By Kevin Naze
Correspondent
BROWN COUNTY – Don’t be a fool and go fishing without first purchasing a new 2022 fishing license.
While it’s true that Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conservation wardens can use discretion when deciding to issue a warning or a citation, fishing without a license is one of those times you won’t likely catch a break.
There are many options, from Conservation Patron to first-time buyers to husband-and-wife combo licenses.
The most popular is a straight resident fishing license.
Buy the salmon and trout stamp privilege if you will be targeting either of those on the Great Lakes or tributaries, or the inland trout stamp privilege for inland waters.
New hook and line, inland trout and spearing and netting regulations are available in booklet form at most license agents, or online.
Residents and non-residents age 16 and up are required to purchase a license to fish.
For more information, visit dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Fishing.
Bi-partisan wolf bill
Wisconsin’s two U.S. senators, Republican Ron Johnson and Democrat Tammy Baldwin, joined forces with two senators from Wyoming last month to introduce a bill to remove federal protections for the gray wolf.
The effort comes after a California federal court judge in February ordered Endangered Species Act protections be restored for wolves in most of the U.S., effectively prohibiting lethal control.
Baldwin said she’s supported efforts to delist wolves in Wisconsin since 2011 because of the scientific conclusion the population has recovered in the Great Lakes region.
Johnson said state wildlife agencies should manage the recovered population so the wolf’s ongoing role in the ecosystem doesn’t come at the expense of farmers, loggers, sportsmen and people who simply live in these areas.
Farms and forests
Wisconsin has about 14.3 million acres dedicated to agriculture, an industry that contributes more than $100 billion to the state’s economy.
Many hunters receive permission to pursue deer, turkeys, geese and other wild game on farmland.
Sometimes those opportunities are lost when smaller farms are bought by larger operations, or developed.
A new report on the status of the Farmland Preservation Program can be seen at datcp.wi.gov/Documents2/FPPBiennialReport201921.pdf.
Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Council of Forestry has posted a summary of landowner and stakeholder group discussions on the future of Wisconsin’s forest products economy.
The state’s forest industry provides more than 60,000 jobs and has a total output of about $25 billion.
There are about 17 million acres of forest land, which cover about 46% of the state’s total area.
Healthy forests provide essential wildlife habitat, help to ensure clean water and air and are critical in mitigating the effects of climate change.
They provide various production inputs, environmental goods, food, fuel, medicines, household equipment, building materials and raw materials for industrial processing.
A link to the report can be found at councilonforestry.wi.gov.
Two trout tournaments
A pair of Lake Michigan and Green Bay brown trout fishing tournaments will be held this month – April 7-10 in Door and Kewaunee counties and April 23 at Kewaunee.
The first, the Baileys Harbor Brown Trout Tournament, allows fishing off both Door and Kewaunee counties and in both Green Bay and Lake Michigan.
There are daily port prizes in addition to the final top-40 payout.
Visit the event’s Facebook page or learn more at baileysharbor.doorcounty.com.
The second is a team event where you weigh up to your five heaviest browns.
There will be prizes for the top-four team weights and the single heaviest brown.
Call Merrick Malach for details at (920) 366-7706 or email [email protected].
Spring hearing online
The annual DNR spring fish and wildlife hearings and Wisconsin Conservation Congress county meetings are canceled for the third straight year, but citizens can still provide input on more than 60 questions.
A 72-hour voting period begins at 7 p.m. April 11.
Results are advisory only but often are a good gauge of public opinion and sometimes lead to rule changes.
Learn more at dnr.wisconsin.gov/about/wcc/springhearing.
Comment on deer hunts
Area hunters can see and comment on the County Deer Advisory Council’s preliminary 2022 season recommendations via dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Hunt/cdac.
Many farmland-zone counties are planning to offer two or three free antlerless deer tags with each license sold this fall.
An antlerless gun deer hunt over the Christmas and New Year’s break and an extended, either-sex bow and crossbow deer hunt through January, will also be held.
Sports editor’s note: To read another In the Outdoors column by Kevin Naze, CLICK HERE.