N.D. bald eagle numbers rise
BISMARCK -- North Dakota wildlife officials said the number of bald eagles observed in early January along a stretch of the Missouri River was up significantly from last year and slightly above average.
The Game and Fish Department said 44 eagles were counted between Bismarck and Garrison Dam. That's up from 12 in last year's survey.
Nongame biologist Patrick Isakson said the higher number this year is a surprise, because waterfowl numbers along the Missouri are low.
The number of bald eagles that winter in the state generally depends on the amount of open water and the availability of prey -- fish and waterfowl.
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The midwinter aerial survey is conducted nationwide to estimate the number of bald eagles wintering in the lower 48 states.
Great Lakes wolf shot in S.D.
MITCHELL, S.D. -- DNA testing determined that an animal shot north of Woonsocket, S.D., was a wolf from the Great Lakes region.
The Department of Game, Fish and Parks said a hunter mistook it for a coyote and killed the 90-pound male Dec. 18.
Wolves are protected under the Endangered Species Act. Officials said the hunter will not be charged.
GF&P Conservation Officer Chris Kuntz said it's not uncommon for wolves from Minnesota to wander into the Dakotas.
He said coyote hunters should make sure of their target before shooting.
The shooting came nearly a year after a female wolf was shot in northeastern South Dakota by a coyote hunter.
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Michigan keeps carp court fight
LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan's new attorney general said Thursday he will continue the state's court fight to close off waterways into the Great Lakes to keep out invasive Asian carp.
Michigan is one of five states that have sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to force the closing of two shipping locks and several gates in waterways near Chicago that could provide a path for the Asian carp to reach Lake Michigan.
Barge operators and businesses that rely on cargo shipping in the Chicago area have opposed the closures.
The U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. District Judge Robert Dow denied requests last year to close the locks immediately, but the lawsuit is going forward.
Republican Bill Schuette said he will continue lawsuit started by former Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who was also a Republican.
"The Asian carp poses a clear and present danger to the ecosystem of the Great Lakes," he said.
Asian carp have migrated north in the Mississippi River and its tributaries for decades after escaping from Southern fish farms and sewage lagoons.
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The carp are voracious eaters of plankton -- tiny plants and animals at the base of the aquatic food chain. Biologists said if the carp make it to the Great Lakes, they could starve out competitors and threaten the $7 billion sport and commercial fishing industry.
Federal officials contend an electric barrier about 25 miles south of Lake Michigan has adequately thwarted the carp's advance. But researchers said they have detected Asian carp DNA in water samples taken from Chicago-area rivers and canals past the barrier.
Workers harvest carp at Minnesota lake
CHANHASSEN, Minn. -- A carp harvest is under way on a Twin Cities area lake.
Workers from the University of Minnesota were harvesting common carp from Lake Lucy in Chanhassen on Thursday.
KSTP-TV reports the fish are harmful because they feed on vegetation at the bottom of lakes, harming water quality.
Researchers have been harvesting the fish from a chain of five lakes, including Lucy, in Chanhassen since 2006.
The caught carp will be killed.
