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Fishing Legend Videos Available to Support KeepAmericaFishing

Legendary professional anglers from across the country recently gathered at the 2012 International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, better known as ICAST, to show their support for KeepAmericaFishing, the American Sportfishing Association’s (ASA) angler advocacy campaign.

Fishing legends such as Kevin VanDam, Mike Iaconelli, 

Chris Lane

, Shaw Grigsby, Lefty Kreh and Mark Sosin share what fishing means to them and how supporting KeepAmericaFishing helps ensure that our nation’s waters remain open, clean and abundant with fish.

KeepAmericaFishing is working hard on behalf of all anglers, from novice to professional, to support fisheries conservation and keep our public waters open to recreational fishing. Together, we can ensure the future of recreational fishing for generations to come, and keep America fishing.

Videos are available at http://www.keepamericafishing.org/ambassadors.html or athttp://www.youtube.com/keepamericafishing.

7th Annual Darrell Brown Memorial Youth Upland Hunt Oct. 27

Hunt for youth ages 12 through 18

Smoky Hill Pheasants Forever No. 424, in cooperation with the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT), Pheasant Runn Controlled Shooting Area, and the Hunting Heritage Group, Inc., will host the 7th Annual Darrell Brown Youth Upland Hunt, in memory of former volunteer Darrell Brown, on Oct. 27. The event will be held at Hays City Sportsman Club, ¼ mile north of I-70 off Exit 157 near Hays.

The hunt is for youth ages 12 through 18 years old. Each youth hunter will have the opportunity to harvest at least four birds while hunting over pointing dogs.

Participants will hunt and be mentored on a variety of related subjects, including how to hunt with pointing dogs, field safety, how hunting dogs are trained, gun handling, how to clean and prepare harvested birds, and what type of habitat to look for when hunting upland birds. The D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program is also incorporated into the event.

Special hunts like this are part of KDWPT’s Hunter Recruitment and Retention Program, called PASS IT ON. This program recruits new hunters and helps retain existing hunters to ensure the future of hunting and wildlife conservation.

To register for the hunt, contact Shayne Wilson at 785-628-1415, 8 a.m. through 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. There is no charge for the event.

El Dorado State Park Named Top "Waterpark"

Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation lists eight best parks

El Dorado State Park has been voted by fans of the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation’s (RBFF) Take Me Fishing campaign as one of eight best “waterparks” in the country. This summer, RBFF fans visited the organization’s Facebook page to participate in Nature’s Waterpark Showdown. Each fan was invited to help determine the top eight natural “waterparks,” or state parks, for boating and fishing inAmerica. Participants could also register to win the grand prize, a vacation to a state park for a family of four.

El Dorado State Park, in Butler County, was voted one of the top eight state parks in America based on fishing, boating, and “family fun.”

The list of eight stretched from New Hampshire to Kansas, including these parks:

♦ Lake Murray State Park, Oklahoma

♦ Itasca State Park, Minnesota

♦ Blue Spring State Park, Florida

♦ El Dorado State Park, Kansas

♦ Presque Isle State Park, Pennsylvania

♦ Cave Lake State Park, Nevada

♦ Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee

♦ Wellington State Park, New Hampshire

El Dorado Reservoir was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was completed in June of 1981. The lake consists of approximately 8,000 surface acres of water, 4,500 acres of state park lands, and 3,500 acres of wildlife area. The park consists of four primary campgrounds offering a full service marina, a sailing club, approximately 1,000 campsites, picnic shelters, rental cabins, trails (horse, hiking, and bicycling), swim beaches, shower houses and restrooms, ADA playgrounds, boat ramps, and a laundry facility. The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism manages the park and the reservoir resources.

For more information on the Nature’s Waterpark Showdown winners visit the Take Me Fishing™ Facebook page at facebook.com/takemefishing. The parks showcased in the campaign are just a fraction of the many outdoor recreation spots available throughout the nation. For more information on boating and fishing and a full list of places to participate in the sports, visit TakeMeFishing.org.
Visit the El Dorado State Park website at http://www.kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/State-Parks/Locations/El-Dorado

EPA Stops Importation of Chemical Harmful to Wildlife.

EPA Stops Importation of short-chained chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) that are harmful to wildlife.

SCCPs used as lubricants and coolants for metal working and as plasticizers and flame retardants in plastics, are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic to aquatic life. Even relatively small releases of these chemicals from individual manufacturing, processing, or waste management facilities have the potential to accumulate over time to higher levels and have been detected in wildlife and humans.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with INEOS Chlor Americas, Inc., based in Wilmington, Del., to resolve violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). INEOS allegedly imported various chain-length chlorinated paraffins into the United States without providing the required notice to EPA. INEOS will also pay a $175,000 civil penalty. This is an excerpt from an EPA announcement posted August 22, 2012.

Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission Meeting Aug. 23 at Great Bend

Duck, goose season dates to highlight public hearing

The Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission will conduct a public meeting and hearing on Thursday, Aug. 23, at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center, 

592 NE K156 Highway

, northeast of Great Bend. The afternoon session will begin at 1:30 p.m. and recess at 5 p.m., and the evening session will begin at 7 p.m.

The afternoon session will begin with time for public comments on non-agenda items, followed by a general discussion period on the following topics:

♦ Secretary’s remarks;

♦ agency and state fiscal status;

♦ 2013 Legislature;

♦ feral swine control efforts in Kansas;

♦ Tourism Division briefing;

♦ waterfowl management briefing;

♦ Cheyenne Bottoms signage project; and

♦ big game permanent regulations.

The afternoon will also include a workshop session, in preparation for potential future regulatory action, covering preliminary recommendations on the following regulations:

♦ fishing regulations;

♦ spring turkey regulations;

♦ park fees;

♦ alcohol on Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism property;

♦ scoring methods for poaching penalty;

♦ senior hunt-fish licenses/pass pricing; and

♦ agritourism regulations.

The commission will recess at 5 p.m., then reconvene at 7 p.m. at the same location for a public hearing on the following regulations:

♦ KAR 115-14 series on falconry;

♦ KAR 115-18-1 — wildlife rehabilitation permit, application, reporting and general provisions, new regulation; and

♦ late migratory bird seasons.

Time will be set aside in both the afternoon and evening sessions for public comment on topics that are not on the agenda. If necessary, the commission will recess on Aug. 23 and reconvene at the same location at 9 a.m., Aug. 24, to complete unfinished business.

Live video and audio streaming of this meeting will be broadcast through the KDWPT website, ksoutdoors.com.

2012 Kansas Hunting Atlas Coming Soon

Atlas locates all Walk-In Hunting Access areas and public wildlife areas

Want hunting access to one million acres of private land? The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) provides just that and more in the 2012 KansasHunting Atlas. This essential hunting tool includes maps showing locations of Walk-In Hunting Access (WIHA) areas and public wildlife areas and will be available online at the KDWPT website, ksoutdoors.com, the week of Aug. 27. Click “Hunting/Where to Hunt inKansas” to find a link to the document. Printed copies of the atlas will be available in late August or early September at KDWPT offices and hunting license vendors around the state.

The atlas provides dozens of full-page maps covering the entire state. Online visitors can view and print the complete atlas or select specific maps. Hunters can also download maps to GPS units for easy navigation. Each map includes an index listing the game species most likely to occur on properties listed.
For information on hunting seasons and regulations, copies of the 2012 Kansas Hunting & Furharvesting Regulations Summary will be available at KDWPT offices and license vendors the first week in September, but hunters can view or download the complete publication from the KDWPT website after the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission meeting Aug. 23. Type “Hunting Regulations” in the search box at the department’s homepage or click “Hunting/Hunting Regulations.

Governor Appoints Marshall to Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission

Great Bend doctor an active outdoorsman

`Kansas Governor Sam Brownback announced Monday the appointment of Roger Marshall, M.D., Great Bend, to the Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism Commission.Marshall replaces Frank Meyer, Herington, whose second term on the commission expired in at the end of June.

Marshall lives in Great Bend and was born and raised in Butler County. He received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Kansas State University and graduated from the University of Kansas Medical School. He is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys hunting upland birds, waterfowl, and turkeys, as well as bowhunting deer, fishing, and boating.

Marshall and his wife of 29 years have four children. He operates an obstetrics and gynecology private practice in Great Bend and serves as the chairman of the Great Bend Regional Hospital Maternal and Child Health Service. He also served in the U.S. Army reserves from 1984 to 1991.

The seven-member KWPT Commission is made up of no more than four members of any one political party. Members are appointed by the Governor and serve staggered four-year terms. The commission advises the agency’s Secretary on planning and policy issues. Regulations approved by the commission are adopted and administrated by the Secretary.

Dr. Marshall can be reached through his e-mail address of [email protected].

Spongier Surfaces Reducing Stormwater Runoff

By Trey Cody

Think about the sponge on your kitchen sink.  When you hold it under the running faucet, it absorbs a surprising amount of water.  But what if the sponge was covered in plastic wrap?  The water would hit the surface and flow right off.  We can see this same concept at work in our urbanized watersheds where, in many areas, green space that once absorbed rainfall has been replaced by hard surfaces that water can’t penetrate.

There are lots of ways that cities and towns are trying to get closer to their original, spongy state.  Having a surface that is porous and permeable reduces the effects of stormwater runoff on receiving streams, like stream bank erosion and negative effects on aquatic plant and animal life.

That’s why porous paving projects are popping up all over the place.  Permeable paving refers to a different way of mixing or constructing concrete or asphalt that allows water to flow through the pavement and into the ground instead of over it.

            One project can be found in our neighboring EPA Region 2’s Laboratory in Edison, New Jersey (above), where three permeable surfaces are being tested on the site of a former concrete parking lot. The performance and capabilities of these systems are being documented as part of a long term project to study the effects of paving materials such as porous asphalt, porous concrete, and interlocking concrete paver blocks. The parking lot will be monitored for its ability to accept, store, and infiltrate stormwater, water quality performance, urban heat island mitigation, maintenance effects, and parking behavior.

Closer to our regional office home, the first porous street in Philadelphia was recently unveiled.   AndWashington D.C. has done a number of Green Alley Projects using permeable pavement for the street surfaces.  Have you seen other examples of pervious pavement near you?

To learn more about permeable pavement and other green infrastructure techniques, and how it benefits water quality, check out EPA’s Green Infrastructure Page.

Sportsmen and Climate Change: A Long, Hard Look at Reality

By Bill Geer

Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership

As the United States writhes in one of the driest and hottest summers in history, with nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states experiencing some form of drought, millions of Americans (including farmers and ranchers) are struggling from the resulting loss of income and higher prices for food and fuel.  Other recent disturbing news illustrates the practical implications this weather event can have on fish and wildlife. Millions of fish – sturgeon, large- and smallmouth bass, channel catfish and other species – are dying in the Midwest as water temperatures skyrocket to as high as 100 degrees.

What is clear:  both the human toll and the impacts to fish and wildlife caused by a changing climate and warmer temperatures have real consequences and cannot be ignored.

A new NASA report states that climate change is responsible for recent extreme weather events and that the probability of unusually warm summers has greatly increased. Now, Dr. Richard A. Muller, a physicist known for his staunch denial of global warming, has concluded that global warming is in fact real, with human production of carbon dioxide causing the world to slowly warm.

“I’m personally very worried,” says Dr. Muller. “I personally suspect that it will be bad.”

Of course, many continue to refute the science underlying climate change and indict the majority of scientists who accept its existence for promulgating a political agenda. In my opinion, as the TRCP’s climate change initiative manager, these individuals are simply resistant to accepting the reality of what science has made abundantly clear: climate change is real, and it already is affecting our natural resources, fish and wildlife and outdoor opportunities.

I recently wrote a guest article in The Seattle Times arguing that to develop an effective approach to addressing climate change, we cannot rely solely on public opinion polls. We must pay attention to those who are “voting with their feet” – the fish and wildlife that cannot debate habitability in the public square and must adapt to or migrate from changing habitat or die.

At the TRCP, we accept the growing evidence that climate change is real and that changes go well beyond disturbances driven by entirely natural forces. We regularly consult with fish and wildlife biologists in state and federal agencies throughout the United States on the habits, distribution and abundance of fish and wildlife.

The facts leave no doubt that climate change is undeniable. Here are a few examples:

♦ Even before this year’s Midwestern fish kills from hot water, smallmouth bass have been migrating upstream nearly 40 miles in the warming Yellowstone River, displacing Yellowstone cutthroat that require colder water.

♦ Warming winters and summers have led to an explosion in mountain pine beetle infestations over millions of acres in many Western pine forests, causing a dramatic conversion of forest cover to grass and shrub meadows in elk habitat. This leads to changes in elk populations and distribution during hunting seasons.

♦ In a direct response to warmer springs and summers and elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, invasive cheatgrass has out-competed sagebrush and native grasses and shrubs throughout 100 million acres of the sagebrush steppe in the West, leading to decreased mule deer and greater sage-grouse habitat and populations, as well as diminished hunting opportunities.

What is the TRCP doing now? We are actively working to inform, educate and mobilize sportsmen by reporting timely data from state fish and wildlife agencies and federal land management agencies. Our state-specific presentations highlight the implications of a changing environment on fish and wildlife and the consequences for sustainable hunting and fishing. We’ve developed presentations for Montana, Washington and Colorado – withOregon and New Mexico in the works.

Rather than debating specific points of air temperature or carbon dioxide data, the TRCP focuses on the cascading effects of a changing climate in the biological world, including impacts to species of fish and game most important to sportsmen. We highlight on-the-ground projects that help fish and wildlife adapt to a changing environment.

We are taking these state-specific presentations directly to sportsmen-based clubs throughout the West with the goal of providing factual evidence on climate change. Take five minutes to watch the video below and draw your own conclusions.
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