WEST FARGO A highlight of my early years with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department as a district game warden was the variety of field-training opportunities. New wardens learn different required skills from seasoned wardens at stations literally in every corner of North Dakota. My primary training warden was Kurt Aufforth, who was stationed in Watford City at the time, and my weeks with him coincided with the paddlefish snagging season. A lot has changed since then. Kurt is retired, and I’m a biologist in West Fargo, but the interest in paddlefish continues to grow. While there’s obvious ..read more

There was palpable relief across the Lake of the Woods and Rainy River tourism sector Monday, with news that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) won’t recommend that lake sturgeon be listed for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. The FWS issued a news release shortly before 8 a.m. Monday, April 22, saying a “thorough species status assessment” using the best available science led the agency to determine lake sturgeon do not require listing under the Endangered Species Act. The FWS said its 12-month finding shows ongoing management efforts, such as fish stocking, have c ..read more

LARIMORE, N.D. No immediate changes are on the horizon for bowhunting regulations in the Badlands of western North Dakota, despite concerns from some hunters about overcrowding, the Game and Fish Department says. Bill Haase, assistant wildlife chief for Game and Fish in Bismarck, gave an update on the issue Tuesday night, April 16, during the department’s spring District 4 Advisory Board meeting in Larimore. Game and Fish is mandated to hold the meetings twice a year in each of the state’s eight Advisory Board districts. District 4 covers Grand Forks, Nelson, Pembina and Walsh counties. I ..read more

It was the kind of afternoon filled with the promise of spring that was much too nice to spend indoors or outside doing yard work. It was the kind of afternoon best spent exploring just for the fun of it to get off the beaten path for an hour or two and see what we could see and hear what we could hear. The wind wasn’t howling for a change, so conditions were in our favor to hear what nature had to offer. A ruffed grouse drumming somewhere back in the woods, perhaps. Or the first chorus frogs of the season, a joyful noise these ears look forward to with great anticipation every spring. So ..read more

bdokken@gfherald.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. Wednesdays. ND Game and Fish Advisory Board The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is wrapping up its spring Advisory Board public meetings at locations across the state. Remaining meetings, at 7 p.m. local time, are as follows. April 22: District 6 (Barnes, Dickey, Foster, Griggs, Logan, LaMoure, McIntosh, Stutsman and Wells counties), American Legion, 34 First Ave. NE, LaMoure. James River Sportsman Club is host. Info: Cody Sand, Ashley, (701) 535-1071. April 23: District 5 (Cass, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele and Traill counties), Silver Lake ..read more

In this week’s segment of “North Dakota Outdoors,” Mike Anderson of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department takes us to southwestern North Dakota, where sage grouse are dancing and displaying on their leks during their annual spring mating rituals. Joining him is Jesse Kolar, the Game and Fish Department’s upland game bird supervisor. ]]> ..read more

DULUTH Lyme disease cases reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention skyrocketed in 2022, the most recent year data is available, but mostly because of a change in how the disease is reported and not because of many more tick bites. That’s the latest report from the Minnesota Department of Health as the Northland heads into the peak time for tick exposure spring and early summer and the peak time for exposure to the many serious diseases ticks carry. “We usually see our peak for cases reported in July and August,” said Elizabeth Schiffman, epidemiologist supervisor of t ..read more

Wildlife artist Chuck Black, a UND alumnus and winner of the 2023 Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest, will be the keynote speaker for this year’s Glenn Allen Paur Lecture. Black, of Belgrade, Montana, graduated from UND in 2010 with a degree in wildlife biology. His presentation, “Conservation Storytelling: The Power of Art,” is scheduled for noon on Friday, April 26, in the Memorial Union Henry Family Ballroom 220 on the UND campus. A reception will precede Black’s lecture at 11 a.m. The UND Chapter of The Wildlife Society hosts the annual lecture series in honor of Glenn Allen Paur, a UND bio ..read more

DEER RIVER Foresters for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources used dynamite to blow up two enclosed wooden deer stands state officials say were permanently left on state land against state law. Neighbors in the area say the demolition was unsafe and unnecessary. Agency officials on Wednesday said the action didn't follow "DNR policy or reflect good judgment'' and that follow-up measures are likely. The action occurred on state land within the Bowstring State Forest, about three-quarters of a mile southwest of Bowstring Lake in Itasca County, within earshot of residences. The land ..read more

BISMARCK The North Dakota Game and Fish Department recently conducted its lotteries for the 2024 elk and moose seasons. The department offered 833 elk licenses to hunters this fall, an increase of 230 from last year, the Game and Fish Department said in a news release. Licenses in units E1E, E1W and E3 increased due to a stable to increasing elk population. Licenses in elk units E2, E4 and E6 remained the same as in 2023. A total of 242 moose licenses were available, a decrease of 15 from last year. Licenses in units M5, M6, M8 and M10 remained the same, as the moose population appears to b ..read more