sand and forgotten.
The historical society plans to survey the wreck again in the spring of 2024 and may push to list the site on the National Register of Historic Places.
The National Weather Service ranks the Peshtigo Fire as the most devastating forest fire in U.S. history, claiming more than 1,200 lives. The city of Peshtigo was consumed in an hour, according to the National Weather Service’s website. Sixteen other towns burned as well.
Source: https://www.outdoornews.com/2023/12/20/minnesota-mixed-bag-cwd-tests-available-online-for-hunters/
