PITTSBURGH — Black bears, deer, bobcats and other wildlife used to cross Route 220 in the forests near State College, sometimes to their detriment and that of motorists.

When the I-99 extension replaced that section of Route 220 with five wildlife underpasses, animal and car collisions dropped from nine animal deaths in 2009 to one in 2010, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — At his cabin about three hours north of the Twin Cities, Alan Page carries on a tradition that he and his late wife, Diane Sims Page, started more than a decade ago: tapping maple trees and making gallons of sweet, sticky syrup.

The former Minnesota Supreme Court justice and Hall of Fame NFL football player continues to make the...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Last week, I wrote about birders, bikers and hikers and how they’ve been getting a free ride in many instances on the backs of hunters (and anglers) who have borne the brunt of conservation funding in Minnesota.

I focused on the purchase and maintenance of the more than 1,500 state wildlife management areas (WMAs) in Minnesota...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The first time Frank Hubert Jr. caught the New Jersey state record bowfin he figured he’d have to kill the beloved, air-breathing fish to prove it, so he took a nice picture and released his catch back into the swamps.

That behemoth bowfin weighed 13 pounds, 12 ounces by Hubert’s scale, easily besting the 2017 record of 11 ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — In a few weeks, some 200 Minnesota birders will flock to the Salt Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Lac qui Parle County near the South Dakota border.

This will be the 47th celebration of Minnesota’s oldest birding festival, and this year’s hosts will include the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union, the Minnesota River ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Trout can get carsick.

That’s why millions of rainbow, golden, brook and brown trout have been crisscrossing Pennsylvania in large trucks on empty stomachs for the last month. They’re parked outside Sheetz, Rutter’s and a few Wawas while drivers grab a coffee, use the bathroom and do a fish check. They’re at rest stops ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — In August 2023, Gordon and Jennifer Fothergill were at the Itasca County Fair in Grand Rapids, Minn., when Jennifer’s phone rang.

She could tell by the area code that the call was from Alabama, where their son, Easton, was a college student and a budding professional bass angler.

A standout bass fisherman at Grand Rapids High...Read more

GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. — Cass County Deputy Sheriff Bob Landreville and veteran fishing guide Dan Craven refer to their beloved Leech Lake as the mother of all Minnesota muskie lakes.

At a fishing forum last week at Timberlake Lodge, their voices stood out amid a crowd of industry stakeholders from across the state who aired a litany of concerns...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Walleye anglers on Minnesota’s Upper Red Lake will be allowed to keep five fish this summer, two more than were allowed during the opening weeks of the open-water fishing season a year ago, state fisheries managers announced Monday.

The new possession limit, effective May 10, allows anglers to keep five walleyes, but only one ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — American pork and beaners are about to find out there’s no free lunch in Canada.

“Pork and beaners’’ is a colloquialism, or slang, used by some Canadians — usually in good humor — that describes American anglers, canoeists, hunters, campers and other tourists who vacation north of the border but spend very little ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut hunters and anglers contribute millions to the state’s economy each year and play a vital role in conservation efforts, but over the last several years, hunting and fishing license sales are trending downwards.

According to the financial ranking site 247WallSt., Connecticut comes in at No. 45 on their list of ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Opening days are holidays for Minnesotans who hunt or fish or love professional baseball.

Now, some canoeists are carving out a day to celebrate paddling in the same way.

Organizers of the Mississippi River Paddling Weekend of races and touring have rebranded the June 13-15 event as the “Minnesota Paddling Opener.”

The aim...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Given recent announcements by the Department of Natural Resources that this summer’s Mille Lacs walleye limit will be increased from a year ago, while its yellow perch limit will be dramatically decreased, a reasonable conclusion could be that walleyes are doing pretty well in the lake, while yellow perch — which walleyes ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Mistrustful of the Department of Natural Resources' oversight of mushroom hunting and berry picking, a group of Minnesota foragers has turned to the Legislature for creation of a new task force.

Their bill, recently introduced in the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, would require the DNR to establish by ...Read more