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Outdoors

Wis. wolf plan eliminates population goal

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin wildlife officials recently released their first new wolf management plan in almost a quarter-century but the document doesn’t establish a new statewide population goal, a number that has become a flashpoint in the fight over hunting quotas. The Department of Natural Resources adopted a wolf management plan in 1999 that calls for capping the statewide population at 350 animals. As the number of wolves in Wisconsin has increased — the DNR released estimates in September showing that the population currently stands at 970 — hunters have used that ...

Deer browsing one of many factors shaping N. American forests

UNIVERSITY PARK — In a study that likely is more notable for how it was conducted than for what it found, a Penn State-led research team discovered evidence that browsing by white-tailed deer had relatively little long-term impact on two tree species in a northern forest. The research took place in both fenced and unfenced plots in a one-square-mile area in the Flambeau River State Forest, Wisconsin, which had an estimated deer density of about 18-31 deer per square mile at the beginning of the study. With seven years of data, researchers examined survival and growth of sugar maple ...

Seedling sale underway at Howard Nursery

HARRISBURG — Landowners can begin making plans to help wildlife this spring – and beyond – by planting tree and shrub seedlings offered by the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Howard Nursery. The 2023 seedling order form is available online, and sales are underway. The Howard Nursery grows tree and shrub seedlings for use on state game lands, by participating Hunter Access cooperators, in the Seedlings for Schools program and by the Game Commission’s conservation partners. Any remaining surplus is available to Pennsylvania residents to purchase for wildlife food and cover, ...

Outdoors Calendar

Atkinson Mills Sportsmen’s Club • Meetings — held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. The club is located at 55 Sportsmen Club Lane, McVeytown; email atkinsonmillssportsmensclub@gmail.com; online at http://atkinsonmills-sportsmensclub.weebly.com. Blue Rock Sportsman Club • Club meetings — 2 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of each month on the gun range, and at 7 p.m. in January and February in the barn. To east end Blue Rock: From Milroy, follow signs to Reeds Gap State Park. Free camping available and kitchen is open during all events except trap ...

US: Protect Louisiana, Texas land for rare burrowing snake

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Four areas in Louisiana and two in Texas should be protected as critical habitat for a rare snake that eats pocket gophers and takes over the rodents’ burrows, the federal government says. Louisiana pinesnakes, which produce the largest eggs and hatchlings of any U.S. snake, have been protected as threatened since 2018. Their decline is largely due to the drastic reduction and fragmentation of grassy longleaf pine savannas with sandy soil. And since Louisiana pinesnakes’ 5-inch-long (12.7-centimeter) eggs are so big that they lay only three to five at a time, ...

Forestry programs scheduled for 2023 and how to find them

UNIVERSITY PARK — Forestry-related associations are filling their events calendars for 2023. With the wide variety of topics covered at various programs, from individual tree care to timber sale administration and from legacy planning to logging safety, there should be something of interest for just about everyone. Besides the James C. Finley Center for Private Forest’s biennial Forest Landowner Conference, the most heavily attended forestry event is the Pennsylvania Forestry Association’s annual Conservation Banquet. This year the banquet will be held March 4 at the Ramada Inn ...