Keep it simple for Minnesota opener

Forum Communications Co.
Less is better. That’s the advice professional fishing guide Ross Hagemeister (pictured right) offers for the novice or occasional anglers who plan to cast a line during Saturday’s Minnesota fishing opener.

Photo of the week

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Rick Bohn of Woodworth, N.D., photographed this pintail duck April 20 while he took a break taking pictures of shaptail grouse from his blind southeast of Woodworth.

Deer ticks

Tick-borne ailments up in Minn.

Associated Press
Deer ticks that cause Lyme disease and other ailments are moving north and west in Minnesota, and health officials say people should be on the lookout for the tiny critters now that spring is here.

Camouflage

Boy’s death reminder for hunter safety

Associated Press
Being a sportsman himself, Tom Conroy understands the excitement and pounding pulse hunters feel when they finally find the prey they’re pursuing within the sights of their guns.

Male sage grouse

Sage grouse numbers at record low in N.D.

Associated Press
A record-low number of male sage grouse counted on strutting grounds in North Dakota this spring has prompted state biologists to call for no hunting season for the first time in 45 years.

New fishing regulations for area Minnesota lakes

Forum Communications Co.
With the Minnesota fishing season opening Saturday, anglers should be aware of some new fishing regulations on area lakes.

Calendar

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Thanks in part to a restoration project that ran from 1982 to 2004, Minnesota has an estimated population of more than 3,000 trumpeter swans.

Forum file photo

Swan song

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Thanks to Minnesota’s restoration program, trumpeter swans are returning to North Dakota
Trumpeter swans, virtually wiped out by 19th-century settlers in North Dakota, are making their way back to the state – even the sewage lagoons of north Fargo.

Predator and prey

Associated Press
ISLE ROYALE NATIONAL PARK, Mich. – Ignoring our observation plane circling above the frozen Lake Superior wilderness, the eight gray wolves seemed as harmless as pooches cavorting in the yard. They nipped and pawed each other, pausing occasionally to roll in the snow.

Habitat program launched

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A new habitat practice that enrolls croplands, wetlands, existing grass or expired Conservation Reserve Program acres into CRP is available to landowners.