CINCINNATI - A site once home to a Cold War-era uranium processing plant and the focus of a contentious struggle to clean up toxic waste has re-emerged as a haven for wildlife and a memorial to those who worked to make the area safe.The Fernald Preserve and its visitors center will make their public debut Wednesday at the former site of the government center that processed uranium metal for nuclear weapons from 1952 to 1989. Shrouded in secrecy for years, the site gained national notoriety in the 1980s with media reports on site emissions and residents’ concerns over radioactive contamination of air, soil and groundwater.

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boy is fall cranking up, seems like almost every day another lottery is being held. here's the latest on swans...

North Dakota’s swan lottery has been held and more than 800 licenses remain. Only hunters who do not have a swan license for the 2008 season can apply, as regulations limit hunters to one license per year.

First come, first served licenses can be purchased online at the North Dakota Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. Hunters may also request an application by calling the department’s Bismarck office at 701-328-6300.

With big game hunting seasons fast approaching, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department reminds hunters that hunting big game over bait on state wildlife management areas is prohibited.

In addition, hunting over bait is also not allowed on all U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service national wildlife refuges and waterfowl production areas, all North Dakota state school lands, and all North Dakota state park lands.

Hunting over bait is defined as the placement and/or use of baits for attracting big game and other wildlife to a specific location for the purpose of hunting.

Baits include but are not limited to grains, minerals, salts, fruits, vegetables, hay or any other natural or manufactured foods. It does not apply to the use of scents and lures, water, food plots, standing crops, or livestock feeds being used in standard practices.

Landowners Seek Doe Hunters

North Dakota Game and Fish Department big game biologist Bill Jensen is currently working with a number of landowners across the state who would like to host antlerless deer hunters in 2008.

“We are hoping to match landowners who want a good deer harvest with antlerless whitetail and mule deer hunters looking for a place to hunt,” Jensen said. “We have worked with several dozen landowners in the past, and most have reported good success in matching up with doe hunters.”

This program is not intended as a guide service for buck hunters, Jensen said, but to direct antlerless hunters to specific areas to reduce deer depredation problems in the future.

“These landowners have contacted us and asked for help in reducing the deer population in their areas,” Jensen said. “We’re happy to direct some hunters to them, but we don’t want them to be overrun either. This is the reason we have developed and set up the contact list.”

Landowners participating in the program are located in hunting units 2C, 2E, 2G2, 2I, 2J1, 2J2, 2G2, 2K1, 2K2, 3A2, 3A3, 3A4, 3B1, 3C, 3D1, 3E1, 3E2, 3F1, 3F2, 4A, 4B, 4D, 4E and 4F.

Interested hunters can get their name on a list of possible participants by accessing the Game and Fish Department’s website at gf.nd.gov. Hunters who do not have Internet access can call the department’s main office in Bismarck at 701-328-6300.

Hunters will provide their address, hunting unit(s) where they hold valid antlerless licenses, and if using firearm or bow. From this list the department will select the number of hunters landowners have agreed to host. These hunters will be sent the landowner’s name, phone number and any information relating to the landowner’s specific situation.

Not everyone who signs up will end up with a new place to hunt, Jensen said, because not everyone’s schedule will match up with a landowner’s, and more people will likely put their name on the list than there are landowners.

North Dakota’s 2008 deer gun season runs from Nov. 7-23. In addition, a September antlerless deer gun season is open from Sept. 26 – Oct. 2 in hunting units 2C and 2D. The archery season extends from Aug. 29 through Jan. 4, 2009; the youth season is from Sept. 12-21; and muzzleloader runs from Nov. 28 – Dec. 14.

More than 38,000 antlerless deer gun licenses are still available after the North Dakota Game and Fish Department recently completed its lottery drawing. These remaining licenses will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no limit to the number of licenses a hunter can receive.

Hunters can apply online at the Game and Fish Department website, gf.nd.gov. Paper applications will be available by Aug. 22 from Game and Fish offices, county auditors and license vendors. Hand delivered applications will not be processed at the department while the applicant waits. Residents and nonresidents are eligible to apply.

Hunters are reminded that these additional doe licenses can be used during the archery season with a bow; the deer gun season with a bow, rifle or muzzleloader; or during the muzzleloader season with a muzzleloader. Hunters must stay in the unit to which the license is assigned.

Remaining doe licenses in units 2C and 2D can be used during the seven-day September antlerless deer gun season (Sept. 26 – Oct. 2). Hunters are restricted to either unit 2C or 2D.

The regular deer gun season begins at noon Nov. 7.

So far so good for the 2008 Early Canada goose season. I was emailed my first goose pix by 10AM and accounts from NW of Bismarck to Richland County were of decent amount of hunters and obviously plentiful birds. Couple of note were that the birds were grouping up into huntable numbers more and more through the week, making for some decent flocks over 100s. And as hot as August 'could' be this wasn't to bad on the edges with 60s in the early AM. Here's a pix from the Bendickson crew near Griggs County, ND