Thursday, May 8, 2008

Bemidji area streams closed to fishing during the first week of walleye season (May 7, 2008)


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The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is extending fishing closures on six streams in Beltrami and Clearwater counties from May 10 through May 16 to protect concentrations of spawning walleye. Major access points will be posted during the period of closure.

The affected streams are:

* Blackduck River - County Road 32 north to Red Lake Reservation boundary
* Clearwater River - Below Clearwater Lake Dam for 900 feet
* Mississippi River - Below Ottertail Power Dam to County Road 12
* Shotley Brook - State Highway 72 to Upper Red Lake
* Tamarac River - Upper Red Lake to Beltrami-Koochiching county line
* Turtle River - Below Three Island Dam to County Road 23

The closure will not restrict boat traffic to Upper Red Lake from the boat ramps on the Tamarac River.

“It is a difficult decision to restrict fishing because stream closures limit shore angling opportunity,” said Gary Barnard, Bemidji area fisheries supervisor, “but most anglers would agree it is important to protect spawning walleye.”

Just days before the fishing opener ice still remains on some Bemidji area lakes and large concentrations of walleye are still actively spawning in many tributary streams. According to the DNR, the last time these stream closures were extended beyond opening day was 1996 when similar late ice conditions existed.

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Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Free Entrance, Free Fishing Mark S.D. State Parks’ Open House Weekend


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PIERRE, S.D. – The Department of Game, Fish and Parks is inviting outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy South Dakota state parks and recreation areas with the Parks' Open House Weekend and Free Fishing Weekend Friday, May 16 through Sunday, May 18.


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During the annual three-day event, entrance fees are waived for all visitors to South Dakota's state parks and recreation areas. Camping fees still apply. In addition, parks with staffed entrance booths will be handing out free foot bags and sunscreen samples, while supplies last. The items are provided by the Department of Health to help encourage physical activity and reinforce the importance of wearing sunscreen while outdoors.



“This is the perfect opportunity to visit a state park you’ve never seen before, or camp at your favorite park,” said Doug Hofer, director of the division of parks and recreation. “It is our way of thanking everyone for their support of South Dakota’s state parks and inviting them out for another fun-filled camping season.”



Parks will be hosting a variety of Open House Weekend special events across the state. Several events will be held on Saturday and include the following:

· 28th Annual Trail Tour 5K Run/Walk, Big Sioux Recreation Area near Brandon, 9 a.m.

· Walk in the Park Talking in the Trees, Richmond Lake Recreation Area near Aberdeen, 10 a.m.

· Annual Kids’ Fishing Tournament, Indian Creek Recreation Area near Mobridge, 3 p.m.

· Disc Golf Tournament of Amateurs, Hartford Beach State Park near Milbank, 3 p.m.



In addition to the events held on Saturday, Palisades State Park will be hosting a Fabulous Fishing Frenzy at 9 a.m. on Sunday.



Custer State Park near Custer will also be hosting a number of family activities both Saturday and Sunday, including cookouts, nature hikes, free hayrack rides, a fishing derby, nature programs and demonstrations. On Sunday at 3 p.m., visitors can take part in the park’s infamous Buffalo Chip Flip contest. Open House Weekend also marks the start of the seasonal Volksmarch at Custer State Park. A full schedule of events can be found on the state park’s website.



The weekend also marks the first weekend that campsites can be reserved in South Dakota state parks this year, and officials say many campsites are currently available. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-710-CAMP (2267) or online at www.CampSD.com.



South Dakota state parks offer a wide variety of outdoor fun, including camping, picnicking and boating. Many parks also offer trails for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.



For information on fishing, fishing license and fishing regulations visit the GFP website at www.sdgfp.info.
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For more information on the South Dakota state park system, visit www.SDparks.info or call (605) 773-3391.






Sunday, May 4, 2008

Researchers Create “Green Gasoline” Ethanol Killer From Biomass


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Researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of "green gasoline," a liquid identical to standard gasoline in energy contant yet created from sustainable biomass sources like switchgrass and poplar trees. The discovery could transform the renewable fuel economy by eliminating the need to grow corn for ethanol and rescue America from importing expensive and dwindling foreign oil supplies.

Reporting in the cover article of the April 7, 2008 issue of Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials (ChemSusChem), chemical engineer and National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER awardee George Huber of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass) and his graduate students Torren Carlson and Tushar Vispute announced the first direct conversion of plant cellulose into gasoline components.

In the same issue, James Dumesic and colleagues from the University of Wisconsin-Madison announce an integrated process for creating chemical components of jet fuel using a green gasoline approach. While Dumesic's group had previously demonstrated the production of jet-fuel components using separate steps, their current work shows that the steps can be integrated and run sequentially, without complex separation and purification processes between reactors.

"It is likely that the future consumer will not even know that they are putting biofuels into their car," said Huber. "Biofuels in the future will most likely be similar in chemical composition to gasoline and diesel fuel used today. The challenge for chemical engineers is to efficiently produce liquid fuels from biomass while fitting into the existing infrastructure today."

For their new approach, the UMass researchers rapidly heated cellulose in the presence of solid catalysts, materials that speed up reactions without sacrificing themselves in the process. They then rapidly cooled the products to create a liquid that contains many of the compounds found in gasoline.

The entire process was completed in under two minutes using relatively moderate amounts of heat. The compounds that formed in that single step, like naphthalene and toluene, make up one fourth of the suite of chemicals found in gasoline. The liquid can be further treated to form the remaining fuel components or can be used "as is" for a high octane gasoline blend.

"Green gasoline is an attractive alternative to bioethanol since it can be used in existing engines and does not incur the 30 percent gas mileage penalty of ethanol-based flex fuel," said John Regalbuto, who directs the Catalysis and Biocatalysis Program at NSF and supported this research.

"In theory it requires much less energy to make than ethanol, giving it a smaller carbon footprint and making it cheaper to produce," Regalbuto said. "Making it from cellulose sources such as switchgrass or poplar trees grown as energy crops, or forest or agricultural residues such as wood chips or corn stover, solves the lifecycle greenhouse gas problem that has recently surfaced with corn ethanol and soy biodiesel."

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Beyond academic laboratories, both small businesses and Fortune 500 petroleum refiners are pursuing green gasoline. Companies are designing ways to hybridize their existing refineries to enable petroleum products including fuels, textiles, and plastics to be made from either crude oil or biomass and the military community has shown strong interest in making jet fuel and diesel from the same sources.

"Huber's new process for the direct conversion of cellulose to gasoline aromatics is at the leading edge of the new "Green Gasoline" alternate energy paradigm that NSF, along with other federal agencies, is helping to promote," states Regalbuto.

Not only is the method a compact way to treat a great deal of biomass in a short time, Regalbuto emphasized that the process, in principle, does not require any external energy. "In fact, from the extra heat that will be released, you can generate electricity in addition to the biofuel," he said. "There will not be just a small carbon footprint for the process; by recovering heat and generating electricity, there won't be any footprint."

The latest pathways to produce green gasoline, green diesel and green jet fuel are found in a report sponsored by NSF, the Department of Energy and the American Chemical Society entitled "Breaking the Chemical and Engineering Barriers to Lignocellulosic Biofuels: Next Generation Hydrocarbon Biorefineries" released April 1 (http://www.ecs.umass.edu/biofuels/). In the report, Huber and a host of leaders from academia, industry and government present a plan for making green gasoline a practical solution for the impending fuel crisis.

"We are currently working on understanding the chemistry of this process and designing new catalysts and reactors for this single step technique. This fundamental chemical understanding will allow us to design more efficient processes that will accelerate the commercialization of green gasoline," Huber said.

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Minnesota Conservation Officer Tales

Minnesota Conservation Officer Tales - May 2008
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I'm going for some fresh air, dear

While checking a group of four fishermen on Lake of the Woods, CO Robert Gorecki (Baudette) noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the fish house. When questioned about this, two of the men produced marijuana and marijuana pipes. One of the men stated he was fishing in a portable fish house nearby with his wife, and asked if he could go back there to continue fishing since he did not possess any marijuana, and was only "visiting." After issuing citations to that group, CO Gorecki went to the portable house to check the husband and wife's fish. When the discussion returned to the marijuana incident, the wife became quite upset with the husband. Apparently the husband told his wife that he was going for some fresh air.

A fowl story

CO Mike Shelden (Alexandria) interviewed an individual who was observed swerving towards the shoulder of the roadway to run over a Canada goose with his pickup. The driver admitted he had swerved to run the goose over because, "It's only a goose." The individual was charged with killing the goose and also charged restitution for the goose.

Must be a Texas thing

CO Mark Mathy (Cass Lake) followed up on a TIP call of a person riding in the bed of a pickup truck hunting with an uncased bow. Contact was made with the hunter and it was determined that the individual was hunting rabbits and squirrel from the pickup with his bow. The hunter went on to say that he often hunts this way in his home state of Texas and was following in the footsteps of his grandfather who holds the record for the largest armadillo taken in Texas with a bow.

Moral dilemma

An ATV operator cited for intentionally riding on a trail in the closed Pillsbury State Forest told CO Jim Tischler (Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area), "You do what you can get away with."

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Another DWI

CO Matt Frericks (Virginia) responded to the report of an ATV that was stuck in the ditch along Highway 53. People driving by called in to report the operator of the ATV appeared to have difficulty standing, was at times falling over and had his pants around his ankles. Once on scene CO Frericks arrested the subject for DWI. This was the subject's 4th DWI in 10 years and his driving license had been canceled. The subject refused to submit to an alcohol test and was transported to jail. Upon arrival at the jail CO Frericks was told that the subject was too intoxicated to be jailed. The subject was transported to the hospital where he is currently being treated for numerous psychiatric conditions.

No valid reason for such a senseless act

CO Mark Fredin (Aurora) received a TIP call that a deer had been shot at a local golf course. The deer was located with a fatal bullet wound through an eye. Two suspects were interviewed and admitted to shooting the deer with no valid reason other than it was there and they had a gun.

Since when?

CO Mike Martin (St. Cloud) investigated a large plume of smoke rolling skyward in eastern Stearns County. Officer Martin found several men standing around a large pile of burning debris. The pile contained copper wire (plastic coated), empty five gallon buckets, green treated wood, Styrofoam, and other assorted wood and building products. The owner was unhappy when instructed to put the fire out and wanted to know "Since when?" that he couldn't burn plastic and green treated products. A summons was issued for burning prohibited material.

A gambler of several sorts

CO Gary Sommers (Walker) encountered a situation that necessitated his intervention. During a recent 24-inch snowfall the highway was covered with packed snow, which became very slippery and rutted. This made travel in the area dangerous and difficult. While on patrol, a vehicle approached from behind the officer and started to drive on the shoulder, which was clear of snow, as vehicles had not packed it down like the traffic lane. The car continued to approach on the shoulder and soon overtook Officer Sommers, accelerating as it went by. CO Sommers initiated a traffic stop, however the driver failed to stop, even though emergency lights had been activated. After some distance, the car finally started to slow, eventually pulling over. When the driver was questioned regarding his driving conduct he said, "I thought you were some dummy driving too slow, besides, the road was too bad to drive on and I could drive faster on the shoulder." The officer further questioned the driver why he had failed to stop when he observed emergency lights, he said, "I thought you were a snow plow." CO Sommers advised the driver that it was illegal to pass on the right. The driver questioned, "I thought if there was an emergency you could pass on the right." When the officer inquired as to what the emergency was, he stated, "I'm on my way to the casino."

Out of this world warning to trespassers

CO Don Bozovsky (Hibbing) chuckled after reading a huge "no trespassing" sign on an unoccupied lake home, which read: "Warning, trespassers will be atomized and beamed to Pluto."

Which ones do I keep?

CO Alan Peterson (Osage) observed an angler catching bluegills nearly one per minute, placing the small ones on the ice and keeping the larger ones in a pail. On two occasions he left smaller fish on the ice for 20 minutes, the second time pushing them back in the water on the Officer's approach. The angler said the little ones were interfering with his attempt to catch the bigger ones. He was cited for culling.

They had dad's permission

CO Mike Shelden (Alexandria) stopped an ATV being operated on a tar county road by a 10-year-old boy (no helmet and unregistered machine) with his young sister as a passenger. The youngsters said their father said they could take the ATV down the road to go buy a can of pop. When Officer Shelden called the father to advise him of the danger of having a 10-year-old operating an ATV on a highway without a helmet, and the fact that this is illegal, the father said the children could get hit by a car walking down a sidewalk as well.

Officer defers to Judge Mom

CO Pilot Al Buchert (Grand Rapids) was working ATV's in the Grand Rapids vicinity when he observed a rider on and near the shoulder of a county blacktop highway when he should have been in the ditch. When asked where he should be, he replied "At home?" His mother, now stopped behind the officer's squad, had been monitoring his progress enroute back to their residence a short distance away. After making sure the laws were understood by all, the Officer deferred the situation to the higher court, Judge Mom.

Caught at their favorite watering hole

CO Greg Oldakowski (Wadena) received a call about two men spearing rough fish in a river before the opening of the spearing season. Upon arrival, the men and the vehicle were nowhere in sight. However next door at a "watering hole," the vehicle was found, with speared fish in a pail, and 2 spears in the back of the truck. Enforcement action was taken.

Kayaker lays an egg

CO Marty Stage (Ely) issued a citation to a man with an unregistered kayak that had taken all the eggs from a Canada goose nest. He said he was going to eat them for breakfast and that he felt it was okay since "they" were trying to reduce the geese numbers in other areas anyway.

Smelters enjoy officer's catch

CO Bret Grundmeier (Hinckley) checked several groups of anglers having luck catching smelt. Unfortunately alongside the smelters, other groups were dealt with that preferred to drink more than their share and then toss their empty beer cans and booze bottles into the creek. The smelters seemed to enjoy watching the boozers get citations and then clean the garbage out of the creek with their smelting dip nets.

You never know who might be fishing next to you

CO Todd Langevin (Center City) came across an angler without a license. The angler did not have any identification and the first two names he gave to the officer were false. Once the suspect's real name was given, it turned out he had 2 felony warrants totaling $13,000 in bail. The suspect was arrested and charged accordingly.

Officer reported as suspicious person

CO Aaron Kahre (Minnetonka) went to inspect a public waters violation when a lady came out of the house and threatened to call the police for trespassing. CO Kahre gave the lady his card and told her she could call the police and to tell them that CO Kahre was out there. When the police arrived at the area, they told CO Kahre that he was reported as a suspicious vehicle on the person's property. After a little ribbing by the local police, the CO was able to conduct his inspection without incident.






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