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EDITOR’S ADVISORY: VIDEO OF EMERALD ASH BORER NEWS CONFERENCE AVAILABLE

EDITOR’S ADVISORY: VIDEO OF EMERALD ASH BORER NEWS CONFERENCE AVAILABLE – State officials announced Monday the first confirmed occurrence of emerald ash borer, an invasive, destructive insect pest of ash trees, in Wisconsin. The discovery was made by forest health specialists investigating a citizen report of dying ash trees in a private woodlot in Ozaukee County, near the Village of Newburg. A video of the news conference[VIDEO Length 48:54]. announcing the finding is available on the DNR Web site; a news release is available on the Wisconsin Department of Agricultures, Trade and Consumer Protection Web site.

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Great Lakes shoreline owners gain easier way to manage invasive plants on lake beds

MADISON – People who own lakefront property along Lake Michigan and Lake Superior now have a quicker, less expensive permit process available to allow clean up of accumulations of zebra mussels, dead fish, and algae on the beach and to allow control of invasive plants like Phragmites.

“Lakeshore property owners will get the streamlined permit process they want for cleanup and sensitive beach vegetation and near shore habitat will be protected,” says Martin Griffin, the Department of Natural Resources policy coordinator who helped develop the general permits.

Effective Aug. 1, property owners can apply to remove algae, mussels, dead fish and similar large nuisance deposits or to remove and control emergent invasive plants on exposed lake bed.

Both general permits contain basic conditions the lakefront property owner is required to follow to protect the lakebed and public rights in the water, carry a $50 application fee and will be processed within 30 days. That contrasts with the individual permits that were previously the only option available and required a $500 application fee and a 30-day public comment period.

The general permits are aimed at answering property owners’ requests for help in responding to the increased accumulations of invasive species, which exceed the property owners’ ability to clean up by hand, Griffin says.

Two trends - near-record low water levels on the Great Lakes exposing more lakebed and increased populations of invasive species such as zebra mussels, quagga mussels, and blooms of the nuisance algae cladophora – are combining to leave large quantities of this biological material washed ashore.

The resulting mixture of algal mats and decaying zebra mussels and other invertebrates and fish have caused unsightly, smelly conditions at many sites ranging from northeastern Green Bay and the tip of Door County to Kenosha.

To compound this issue, the lakebed exposed as a result of lower water levels also has been taken over by dense invasive stands of Phragmites and other non-native plants that can eliminate the native plants that provide valuable food and shelter for fish and wildlife.

To qualify for a general permit to remove plant and animal nuisance deposits, people must:

• Limit removal to the plant and animal nuisance deposits.
• Assure the total amount of material removed is less than 3,000 cubic yards.
• Minimize equipment impact to the lakebed and surrounding vegetation.

To qualify for a general permit to manage invasive species growing on exposed lake bed, people must:

• Mow or spread herbicide in conformance with an invasive species control plan.
• Operate the motor vehicle in a way that minimizes impacts to the native lakebed material and any surrounding native vegetation.

People interested in applying for the general permits are encouraged to review information about this streamlined process on the DNR Web site.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Griffin (608) 266-2997 or Kristy Rogers (920) 662-5117

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Sturgeon hook and line season to open Sept. 6 with new regulations

MADISON – The 2008 hook and line season for lake sturgeon opens Sept. 6 on major river systems statewide, with rule changes aimed at assuring the future of the state’s sturgeon fisheries.

The season has been shortened and ends Sept. 30, and the minimum length for harvesting sturgeon has been increased to 60 inches. There is a one-fish limit per season on those waters where there is an open season. There is catch and release only fishing on a stretch of the Menominee River downstream from the Hattie Street dam to Green Bay.

The St. Croix River below St. Croix Falls, which borders Wisconsin and Minnesota, will not be affected by the permanent rule this season. Opening day there is also Sept. 6 and the season will close Oct. 15. There is a 50-inch minimum length harvest limit and a one-per-season bag.

The state Natural Resources Board adopted the changes earlier this year to reduce the sturgeon harvest on several popular fisheries and provide additional protection to spawning females, according to Karl Scheidegger, who leads the Department of Natural Resources sturgeon management team.

“Increasing angler pressure and harvest trends prompted the rule change to protect the fisheries,” Scheidegger says. “We had the same season structure and harvest rules in place in 2007 under emergency rules, and they worked well. They allowed all interested anglers to participate in the season while protecting the reproductive females.”

Lake sturgeon are slow-growing, late maturing fish, with females spawning for the first time when they are 20 to 25 years old and then only every three to five years thereafter. Because females are larger than males, they are often targeted by anglers, and their overharvest can cause population declines that may take years to recover.

“These changes will allow Wisconsin to continue to offer a unique angling season into the future. We hope anglers will continue to participate and continue to support our sturgeon management efforts,” Scheidegger says.

Remember to buy a harvest tag

If anglers do plan to harvest a sturgeon this season, they must purchase a harvest tag before they fish. The sturgeon harvest tag was implemented for the first time in the 2006 hook and line season. All revenues from the harvest tag sales go directly to projects dedicated to the improvement of sturgeon populations and habitats and therefore, better fishing opportunities. No tag is needed if anglers are catch and release fishing only.

The harvest tag is available throughout the season and costs $20 for residents and $50 for nonresidents. It can be can be purchased: over the Internet through the Online Licensing Center; by calling toll-free 1-877-WI LICENSE (1-877-945-4236); at license sales locations; or DNR service centers during their regular business hours (check service center link for hours of operation, which vary by service center; service centers are closed Saturdays).

Anglers who harvest a legal-size fish must immediately attach the harvest tag to the fish and take it to a registration station by 6 p.m. the next day for registration.

All anglers must have a Wisconsin general inland fishing license unless they are under 16 years old, or were born before Jan. 1, 1927. Military personnel who are Wisconsin residents and in active service but on furlough or leave are eligible to received a free annual fishing license. They still need to purchase the $20 lake sturgeon harvest tag if they plan to keep a lake sturgeon.

Waters open to hook-and-line sturgeon fishing can be found in the 2008 Guide to Wisconsin Hook and Line Fishing Regulations.

For more information, visit the lake sturgeon page of the DNR Web site where you can find details about current regulations, restoration efforts, sturgeon distribution and much more.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Karl Scheidegger – (608) 267-9426

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Public forum set on plan to restore Lake Michigan lake trout

CLEVELAND – Efforts to restore native populations of lake trout in Lake Michigan would shift to intensive stocking of the fish in deep water areas of the lake that are less affected by non-native invasive species, under a draft management plan that will be the topic of an upcoming public information forum.

The forum will be held August 11 beginning at 6 p.m. in the Lakeshore Room of the Lake Shore Technical College in Cleveland.

Intensive stocking of lake trout in deep water off Sheboygan in an area known as the mid-lake reef complex, and in Michigan waters in the vicinity of Beaver Island, are key components of the draft plan that Wisconsin and other Great Lakes states fish biologists hope will restore this native species where previous attempts have not. All lake trout stocked in Lake Michigan are produced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and stocked pursuant to management strategies developed by state and tribal agencies that work on the lake.

These deep water areas typically are less affected by alewives, an invasive fish species that recent research suggests may harm lake trout reproduction, according to Bill Horns, Great Lakes fisheries biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. There is evidence that alewives eat lake trout fry. Alewives contain a thiamin-destroying enzyme, thiaminase, so when they are consumed by lake trout they may also contribute to thiamin-deficiency in the lake trout offspring.

“The plan complements research by Dr. John Janssen of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s WATER Institute. Janssen, using remotely operated underwater vehicles, found lake trout are spawning in the mid-lake reef area and that some eggs survive to hatch,” Horns says. “That’s good news because spawning by stocked lake trout has been documented over the past half-century in Lake Michigan, but we can’t say that any of those eggs have survived to adulthood to help starting to rebuild naturally reproducing populations.”

Concentrating stocking in these deep water areas, which are mostly already designated as refuges off limits to anglers, will give the stocked fish the best chance of surviving and reproducing, he says. Increased control of sea lamprey populations is also necessary to help achieve the population densities required for sustained natural reproduction.

Stocking those two deep water areas, however, also means there will be fewer fish for stocking in Lake Michigan near shore areas in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana.

“Those areas will still be stocked, but not at the same level as in past years,” Horns says.

Overall, the plan calls for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to raise and stock 3.31 million yearlings and 550,000 fingerlings. That total is somewhat higher than in the recent past, “but we will be able to cut back if the stability of the forage base appears to be threatened,” Horns says.

The plan also calls for stocking three different strains of lake trout in an effort to increase genetic diversity and ultimately, natural reproduction. The Seneca Lake strain is from a New York lake of the same name and is believed to be less vulnerable to die from sea lamprey attacks than other strains. The Lewis Lake strain is derived from Lake Michigan ancestors and now resides in a Wyoming lake of the same name. The Apostle Island strain is taken from that area of Lake Superior.

Lake trout was a mainstay of commercial fishing in the early 1900s but had declined in all of the Great Lakes by the 1930s, and by the 1950s, lake trout were extinct in Lake Michigan although some native lake trout survived in Lake Superior. Likely factors for the lake trout’s demise include the introduction and proliferation of sea lampreys and overfishing, Horns says.

Efforts to restore lake trout have been ongoing since the mid-1950s when stocking was initiated. Starting in the 1960s, the sea lamprey control program carried out by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission suppressed sea lamprey. But the stocked lake trout, which survived well, have been fully restored only in Lake Superior.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Horns (608) 266-8783

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Listening sessions set on practices for dealing with invasive forest pests

MADISON – The public will have an opportunity to learn more about and comment on proposed voluntary practices aimed at limiting the introduction or spread of invasive species in Wisconsin forests at a series of public listening sessions that will be held around the state in August.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-Forestry Division, in partnership with the Wisconsin Council on Forestry, will hold four listening sessions on a set of proposed voluntary best management practices (BMPs) for invasive species.

“These best management practices offer a framework for addressing the invasive species problems in Wisconsin forests,” says Thomas Boos, forestry invasive plant coordinator for the state Department of Natural Resources.

The DNR and forest council have developed a Forestry BMP Manual that offers voluntary practices to integrate with normal forest management activities that might otherwise be a vector for the spread of invasive species.

“The manual includes standards of practice that will aid landowners, land managers, and loggers in limiting the introduction and spread of invasive plants, invertebrates, and diseases,” Boos says.

Attendees at the listening sessions will have an opportunity to view a presentation on the voluntary invasive BMPs and have a chance to ask questions at a series of information stations. Topics that will be part of the listening sessions include management planning, forest stewardship, timber harvesting, forest access, reforestation and restoration, and the transport and storage of wood products.

The listening sessions, all of which will start at 4 p.m., will be held at the following locations.

• August 18, Rhinelander - Rhinelander City Hall, 135 S. Stevens St.
• August 19, Stevens Point - Portage County Courthouse Annex, 1462 Strongs Ave.
• August 20, Spooner - Spooner Ag Research Station, W6646 Highway 70.
• August 21, Madison - Madison Public Library-Hawthorne Branch, 2707 E. Washington Ave.

More information about the invasive BMPs can be found at the Wisconsin Council on Forestry’s Web site [exit DNR].

Anyone unable to attend one of the listening sessions can share their opinions at the Wisconsin Council on Forestry Web site or can submit their views in writing by Sept. 5, 2008 to: Wisconsin DNR-Forestry Division, Attn.: Thomas Boos FR/4, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921.

In 2006, representatives of Wisconsin’s forestry community made a commitment to protect the native biodiversity and economic productivity of the state’s forests through the development of voluntary best management practices. The original charge came from the Wisconsin Council on Forestry (a stakeholder organization that advises the governor). The Forestry Invasive Leadership Team, which provided the technical assistance to the Forestry Council, guided the process and developed a set of voluntary guidance for landowners, loggers, and land managers.

“From the outset, everyone involved in the process has been committed to the common goal of sustaining the productivity and viability of Wisconsin’s forest resources,” Boos said. “As a result of the variety of perspectives and experiences of participants and their commitment to opening this process up to all stakeholders, the resulting BMPs will be effective and reasonable to implement. The listening sessions provide yet another opportunity to incorporate input from all sectors of the forestry community.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Thomas Boos (608) 266-9276

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White pine tree seed needed for state forest nursery

HAYWARD – Individuals and groups can earn some extra money while helping state tree nurseries produce tree seedlings for forestry efforts in Wisconsin by collecting and selling tree seeds to the state tree nurseries program.

“This year we have a particular need for white pine seed,” said Gordy Christians, supervisor of the Department of Natural Resources Hayward nursery. The state is paying $20 a bushel for white pine cones this year. There is also a statewide need for sugar maple, basswood, and black cherry.

“People can collect tree seed from their own private forests, they can gain permission from landowners before collecting cones or seed, or they can collect them from public lands after first inquiring and receiving any necessary permits,” Christians says.

Christians offers these tips for potential white pine collectors.

1. White pine cones are usually collected starting in late August to mid September when the cones begin to turn brown but before they open. Look for trees with green cones hanging in the crowns. This year many trees have a bumper crop making branches droop.
2. The nursery wants only mature cones that are full of pitch and are at least slightly green. The seed inside the cone should have a brown seed coat and be white and firm. Occasionally, break a cone in half to check the seeds inside. Do not collect the many immature and aborted cones (beetle infected) that fell in the last weeks of July. These cones will look shriveled and dry and the seed in them will not be fully formed.
3. There is huge white pine cone crop this year from Grantsburg to Hayward to Bayfield. Trees in other areas may also have good crops.
4. Red squirrels will cut white pine cones and store them in holes or caches. Look under trees for freshly cut cones. Look in the general area for piles of gathered cones -- caches may be under logs, in holes or depressions in the ground, or right out in the open. Watch and listen for the squirrels. Other potential cone collecting sites include active logging jobs and trees damaged by wind storms.
5. Hot dry weather will mature the cones rapidly. When they open and the seeds fall out the nursery will no longer purchase them.
6. Store collected cones in a cool dry location. Use containers that allow air circulation - do not use plastic garbage bags for storage longer than a day.
7. Bring collected cones to the nursery or one of our buying stations frequently -- cones incorrectly stored will spoil, killing the seeds in them.
8. This year the state will be purchasing 2,200 bushels of white pine cones.

Christians said that some buying stations may have limited hours when they will be open for seed buying so be sure to call ahead.

Information on what to pick, when to pick, and tips on how to pick seed can be answered by calling the 1-800-875-9050, the Hayward Nursery at (715) 634-2717 or by visiting DNR seed purchase program pages of the DNR Web site. Payment for seed is through a voucher system with a check sent within three weeks.

As the season progresses Christians said seed goals for some species will be fulfilled and purchasing for those species will stop. Collectors should check in with the nursery before picking seed.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Gordon Christians (715) 634-2717

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Wild plants for food and medicine workshop offered

BABCOCK – People interested in learning more about using wild plants for food, medicine or survival can attend a new workshop being offered by the Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center this fall.

Wild Plants: Food, Medicine, Survival will be held Saturday, Sept. 6 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participants will join survivalist expert Jason Faunce on a hunt for common plants and their not-so-common uses. After a short classroom session, participants will spend much of the day in the field learning first hand about the everyday plants beneath our feet.

Participants should bring their own lunch and refreshments. They should dress appropriately for outdoor activity and be ready for walking and the weather.

Registration is limited to 15 people on a first-come, first-served basis and is confirmed by mailing in a $20 per person fee by August 28. Participants may stay over in the skill center dorm either prior to or following the event for a donation of $15 per person per night. Checks should be made out to DNR-Skills Center. Include the names of each participant, and the address and daytime phone number of one person in each party and send your registration fee to: DNR Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center, Box 156, Babcock, WI 54413.

More information on the Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center is available on the DNR Web site.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandhill Outdoor Skills Center - (715) 884-6335