Dick Herfindahl, Woods & Water

There seem to be plenty of things going on in the area if you like the outdoors. The banks of the channel below the Fountain Lake dam are lined with fishermen who are reporting some pretty good luck for walleyes. I thought it was a little early for the fish to be fattening up for winter but here we are over half way through September. The only question I have is — where has the summer gone? It’s also a great time for taking a walk on one of the many trails we have in the area. Even something as simple as taking a drive in the country can be exhilarating this time of year.

The last few days while on my early morning walks by Frank Hall Park I’ve seen more and more pelicans. On Tuesday morning the channel was full of pelicans, and I saw a large group of them just outside of the channel in the main lake. That was really a sight to behold, and I can truthfully say I’ve never seen that many of those large birds gathered in one place before.

There have been a couple of the mornings when I startled a woodchuck that had ventured out by one of the pavilions. The first time it happened I don’t know who was more surprised old “Chuck” or me. I saw a Geico commercial the other day where two woodchucks were throwing this firewood into a lake and a guy comes by on a four-wheeler and yells “hey you woodchucks quit chucking my wood!” I don’t really know what that has to do with insurance but it got me thinking about one of my encounters with that woodchuck. This year isn’t the first time I’ve seen woodchucks at the channel, in fact a couple years ago there was a whole family of them hanging around and when I approached the adult didn’t seem like it was any hurry to leave the area. I don’t know how crabby they can get but I’d just as soon not find out.

It’s pretty amazing that we have so much wildlife right here in the city. There are a lot of critters around if you take the time to look for them. The other day I saw an opossum that had been hit by a car. I know he wasn’t playing because there are certain things that you just know. I’ve seen or at least smelled an occasional skunk and there were a couple times that I’ve spotted a raccoon. A few years ago we were almost overran by muskrats. It seems like they were popping up everywhere. These are just the critters that we only see occasionally but there are of course the resident squirrels pretty much everywhere you turn and in my neighborhood we also have an abundance of rabbits.

In the Sept. 13 issue of the Albert Lea Tribune there was an editorial from the Rochester Post Bulletin. It told of how the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is actively trying to get people, particularly our youth, interested in hunting and fishing. There has been a gradual decline in the purchase hunting and fishing licenses over the past few years, and this is why they have created more kids-only events and also free family-oriented events.

Our youth are the future of the outdoors as we know it, and we need to do all we can to encourage their participation.

In our area there are many good sportsman’s groups that are doing whatever they can to encourage our youth. Groups like the Southern Minnesota Gateway Chapter of the MDHA, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Fountain Lake Sportsmen’s Club and the Minnesota Waterfowl Association which was founded by local sportsmen Dick Lindell, Tom Tubbs, Bob Head and Ray Hangge. The Minnesota Waterfowl Association was instrumental in the passage of the Minnesota Wetlands Heritage Act of 1991 which was a major step in the right direction in providing protection and restoration of Minnesota’s remaining wetlands. These organizations have done much to acquire land and preserve habitat in the local area as well as introduce the youth of our area to the sports of hunting and fishing.

One reason that the number of hunters has been on the downturn is accessibility to habitat. As more and more land was posted there were becoming less and less places to hunt. This is where these groups have stepped up and have been instrumental in acquiring land for the public to use. The local chapter of the MDHA worked closely with Pheasants Forever to acquire approximately 1,200 acres for the expansion of the Grass Lake Wildlife Management Area.

These are but a few examples of what sportsmen can do when they come together for a cause that they believe in. Without these many fine organizations and the people who belong to them working to preserve our habitat and our heritage I wonder where we’d be hunting and fishing today. I know of many sportsmen who are not just members of one group but belong to more than one of these groups.

One thing we can do, as sportsmen, whether we belong to any organization or not is encourage our youth to enjoy the outdoors. It doesn’t matter whether it’s hunting, fishing, camping or hiking. It is important to get them involved because they are the future of the outdoors.

There is still plenty of good weather left for those of us that plan to do a little more fishin’.

Remember our brothers and sisters who are proudly serving our country so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today.

Dick Herfindahl’s outdoors column appears in Friday’s Tribune.