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Outdoors

Blue-ribbon fishery in Montana troubled

The Big Hole River, a blue-ribbon fishery that’s become a focal point in a years-long debate over nuisance algae growth, is poised to receive an impairment designation. At an open-house meeting in Divide this week, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality announced that the Big Hole, a mellow freestone river critical to southwest Montana’s outdoor recreation and agriculture economies, is struggling as a result of ecologically detrimental nutrient loading. The term DEQ is using in its discussion of the Big Hole is eutrophication, which describes the link between algae growth ...

Majestic view

A bald eagle is spotted in a tree along the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge walking trail in Seneca Falls, N.Y., on Friday, June 19. Photo for the Mirror by Tammy Frank

Quite the catch

Jayden Savino (left) and Kolbe Fletcher of Tyrone competed in a High School PA BASS Nation event on Cayuga Lake in New York on June 21. They had 19.81 lb. limit of five largemouth bass anchored by a 5.92-pound lunker. This was both boys’ first event fishing against high school teams. They ...

Hard work needed to keep Great Lakes viable

Michigan may be known as the Great Lakes state, but most of its residents have a river to thank for their hometown’s existence. “Just looking at settlement patterns in Michigan tells us a lot about how important our rivers are,” said Lisa Dechano-Cook, a Western Michigan University geographer who co-wrote the book “ Kalamazoo River.” “You wanted to be near water, especially running water, so that you could get from place to place.” When combined, Michigan’s 76,000 miles of rivers, creeks and streams have a shoreline 46 times the length of Michigan’s Great Lakes ...

Old-timers don’t like high-tech fishing because it can ruin a day at the lake

BISMARCK, N.D. — Ah, the serenity of fishing. Just an angler, a fishing pole and maybe thousands of dollars worth of sonar equipment offering an exact image of what that walleye or bass is doing in the watery depths below. It’s called forward-facing sonar, and the hot-selling products are not only helping anglers increase their catch, they are raising questions about why people go fishing in the first place and whether fish populations can survive the new technology. “You’ve got people that are concerned about what’s going to happen to the sport of fishing,” said Gary ...

Mountain goats numbers in jeopardy

Every now and then, a hiker, climber or biologist lays eyes on a mountain goat in the nooks and crannies of the mighty Teton Range. There’s a good likelihood that the unwanted, nonnative animal doesn’t survive long after the authorities pinpoint its presence. That’s because the National ...