AMBERGRIS CAYE, Belize — Wednesday morning of this past week broke a long way from the Stillwater Dome, but the routine was the same. Assembling an 8-weight fly rod, I looped line through its guides while feeling the outfit’s familiar heft in my right hand. A lot of things change over time, but as comforting as an inanimate object can be ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Like a boomerang more than an arrow, the crossbow controversy is coming back to the Legislature.

Some background:

In May 2023, near the end of that year’s legislative session, a conference committee deal was struck to allow any licensed Minnesota archer to hunt deer with a crossbow.

The proposal never was heard in a ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The city of Pittsburgh announced Thursday that its controlled archery hunt for white-tailed deer in city parks netted 199 deer, almost double last year's take.

The city rolled out a controlled archery hunt in 2023-24 after the deer population skyrocketed, causing more vehicle-deer collisions and overeating of native plant species...Read more

WACONIA, Minn. — A busload of fifth-graders from Southview Elementary School piled onto the ice of Lake Waconia, scooting, sprinting and walking en masse to an array of fish shanties.

Inside those heated shelters, members of the Waconia High School Conservation Club stood ready with fishing poles, live bait and patience. Their job? Harness ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — A record-breaking number of volunteer watchers tallied the most species ever in December for the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count in Pittsburgh.

"With 209 people and a balmy 65-degree day, we blew the doors off our species record," said Brian Shema, operations manager for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania and ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Longtime Department of Natural Resources wildlife manager Dave Trauba was appointed Jan. 15 to lead the agency’s Wildlife Section, overseeing species as diverse as mallards and mink, moose and mourning doves.

Trauba had been appointed interim Wildlife Section manager in July 2024, replacing Kelly Straka, who was promoted to ...Read more

MIAMI — A Hollywood, Fla., man was arrested last week after Florida wildlife police say they caught him with a live baby alligator when officers checked his fishing bucket in Monroe County.

The small reptile was found by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission police officer during a check on Loop Road in mainland Monroe County ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — A resurgence of the avian bird flu recently killed an estimated 5,000 snow geese in Northampton County in Eastern Pennsylvania.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is impacting more wild birds in other parts of the state. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is urging the public to report sick and dead birds, said Travis Lau...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — President Donald Trump didn’t mention wolves in his inauguration speech last Monday. But that doesn’t mean change isn’t coming in the way these apex predators are managed.

With the help of the Republican-controlled Congress, such a change is possible, if not probable. Whether deer numbers in northern Minnesota increase as ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s fight against chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer has expanded following confirmed infections near Greenfield in western Hennepin County and Hawley in Clay County, which borders Fargo, N.D.

The positive test results were detected in antlered bucks harvested by hunters during the firearms season. The two findings ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Since the Palisades Fire broke out on Jan. 7, it has burned almost 24,000 acres through Pacific Palisades and several neighborhoods along Pacific Coast Highway. Many of those acres were populated by homes, and other popular hiking trails throughout the Santa Monica Mountains. Firefighters continue to make progress on ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Radiologists can look at an X-ray and determine fairly quickly whether the image they’re seeing is of a healthy person, or a sick one.

Similarly, hunters and other conservationists can examine the photograph accompanying this column — which I took after a recent late-season pheasant hunt — and assess the health of the land...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota fishing license sales have been fast and furious since Thanksgiving, popping at a rate not seen in more than a decade as ice fishing makes a comeback after two difficult years.

For the six-week period between Nov. 28 and Jan. 13, anglers purchased 56,500 licenses from the Department of Natural Resources. That’s the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesotans are politically divided on a lot of issues, but clearly not when it comes to investing state lottery proceeds in the outdoors.

Voters set a record Nov. 5 in approving the ballot question extending dedication of lottery proceeds to the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. It sailed with 2,526,205 “yes” ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — An irregular but popular winter visitor is stirring the interest of Minnesota bird-watchers, wildlife specialists and even the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

Snowy owls, which typically migrate this time of year from the Canadian Arctic to the warmer climes of Minnesota and other parts of the northern U.S., ...Read more