« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »
The Bureau of Reclamation is projecting that spring runoff will raise the level of Lake Powell, the 186-mile reservoir that straddles the Arizona-Utah border, by 50 feet, reopening popular beaches and other areas closed to boaters for the past five years due to low water. AP reports.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game has documented as many as 150 moose deaths this winter as a result of collisions with locomotives and vehicles in Bonner and Boundary counties. In the Bonner County Daily Bee.
In a move unprecedented in the organization's 116-year history, the Sierra Club national board has voted to remove the leaders of its 35,000-member Florida chapter, and to suspend the chapter for four years. The Florida leaders had been highly critical of the nat'l board's December decision to allow The Clorox Company to use the Sierra Club's name and logo to market a new line of non-chlorinated cleaning products (for an undisclosed amount of money). Grist magazine reports.
USA Today reports today that the most popular 3 names for male dogs (in order) are Max, Buddy and Rocky. The article notes that the results came from a database of insured canines conducted by Veterinary Pet Insurance. That explains why the names Spot or Blackie didn't even make the Top 10 list--because they don't rate for Blue Cross coverage. It also explains why the number one female dog name was Bella. Bella?
It probably speaks volumes about the public's uncanny gullibility and where electronic communications has brought us, but the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has found it necessary to issue a press release to inform the public that an e-mail circulating in the state showing a huge mountain lion alleged to have been killed in Hall County is a hoax. Next state? Any wagers? In the Lincoln Journal-Star.
The parents of an 11-year-old Utah boy killed by a black bear while camping in 2007 have filed a $2.5 million lawsuit naming the state and federal governments as negligent in their son's death. The suit contends that authorities should have warned campers that a dangerous bear was in the area. In the Salt Lake Tribune.
A polar bear shot by a hunter near Ft.Yukon, Alaska Thursday marked the farthest inland--approximately 250 miles--that the species has ever been documented in Alaska. The previous record for inland travel by a polar bear came in October 2002, when one was spotted along the Dalton Highway about 125 miles from the Beaufort Sea. In the Fairbanks News-Miner.
Nassau County, NY is considering a ban on the sale and ownership of brightly colored guns, similar to a ban implemented by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2006. Suffolk County officials are also considering a ban. In Newsday.
The growing interest and competitive nature of shed antler hunting in Wyoming has prompted state legislators to consider regulating the collection of horns and antlers and possibly sponsor legislation for the 2009 session. “It has become so competitive to get antlers that people disregard the well-being of the animals,” said Wyoming G&F spokesman Mark Gocke. In the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle.
Chalk this one up to modern technology. An Idaho motorist who came upon a poaching scene last week used his cell phone camera to take photos of the three men involved and the license plate on their truck--then he e-mailed the photos and information to authorities. AP reports.
With three states now halting the use of hunter-donated venison in food supplement and charity programs due to a lead contamination warning issued by a N. Dakota doctor, hunter groups are calling the precautions an overreaction. "Sportsmen have been shooting deer for hundreds of years with lead bullets with no problems," said Jason Foss, president Pheasants for the Future. AP reports.
A 6-foot, 200-pound bear was perched high above a Central Florida neighborhood for hours Friday after it was chased up a tree by two 6-month-old kittens. "(The kittens) had the bear just cornered at the fence and it saw the tree and just ran up the tree and has been there ever since," homeowner Jason Daniels said. Florida Today and Local 6 News.
First-round play at the Zurich Classic golf tournament in New Orleans was halted when a large alligator lumbered across the fairway. Davis Love III, (pictured) shot a photo of the critter with his cellphone. BBC reports.
Rodney Coronado, notorious animal rights and environmental activist, was sentenced Thursday to one year and one day in federal prison for demonstrating how to make an incendiary device. The Tucson, AZ radical pleaded guilty in December to distributing information on firebombs during an August 2003 speech about militant environmental activism at a community center in San Diego. Via AP and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Minnesota has followed action taken in neighboring N. Dakota by halting the distribution of venison donated by hunters, after a N.D. dermatologist reported that he discovered lead bullet fragments in 60 percent of the meat samples he tested. In a statement, the National Shooting Sports Foundation criticized the N. Dakota action, saying it "has no basis in science." Doug Smith in the Mnpls Star-Tribune.
