A swimmer found a zebra mussel on a rock in Long Lake north of Willmar, and her father contacted the DNR. A search found one zebra mussel at each of two locations searched by DNR snorkelers.
Some of the best wildlife habitat in northeast North Dakota is near or between the airport and Grand Forks Air Force Base. That increases the potential for bird strikes at both sites.
The bill’s spending would be guided by federally approved State Wildlife Action Plans, in which state wildlife agencies have identified 12,000 species in greatest need of conservation to date.
In this episode, NDGF district game warden Zach Schuchard says other boating situations, such as not yielding room to other watercraft, also add to the problems on a busy waterway.
Since the bounty program kicked off in 2019 as part of Gov. Kristi Noem’s Second Century Initiative, 136,683 nest predators have been removed, excluding the first month of this season.
Spottail shiners are the go-to baitfish for many Minnesota walleye anglers from the fishing opener through late May into early June, but supplies have been tight this spring.
Complicating the shortage is a Minnesota DNR requirement that minnow dealers who trap spottail shiners in waters designated as infested with zebra mussels must remove their gear by Monday, May 23.
"The week is designed to help raise public awareness for aquatic nuisance species and the steps we can take to prevent them from getting into our waterways," says Ben Holen, North Dakota Game and Fish Department ANS coordinator.
ANS Awareness Week aims raise the public’s understanding of how to stop stop the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species in the state’s waterways.