ALBANY, NY (AP) -- State conservation officials have proposed setting a 10-week hunting season for snapping turtles, while establishing both size and bag limits to protect the reptile that was named the state turtle last year.

Likewise, the Department of Environmental Conservation wants to limit frog hunting to 15 weeks annually in New York. You could still take as many as you wanted in the open season, and any size, though it would be illegal to shoot them at night.

The new rules were proposed this summer, following 2005 amendments to Environmental Conservation Law to list all native amphibians and reptiles as small game, including some previously unprotected. Lawmakers sought "to maintain desirable wildlife species in ecological

JEFFERSON CITY--For the second year in a row, laboratory tests found no Missouri deer with chronic wasting disease (CWD). The Missouri Department of Conservation says it plans to continue testing deer taken in this year's hunting season and in the future.

Naturally, we are extremely happy to learn that our second year of chronic wasting disease surveillance didn't find any infected deer," said Eric Kurzejeski, resource science supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation. "All the same, it's important that we continue monitoring the health of Missouri's deer herd. We want to be sure to find CWD if it exists in parts of the state where we haven't tested yet, and we have to be ready to respond quickly and appropriately if it is found. We need hunters' continuing help to accomplish that."

The 10^th annual FISH AND WILDLIFE OPEN HOUSE will be held on Saturday, September 8^th, from 9:30am-3:30pm, at the Maine Wildlife Park in Gray. This event is designed to showcase the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s programs, projects and personnel. Wildlife and fisheries biologists, safety officers, hatchery staff and game wardens will be on hand and in person to talk about their fishery, wildlife, safety and enforcement programs and projects throughout the day.

The Friends of the Maine Wildlife Park latest project – the new red and gray FOX EXHIBIT, will be formally dedicated at 11:00am. Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Danny Martin will be on hand to dedicate this attractive new exhibit.

Hunters remain a powerful force in American society, as evidenced by the presidential candidates who routinely pay them homage, but their ranks are shrinking dramatically and wildlife agencies worry increasingly about the loss of sorely needed license-fee revenue.

With fall hunting season opening up, new figures from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service show that the number of hunters 16 and older declined by 10 percent between 1996 and 2006 — from 14 million to about 12.5 million. The drop was most acute in New England, the

Sleeping late on weekend mornings is not a way of life for Maine’s bass tournament anglers. Sporting some of the most colorful and shiny boats on the water, propelled with the most powerful of outboards, these anglers rise before daylight to fish early in quest of the heaviest catch of bass amongst competitors, then release them back into the lake at the end of the day.

According to Peter Bourque, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s (MDIFW) Director of Fisheries Program Development, the state of Maine probably has the most restrictive laws and regulations governing bass tournaments in the entire country. “Other states envy Maine’s framework for regulating bass tournaments”, Bourque remarked recently, “because some states have so few lakes and so many tournaments that they must stagger opening times every two hours for multiple tourneys being held on individual lakes on the same day.  Maine

law permits only one tournament per day on individual lakes.”

OLYMPIA, WA - Fifteen projects, including the largest estuary-restoration effort in Puget Sound to date, are receiving $6.8 million in state funding to preserve and restore natural shorelines and estuaries.

The funds will be disbursed through the Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program (ESRP), which was established by the Legislature in 2006 as part of Gov. Chris Gregoire's Puget Sound Initiative. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) administers funding for the program.

Funds will be used to match other local, state and federal resources to implement 15 protection and restoration projects from the Canadian border to Olympia.  The estimated total value is more than $26 million.

OLYMPIA - Nine winners have been drawn in a special hunting permit raffle that raised $142,400 to support big-game management in Washington state.

Permits for deer, elk, mountain goat, bighorn sheep and moose will be awarded to hunters who purchased winning tickets for each species in the annual raffle sponsored by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

Another hunter, Bill Shields of Yakima, already received a special permit to hunt Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep after his ticket was drawn in a separate raffle conducted earlier this month.  That raffle, sponsored by the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep, raised $101,880 for WDFW's Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep management efforts.

The Florida harvest season for snook reopens Sept. 1, and anglers should note several new snook regulations are in effect.  The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recently changed snook bag and size limits and harvest seasons to help protect and preserve snook stocks in Florida.

There is now a one-fish daily bag limit per person statewide for snook and a slot limit of 28-32 inches total length in Atlantic waters and a 28-33 inches total length limit in Florida's Gulf, Everglades National Park and Monroe County waters.

In addition, the snook harvest season will close on Dec. 1 in the Gulf, Everglades and Monroe County and will reopen March 1.  In the Atlantic, the season will close on Dec. 15 and reopen Feb. 1.

MONTGOMERY, Al — An icon in the fishing and hunting industry and host of "Good Fishing" and "Outdoor Secrets," Babe Winkelman is viewed weekly throughout North America on both broadcast and cable stations.

A testimony to Babe's wide appeal is the recognition he has received from organizations that have never honored outdoorsmen. In 1992, he was inducted into the prestigious Sports Legends Hall of Fame (alongside the world's best athletes in baseball, football, boxing and other traditional sports) by the Touchdown Club of Columbus, OH. In 1988, he was inducted into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame. And in 2001, Babe was inducted into the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame.