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The DNR monitored upstream trout and salmon migration with digital video equipment from July 2 through Dec. 11, 2018, although the run was all but over after ice blocked the river in November.
The Steelhead count of 5,616 was considerably better than fall 2017 and about the same as 2015 and 2016, but still well below the high runs of 2002-2010.
Steelhead made up just over one-third of the total fall trout and salmon run. Two brook trout, one pink salmon, and 12 splake were also counted. Just over half of all steelhead ranged from 20 to 25-inches long, and 21 percent were 12 to 17-inches long.
The 5,616 steelhead counted at the Brule River lamprey trap was well above the modern low of some 3,000 in 2011 and well below the modern high of more than 9,000 in 2005.
The brown trout total was 4,212 in 2018 with 5,674 coho salmon and 398 chinook or king salmon.
The fall run is made up of fish that likely spent the winter in the upper reaches of the river before spawning in spring. Another run of trout and salmon will occur when ice leaves the river sometime in March or April. The Brule River steelhead season opens the last saturday in March.
Snowmobilers reminded of new DWI laws
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says there has been an unusually high number of snowmobilers on the state’s 22,000 miles of snowmobile trails with all the snow recently but they are hoping most of them are leaving one thing off the trail: alcohol.
The DNR says alcohol is a factor in more than 70 percent of snowmobile-related fatalities in Minnesota. And it isn’t just intoxicated drivers who pay the price for their bad decisions. Earlier this month, Eric Coleman was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for a tragic incident last year when the snowmobile he was driving struck and killed 8-year-old Alan Geisenkoetter Jr. Coleman, who was drunk and whose driver’s license was revoked when he crashed into the boy, had multiple previous DWIs in a motor vehicle. The incident prompted state lawmakers to close loopholes in the state’s DWI law that now make it illegal to operate a snowmobile if your highway driving privileges have been revoked.
The new law — Little Alan’s Law — went into effect Aug. 1, 2018. It means people convicted of driving while intoxicated — regardless of the vehicle they’re driving — lose their driver’s license and are prohibited from operating motor vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles, motorboats and snowmobiles. Before the law change, people convicted of DWI in a highway-licensed vehicle still could legally operate ATVs, motorboats and snowmobiles.
Wisconsin wants rare plant detectives
Plant lovers and others who enjoy searching for rare plants (some call it botanizing) can put their passion to work by helping the Wisconsin Rare Plant Monitoring Program track down rare plant populations.
Free rare plant volunteer training sessions are set for March and April in Cable, Green Bay, Oconomowoc and River Falls.
Volunteers who complete the training will be sent out this spring and summer to check on some of Wisconsin’s rarest and most beautiful native plants in some of the state’s most pristine places, said Kevin Doyle, who coordinates the Rare Plant Monitoring Program for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Conservation Program.
The information volunteers collect is provided to property managers and added to the Natural Heritage Inventory, a statutorily required system of collection, storage and management of rare species information. DNR staff use inventory information when developing master plans for state properties and conservation strategies for species and communities and when reviewing proposed projects to ensure they avoid impacts to rare species and in conducting research.
In 2017, citizen scientists submitted data on 185 surveys — more information on Wisconsin’s rare plants than all previous years combined. The Rare Plant Monitoring Program is funded largely by the DNR Endangered Resources Fund. (Donate now through your Wisconsin income tax form and your donation is doubled.) For more information contact Kevin Doyle at (608) 416-3377
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