If you enjoy hunting or freshwater fishing and you live within driving distance of Milton, you'll want to mark down Aug. 23 on your calendar.

Wildlife Expo 2008 will at the Pensacola Junior College Milton campus that day and will run from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. There'll be six sessions offered during the day, and participants will have their pick of attending one of three seminars offered during each session.

The sponsors of the event are the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Services 

AUSTIN, Texas — The trouble with calendars is the numbers don’t have a say on which day of the week they occur. If dove hunters had a say in the matter, Sept. 1 and Sept. 20 would always fall on a Friday.

Sept. 1, as opening day of dove hunting in Texas, has been part of the state’s hunting tradition ever since the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 was signed. This treaty with Canada and Mexico established the framework for the taking of all migratory game birds, including dove. Under this federal law, dove hunting in the United States cannot begin before Sept. 1.

Bogart, GA - Got questions about Quality Deer Management? Get answers straight from the top when you meet and speak with nationally known QDM experts and hunting celebrities at the Quality Deer Management Association's Whitetail Expo, part of the 2008 QDMA National Convention. The Whitetail Expo is open to the public and takes place July 26-27 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Lee and Tiffany Lakosky of Scent-Lok's "Gettin' Close" will kick off the celebrity appearances at the show with a seminar at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 26. Nationally known deer researcher Dr. Grant 

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, in partnership with the Jekyll Island Authority, has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the Fish America Foundation. The money will be used to improve Ski Rixen Pond, a 23-acre manmade saltwater fishing site.

The money is being used to install an aeration system in the pond to improve water quality during summer and to create fish habitat.

State, local and federal enforcement agents arrested six suspects and removed 4,100 marijuana plants from a sensitive state ecological area in Kern County on July19. Department of Fish and Game (DFG) wardens, Kern and Tulare County sheriff’s officers, the Bakersfield Police Department, and U.S. Forest Service agents participated in the two-month investigation and bust on the 2,789-acre Canebrake Ecological Reserve near Lake Isabella.

"These arrests are significant considering the number of marijuana plants wardens found on the property,” said DFG Director Don Koch.

 

MISSOULA, Montana-With a focus on elk habitat stewardship and conservation, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has announced grants for 2008 projects in Utah.

Twenty-three grants totaling $210,450 have been awarded. Grants affect Beaver, Carbon, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, Millard, San Juan, Sanpete, Summit, Tooele, Uintah, Utah and Weber counties.

Another $37,785 is available for allocation in additional grants later this year.

Chris Niskanen, Pioneer Press

America's best wildlife conservation program is under assault from agriculture groups and Congress, and the outcome won't be pretty, especially in Minnesota and the Dakotas.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to announce soon that it will allow landowners and farmers to tear up their 10-year contracts and plow up their Conservation Reserve Program lands. Nationwide, it's a program responsible for creating 34 million acres of protected wetlands and grasslands.

LITTLE ROCK – Gov. Mike Beebe today named Ron Duncan of Springdale as his most recent appointment to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Duncan replaces Sonny Varnell of St. Paul, whose term had expired.

“For decades, Ron has shown that the efforts of one man dedicated to education and the outdoors can better the lives of thousands of students,” Beebe said. “His passion for fishing has provided

BASS announced today that Wagoner, Oklahoma, and Fort Gibson Lake will host the 2008 Yamaha BASS Club World Championship presented by Skeeter Boats, set for October 9-11. The event will feature 38 six-angler teams that qualified for the championship event through their performance at six regional events.

The six-angler teams will compete for a top prize of six Skeeter/Yamaha boat packages valued at $50,000 each, one for each winning team member. The first two days of competition will feature a full field, with only the top seven teams moving on to the final day.

AUSTIN, Texas — New hunting and fishing licenses for 2008-09 will be available beginning Friday, Aug. 15, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is encouraging hunters to buy early and avoid the rush heading into the Sept. 1 dove season opener.

"If you wait until the Labor Day Weekend, you’re probably going to be standing in line to buy a license," said Tom Newton with TPWD’s licensing section. "Savvy hunters have figured it out and are buying their licenses early."