Latest news with #GameandFish
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brad Dokken: Here's how to get the free trial of onX Fish Midwest with your North Dakota fishing license
Jun. 7—If you've already purchased a North Dakota fishing license and just heard that onX Fish has expanded into the state with a free, three-month trial subscription through the North Dakota Game and Fish Department (NDGF), fear not. You can still get the three-month trial subscription to onX Fish Midwest, even if you bought your North Dakota fishing license before the partnership between onX and Game and Fish was announced. New North Dakota fishing licenses were required April 1, and the onX-NDGF partnership was only announced in late May. According to Jack Flatley, public relations manager for onX Hunt and onX Fish in Denver, the recent expansion means onX Fish is now available in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. To celebrate the expansion, Flatley says, onX and Game and Fish teamed up to offer the free onX Fish Midwest trial membership to anglers who buy their fishing licenses through the Game and Fish Department's online licensing platform. It's really quite simple. Upon buying their license, "anglers will receive a message in their NDGF online account with a free redemption code to unlock their onX Fish Midwest trial," Flatley said in an email. Anglers who bought licenses before the offer was announced will receive the same access code upon logging into their Game and Fish account, either through the department website or the app, Flatley said. I played with onX Fish a bit last fall when it first became available in Minnesota, and it's slick. For the North Dakota app, onX uses Game and Fish Department-sourced data, allowing anglers to search for fishing destinations across the state. Considering the abundance of new prairie lakes that have popped up across the state since the beginning of a wet cycle in the early '90s, onX Fish's North Dakota offering provides a one-stop shop, of sorts, for finding a place to wet a line. North Dakota today has some 450 fishable waters, compared with maybe 250 or so a couple of decades ago. "Filter by species, size and abundance to plan a day out with family or fill the livewell," Game and Fish says in a post on its Facebook page. For now, the onX Fish Midwest app is limited to iPhone users through the iOS platform. And, of course, it's also available by logging into the website, either on a computer or a smartphone. "The free trial will provide access to the onX web map platform, so Android users can still use and experience the app that way," Flatley said. "Unfortunately, I don't have a timeline for when we are releasing the Android version. It's something we are working on, but there's no set release date yet." Once the free trial ends, onX Fish Midwest costs $34.99 annually. * More info: . A celebration of life for a giant in the world of waterfowl management is planned for later this month in Spiritwood, North Dakota. Lewis Cowardin died Feb. 15 at St. Benedict's Care Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He was 91 years old. According to his obituary, Cowardin grew up in Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard and later received a doctorate in wildlife biology from Cornell University. He moved with his family to Jamestown in 1965, falling in love with the state and its wetlands, waterfowl and abundant outdoors opportunities. Cowardin spent his career at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in Jamestown. "He was well respected for his research and contributions to waterfowl biology in habitat management, remote sensing, aerial photography, predictive models for waterfowl population and wetlands classification, authoring over 55 scientific articles," his obituary states. According to his obituary, Cowardin was honored with the Department of Interior Secretary's Stewardship Award of Science and Technology in 1992, the North Dakota Professional Award from the North Dakota Chapter of The Wildlife Society in 1995 and an award from Ducks Unlimited for his contributions to waterfowl management and research. Bob Ekstrom of Bemidji, a friend who forwarded the celebration of life information he received from Cowardin's daughter, Dr. Nancy Cowardin, called him "one of the founders of modern waterfowl management," citing more than a decade of "groundbreaking waterfowl research" in Chippewa National Forest of northern Minnesota and the Prairie Pothole Region. "You could write a book about Lew's career," Ekstrom said. A casual get-together to mark Cowardin's life and career is set for 2:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 28, at the Cowardin house on Spiritwood Lake, 510 E. Lake County Road, Spiritwood, North Dakota.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Yahoo
A man killed a mountain lion in Buckeye and won't face any legal consequences. Here's why
A Buckeye man who killed a mountain lion that attacked him and his dog would not face legal consequences because he acted in self-defense, state wildlife officials said. The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on May 25 in the Verrado community at the southeast corner of the White Tank Mountains. The man was walking his dog when the mountain lion attacked, and he was able to kick the animal off his dog. When the mountain lion attempted to approach him again, the man shot and killed it. The incident followed an uptick of sightings in the area, which is a mountain lion habitat, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department. "The shooting was in self-defense, so no citations were issued," Game and Fish spokesperson Michael Colaianni wrote in an email. "We typically say that if your life or the life of someone else is in danger, you have every right to defend yourself." Mountain lions can be legally hunted with a tag from Game and Fish. A person who kills a mountain lion that is not threatening or who kills without a tag could face any of several violations, according to the department. Those could include unlawful taking of wildlife, taking out of season, or taking without a tag, which bring criminal penalties. There had been "an uptick in sightings" in the area before the May 25 encounter, but it could have been the same mountain lion seen repeatedly, Colaianni said. No sightings have been reported to Game and Fish since. The department says online that mountain lion habitat is shrinking as a result of urban sprawl, which can increase human and lion conflicts. "We would like those living on the outskirts or up against wilderness areas to keep in mind that these types of interactions with wildlife are still extremely rare, but are indeed possible," Colaianni said. If someone encounters a mountain lion, the department says humans should: Not approach the lion, as most will try to avoid confrontation and try to escape. Stay calm and speak loudly and firmly. Do not run, which could stimulate a mountain lion's chase instinct. Stand and face the animal while making eye contact. Try to convince the mountain lion you are not easy prey, and might be dangerous. Make yourself appear larger by raising your arms or opening a jacket if you are wearing one. Throw stones or anything you can reach without turning around or crouching. Wave your arms slowly. Maintain eye contact and slowly back away toward a building, vehicle or busy area. If the lion attacks, fight back. The animal usually tries to bite the head or neck, so remain standing and face it. Game and Fish said people have fought off attacks using everything from their bare hands to mountain bikes. The department said its annual average population estimate of mountain lions in Arizona was about 2,900 for the years between 2004 and 2020. But because the animals have a wide range and cryptic behavior, they are hard to count. So the department makes an estimate based on the age of the animals when they are hunted or killed. Mountain lions are not considered endangered or threatened. Any mountain lion attack should be reported to 911, according to Game and Fish. Encounters, attacks, sightings or any property damage should also be reported to Arizona Game and Fish dispatch at 623-236-7201. The line is staffed 24/7 year-round. Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at or 480-416-5669. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: A man killed a mountain lion in Buckeye. Is that legal?
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Game and Fish seeks input on 2025 wildlife conservation plan
May 30—BISMARCK — The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is taking public comment on the revision of its 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP), a process it is required to undertake every 10 years as part of an effort to conserve wildlife and habitats across the state. According to Patrick Isakson, conservation supervisor for Game and Fish in Bismarck, the department developed its first SWAP document in 2005 to shed light on at-risk and potential at-risk species in North Dakota. While SWAP includes a "handful" of game species, including sharp-tailed grouse, canvasback, lesser scaup and northern pintail, "the vast majority are those nongame species that we don't hunt or fish in the state," Isakson said. That includes grassland birds, shorebirds, terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates, insects, freshwater mussels, mammals, reptiles and amphibians that may be under threat. The ultimate goal of the plan is to prevent species from being listed for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act. "The State Wildlife Action Plan is really a guiding document for our agency and our partners to identify the threats and conservation actions for at-risk species and their habitats," Isakson said. Bruce Kreft, chief of the Game and Fish Department's Conservation and Communications Division, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provides states with money to address rare and declining species, but state agencies in turn must develop a plan to address the species listed in the document. Kreft talked about the required SWAP update on Tuesday, April 22, during the Game and Fish Department's spring Advisory Board meeting. Game and Fish is mandated to hold the meetings twice a year in each of the state's eight advisory board districts, and the meeting for District 7 was livestreamed from Game and Fish headquarters in Bismarck. The FWS recently announced it is distributing more than $55 million to state fish and wildlife agencies through its State Wildlife Grant Program. North Dakota is receiving $552,727 for 2025, according to the FWS. "The State Wildlife Grant Program supports conservation actions aimed at avoiding new federal listings of threatened and endangered species, recovering those species already listed and ensuring healthy populations of each state's top-priority fish and wildlife species for future generations," Paul Souza, acting director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said in a statement. "We are pleased to be working with these partners to protect America's natural resources and wild places." That's where the State Wildlife Action Plan comes into play, Isakson of Game and Fish said. "One of the benefits of the state putting together a State Wildlife Action Plan is then, it's eligible for State Wildlife Grant money" from the FWS, Isakson said. "So, in order for us to spend that money on our species of greatest conservation need, we need to have the State Wildlife Action Plan in place to identify what we're going to do with it." That allocation has ranged from about $450,000 to $550,000 annually over the last decade or so, he said. "It's been a real stable funding source for our nongame species and one that really has done a lot of work in our state and furthered our information and knowledge," Isakson said. "We leverage (funding) with partner dollars, university dollars, NGO (nongovernmental organization) dollars and do research and habitat conservation with it." Examples, he says, include a freshwater mussel study being conducted with Valley City State University, reptile and amphibian surveys underway with a researcher at North Dakota State University and looking at grassland bird habitat and how it relates to some of the at-risk species in the SWAP document. "We've been fortunate over the last decade or so to add some expertise in both terrestrial insects and aquatic insects, so we really lean heavily into this plan on what effects those threats out there have on our invertebrate community," Isakson said. "So, there are a lot of new insects both aquatic and terrestrial, that are in our (updated) plan. "That's where a lot of the species that we see being potentially listed and petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act are going — to those invertebrates." As part of its first two State Wildlife Action Plans in 2005 and 2015, Game and Fish ranked "Species of Conservation Priority," Isakson says. Under the SWAP draft now up for public review, species are identified as "Species of Greatest Conservation Need" and "Species of Greatest Information Need," Isakson says. "We don't rank them out anymore," he said. "We just have species that we have an idea of what the threats and actions are that we need to conserve them. And then those Species of Greatest Information Need are those that we really need to do some more investigating on. We have an idea that maybe there's some threats out there or their populations may be declining, but we need to lean into some of the research to identify those." The 2025 SWAP draft includes 134 species of Greatest Conservation Need and 98 Species of Greatest Information Need in North Dakota, Isakson said. The first SWAP in 2005 identified about 100 species of concern, a number that increased to 115 species in the 2015 SWAP update, Kreft said during the April Advisory Board livestream. "So, we're seeing that increase in the number of species that are rare and declining either regionally — throughout different states — or within the states," Kreft said. The 152-page SWAP draft has eight elements, he said, including abundance, distribution, some of the threats and potential actions. While the list of at-risk species has grown, species occasionally come off the list, as well, Isakson said. The river otter and the American marten, both of which were listed in the 2015 plan, are two examples, he said; the bald eagle also was removed from the list. "Ultimately, we found out enough information to feel like they're not really at risk in our state," Isakson said. In revising the 2025 SWAP as required, Game and Fish last September hosted a "SWAP Summit," which included about 60 members from the public and various conservation partners. North Dakota's SWAP is a collaborative effort between Game and Fish staff, species experts, partner conservation groups, and state, federal and local agencies. "That's the second time we brought all of our partners and stakeholders together," Isakson said. "We gave them an update on some of our thoughts from our internal work and then broke them out into groups based on the habitats they were interested in — or that they had experience in — and really dove into what those threats are." Habitat loss is a concern, Isakson says; what benefits game species also benefits nongame species. "That is the beauty of our plan, being habitat-based and habitat conservation-based, is if you keep it 'green side up,' if you keep the grass out there and keep the trees out there, it benefits all species in the state," Isakson said. "Both hunted (species) and those nongame species that we talk about more readily in this plan. "Our plan focuses a lot on conserving native habitat — the native grass that's out there — and in some cases trying to rebuild some of that habitat." Getting people to recognize the importance of all wildlife — and not just species targeted by hunters and anglers — can be a challenge, Isakson concedes. "We always have work to do when it comes to talking about the importance of all wildlife in the state," he said. "The department is in charge of managing all wildlife in the state. A lot of people think about those game species and those species that they catch out there, but we've done work over the years to try and educate the public on the importance of all species and their habitats — and that is part of our plan here." Game and Fish will take comments on the 2025 SWAP draft through June 30. After that, the department will develop a final draft for the Fish and Wildlife Service to approve. "Once it's signed off on, we're good to go for another 10 years," Isakson said. * To comment: A draft of the 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan update is available on the Game and Fish website at Public comments are accepted through June 30.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong brings a hunter's mindset to the governor's office
May 23—When it comes to hunting, North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong leaves no doubt about his passion for the pursuit. "My wife would use the word 'addiction,' " Armstrong said. "And my favorite thing to hunt is ... 'What season is next?' " A first-term governor who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 until last year, Armstrong stopped by the Grand Forks Herald office Thursday, May 15. While the purpose of the visit was to talk about the recently wrapped-up session of the Legislature, the governor also discussed hunting, fishing and some of the challenges and opportunities the outdoors faces in North Dakota. "I always say we're not the best at anything, but we're the best at everything," Armstrong said, referring to North Dakota's abundance of outdoors opportunities. "There's still not a lot of places that you can go shoot a limit of pheasant, grouse, partridge, mallards, geese, whitetail, mule deer — all of the above. You can do it 100 miles from the governor's residence." One of the most publicized outdoors-related bills during the legislative session was SB 2137, which prohibits the Game and Fish Department from restricting the practice of baiting for big game hunting on private land in hunting units with confirmed cases of chronic wasting disease. Game and Fish historically has banned baiting for deer on private land in hunting units within 25 miles of a confirmed positive CWD case. The highly contagious brain disease is fatal to deer, elk and moose, and minimizing the chances of bringing animals into close contact has been a standard practice wildlife managers use to mitigate the risk. The "baiting bill," as it was commonly called, passed the House by a 56-34 vote, and Armstrong signed it Thursday, April 17. Baiting remains illegal for hunting on public land. "I think one of the things North Dakota always has to be conscious of is we don't have a lot of public land," Armstrong said. "I always viewed (baiting) as a private property right." Considering only about 9% of North Dakota land is public land, support from private landowners is crucial to the future of hunting and access in the state, he said. That's why he signed the bill. All the "habitat in the world" doesn't mean much without access to private land, Armstrong said. The legislation sunsets in 2029. "We don't have outdoor heritage if we don't have buy-in from landowners because we don't have a lot of federal land, we don't have a lot of state land," Armstrong said. "We'll monitor and watch it. If we start seeing a spike (in CWD), we'll have to sit down and look at it. Game and Fish tested 1,456 animals for CWD during the 2024 sampling season, and 17 tested positive — 15 taken by hunters and two "clinical deer" that were confirmed through diagnostic examination. That brings the total of positive cases to 122 since 2009, when CWD was first detected in North Dakota. In December, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department hosted a Habitat and Hunting Access Summit in Bismarck. Armstrong, just days into his first term as governor, spoke at the summit. Gone are the days when North Dakota had more than 3 million acres of land enrolled in the federal Conservation Reserve Program. As CRP contracts expire, wildlife habitat is less abundant, and wildlife populations — especially white-tailed deer — are struggling and less resilient to severe winters and diseases such as the EHD (epizootic hemorrhagic disease) outbreak that decimated deer numbers in some areas in 2021. North Dakota today has less than 1 million acres of land enrolled in CRP, and 85% of the acreage enrolled during the peak in 2007 could be gone by 2026 if contracts continue to expire at their current rate, Game and Fish biologist Doug Leier reported this week in his weekly "North Dakota Outdoors" column. The summit was the first step in what promises to be a slow, challenging process to address access and the loss of habitat. Whatever direction any potential solutions ultimately take, farmers and ranchers must be on board, Armstrong says. There are no easy answers. "If you don't start with the ag groups and the actual farmers and ranchers about what works for them ... what works for sportsmen and what works for the guy making a living off that land every day of the week aren't always the same thing," Armstrong said. "I think the low-hanging fruit, me personally — youth deer, youth pheasant, youth duck — I think you have to be a pretty (difficult) guy to say no to a 14-year-old kid who wants to shoot his first whitetail doe or her first pheasant or first duck. I think there are opportunities to do this." Game and Fish recently announced it will offer 42,300 licenses for this fall's deer gun season — a near 50-year low — down from more than 100,000 for several years during the peak of CRP. In some ways, North Dakota is losing its "deer camp culture," Armstrong says. CWD and baiting isn't the issue, he says, it's EHD and two bad winters. "We have way too many people chasing inches instead of chasing experience," he said, referring to the size of a buck's rack. "I can tell you, looking back on all of my favorite deer hunts, I don't care how big the deer was. I don't look back 20 years ago and have a more fond experience because it was a 156-inch deer vs. a 142-inch deer." Trapshooting has become one of the fastest-growing high school sports in North Dakota and nationwide, but "less and less" of the kids shooting trap are actually hunting, Armstrong says, a trend that presents both a challenge and an opportunity. "How we can figure out how to (get kids hunting) also happens to be a pretty good workforce recruitment and retention tool," Armstrong said. "If you're 17 years old and love to hunt and fish, the chances of you staying in North Dakota at 35 are higher than if you don't" hunt and fish. While Armstrong says he's not an avid angler, the quality of fishing available in North Dakota is another piece of "low-hanging fruit," in terms of outdoors opportunities. "For as much criticism as Game and Fish gets — and a lot of it isn't deserved — we spend a lot of time talking about Devils Lake, Sakakawea and the Missouri River, but there are tons of the little fisheries out there that are (anglers') secret spots," he said. As for hunting, Armstrong says he looks forward to spending more time in the field as governor than he did as North Dakota's representative in Congress. Regardless, he says, it won't be enough. "No hunter on his deathbed ever said, 'Man, I really wish I would have hunted less,' " Armstrong said.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Yahoo
Speed unknown factor in death of Grizzly 1058, one of 399's offspring
A sign that informs passersby about grizzlies stands along Highway 89 in the Snake River Canyon near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (Angus M. Thuermer Jr./WyoFile) This story was first published by WyoFile on May 7, 2025. A grizzly death attributed to a fatal vehicle strike has triggered an outpouring of rage on social media about people driving too fast, but law enforcement could not determine whether speed was a factor in the collision. The bear that died, Grizzly 1058, is one of the famous 'quads' of their even more famous mom, Grizzly 399, who died last year after being fatally struck by a vehicle on a highway south of Jackson. Grizzly Bear 399 lived to old age because we made room for her. She died because we're in her wilds In the death of Grizzly 399, authorities ruled that the driver was not speeding. As for Grizzly 1058, 'law enforcement rangers were not able to determine if speed was a factor' in the collision, Grand Teton National Park spokeswoman Emily Davis said in an email Wednesday. Nonetheless, park officials asked people to slow down and be vigilant for wildlife in a Tuesday news release confirming the bear's death. While reducing speeds can help protect wildlife along Wyoming highways, it's not the only factor setting the stage for fatal collisions. 'It's terribly unfortunate that this happened,' said Brian DeBolt, large carnivore conflict coordinator with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. 'But it's becoming all too common with these bears that spend so much time roadside.' The more time bears hang out near roads, the higher the probability that they're going to be struck and killed by a vehicle, DeBolt said. Game and Fish is finding that younger bears, like the 5-year-old subadult found Tuesday, are being forced to make a living in more marginal habitat along roadsides because more prime habitat is already occupied. What park officials have confirmed so far is that Grizzly 1058 had been spotted in the park since he and his three siblings split from their mom in 2022. But there were no confirmed sightings of him this spring, the park release said. Park law enforcement found the bear's remains Tuesday in a patch of willows about 125 yards from the highway, within park boundaries east of the Buffalo Fork River. The Jackson Hole News&Guide reported that a law enforcement ranger found the dead bear after spotting ravens and eagles scavenging along the highway and stopping to investigate. The park bear biologist told the News&Guide the animal had likely been there for several days. The park relied on ear tags and a 'PIT' tag to identify the 5-year-old bear, which the park release said 'appeared to be in good condition for his age and the time of year.' The outer park highway sees more diverse traffic — including commuters and semis — and higher speed limits than the inner park road. Just up the highway on Togwotee Pass, where vehicles have struck roadside grizzlies, wildlife managers and law enforcement have struggled to manage traffic jams created by bear watchers. As more bears live roadside, and get habituated to people, the more risk of collisions, DeBolt said Wednesday. 'We don't want bears to be so comfortable roadside,' he added. The speed limit on Togwotee Pass is 55 miles per hour, but once drivers cross into Grand Teton National Park, there is a nighttime speed limit of 45 mph on that same highway. Safety concerns along that highway, where it crosses through the Bridger-Teton National Forest, prompted one retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent to propose a 'grizzly bear speed limit,' using variable speed limits similar to how the state handles blizzards on the interstate. 'Maybe we ought to consider having a grizzly bear speed limit, you know, when the bears are around the highway,' said Steve Stoinski, a retired Fish and Wildlife Service agent who spent a summer managing bear traffic jams on Togwotee Pass. But that speed limit would only work with regular enforcement, Stoinski told WyoFile. DeBolt said he'd be open to reducing speed limits if it would reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and was reasonable and logistically possible. But setting speed limits is not Game and Fish's call to make. DeBolt also sees larger factors at play. 'Although it seems like maybe a simple fix,' DeBolt said. 'It's not that simple.' Inside Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks where reduced speed limits are enforced, wildlife still die in vehicle strikes, DeBolt said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
