Izaak Walton League schedules Oct. 16 meeting

The Maine Chapter of the Izaak Walton League will hold its third annual meeting on Oct. 16 at the Fields Pond Audubon Center in Holden.

The agenda will include discussion of citizen participation in wildlife surveys and the Maine Master Hunter program.

The keynote speaker will be Nelson Ross, the executive director of the Tennessee Izaak Walton League.

Maine Audubon naturalist Judy Markowsky will present a slide show on some of the wildlife surveys that her organization conducts, and signup sheets will be available.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service endangered species specialist Mark McCullough will speak about how the public can help conduct lynx and wolf surveys in Maine.

Bill Richards will give a progress report on the master hunter program.

The meeting will run from 1-4:30 p.m. and snacks will be provided.

Moosehorn opens to hunting

Refuge manager Bill Kolodnicki has announced that Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge has received final approval to expand its public hunting program.

Hunters can obtain a copy of the hunt map, special regulations, and permit at hunting kiosks located at Moosehorn.

Each hunter is required to have a signed hunting permit in his or her possession while on refuge lands. There is a short questionnaire on the back of the form which must be completed at the end of each day and returned to a drop box or at the refuge office.

The Edmunds Division and that part of the Baring Division west of Route 191 are open to hunting of American woodcock, Wilson’s snipe, upland game and black bear, bobcat, eastern coyote, and moose. The entire refuge, except established safety zones, will remain open to the hunting of white-tailed deer. Waterfowl hunting will be permitted on the Baring Division west of Route 191, and in parts of the Edmunds Division.

The Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge encompasses more than 28,800 acres in eastern Washington County.

Other members of the public using the refuge should wear hunter orange clothing. No-hunting zones have been established and posted to enhance public safety.

Hunting is a primary use on national wildlife refuges, and the National Wildlife Refuge System Improved Act of 1997 requires that refuges offer hunting programs when they are compatible with the purpose of the refuge and the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Hunting is allowed on more than 287 of the 545 national wildlife refuges across the country.

As refuges complete their comprehensive conservation plans, also required by the Improvement Act of 1997, more hunting programs are being established on refuges nationwide.

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