onpoint
Active member
Expo aims to get kids hooked on the outdoors
By DOUG SMITH, Star Tribune
Last update: May 8, 2010 - 6:29 PM
Like many others, Jeff Hughes has witnessed the decline in hunting and fishing by youths -- and the overall decline in outdoor activity by young people -- a nationwide phenomenon.
The trend disturbs him. And not just because he runs a hunting club.
So Hughes, a co-owner of Wild Wings of Oneka Hunt Club in Hugo, is launching the Outdoor Youth Expo on May 22-23, an event that will offer youths and their families a chance to experience firsthand a plethora of outdoor activities, from hunting, fishing and camping, to dog handling, canoeing and kayaking, to bicycling safety and ATV rider education and to golf, lacrosse, basketball, baseball, hockey and climbing.
There also will be horses and birds of prey and nature walks. A laser-shot gallery. Archery. Duck and goose calling.
All free for kids younger than 16. There's a $5 charge for those 16 and older; parking is free. The first-ever event is on 65 acres of wooded trails and fields at the hunt club.
"My concern is that kids are spending so much time on their cell phones, PlayStations and on computers that they are losing touch with outdoors,'' said Hughes, 60, who said he grew up outside. "We have become a very impersonal society, and I think losing touch with outdoors has a lot to do with that. There's no connection with the land anymore.''
Hughes said he wanted to give kids a taste of all types of outdoor sports. If they come for one thing, they might see something else that piques their interest.
"We wanted to open it up to a wider range of audience, to get kids from all walks of life," Hughes said. "We're doing it because there's a need, we have ability to do it and the place to do it.''
For more information, see www.mnoutdooryouthexpo.com.
Those pesky definitions
The Minnesota House, after consulting with some conservation group leaders, has tweaked its definitions of how to "protect, enhance and restore'' wildlife habitat -- language in the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. But controversy over the definitions remains. Conservation groups and some legislators say the definitions, passed last year, distort the intent of the constitutional amendment and will result in money being spent on projects that weren't intended.
House leaders, including Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, met last week with some conservation groups, and they agreed to language changes. But others say those change still will allow Legacy funds to be used for projects that distort the intent of the amendment.
"The definitions are still very problematic,'' said Tom Landwehr, assistant state director of the Nature Conservancy. And he said there are other problems with the bill. "We don't support it."
Under the new House definition, protect "means action to maintain the ability of habitat and related natural systems to sustain fish, game, or wildlife through, but not limited to, acquisition of fee title or conservation easements.''
Bob Meier, the DNR's legislative director, said that wording would appear to allow funds to be spent to control invasive species, such as Asian carp, purple loosestrife and the emerald ash borer, instead of directly on improving wildlife habitat.
"They created a hole so big [with the definition] you can drive a truck through it,'' he said. The DNR wasn't at the meeting.
The Senate version of the bill simply repeals the definitions.
A House-Senate conference committee will have to work out differences in the bills.
Game and fish bill The legislative session is rapidly coming to a close, and one thing appears certain: Fishing license fees won't be raised. A provision that would have increased fees $4 next year was removed from a bill on the Senate floor last week. The increase was in the large game and fish bill, which has many other provisions affecting hunters and anglers.
The House hasn't passed its version of the bill. When it does, a conference committee will have to resolve differences.
Among the most controversial: The Senate bill would allow the spearing of northern pike on Cass Lake. It also would allow scopes to be used on muzzleloaders and would create a "walk-in" hunting program in which landowners would be paid to open their lands to the public.
Did you know?
â?¢ Some sturgeon anglers on the Rainy River have been cited for keeping illegal-length fish and failing to validate their sturgeon tags.
â?¢ Conservation officer Mark Fredin of Aurora discovered a butchered sturgeon on the bank of the Embarrass River with its head propped on a post.
â?¢ Fishing "guides" at the Governor's Fishing Opener at Lake Kabetogama next weekend will get around the U.S. Coast Guard licensing requirements because all will be unpaid volunteers. None of the "guides" will receive even tips.
By DOUG SMITH, Star Tribune
Last update: May 8, 2010 - 6:29 PM
Like many others, Jeff Hughes has witnessed the decline in hunting and fishing by youths -- and the overall decline in outdoor activity by young people -- a nationwide phenomenon.
The trend disturbs him. And not just because he runs a hunting club.
So Hughes, a co-owner of Wild Wings of Oneka Hunt Club in Hugo, is launching the Outdoor Youth Expo on May 22-23, an event that will offer youths and their families a chance to experience firsthand a plethora of outdoor activities, from hunting, fishing and camping, to dog handling, canoeing and kayaking, to bicycling safety and ATV rider education and to golf, lacrosse, basketball, baseball, hockey and climbing.
There also will be horses and birds of prey and nature walks. A laser-shot gallery. Archery. Duck and goose calling.
All free for kids younger than 16. There's a $5 charge for those 16 and older; parking is free. The first-ever event is on 65 acres of wooded trails and fields at the hunt club.
"My concern is that kids are spending so much time on their cell phones, PlayStations and on computers that they are losing touch with outdoors,'' said Hughes, 60, who said he grew up outside. "We have become a very impersonal society, and I think losing touch with outdoors has a lot to do with that. There's no connection with the land anymore.''
Hughes said he wanted to give kids a taste of all types of outdoor sports. If they come for one thing, they might see something else that piques their interest.
"We wanted to open it up to a wider range of audience, to get kids from all walks of life," Hughes said. "We're doing it because there's a need, we have ability to do it and the place to do it.''
For more information, see www.mnoutdooryouthexpo.com.
Those pesky definitions
The Minnesota House, after consulting with some conservation group leaders, has tweaked its definitions of how to "protect, enhance and restore'' wildlife habitat -- language in the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. But controversy over the definitions remains. Conservation groups and some legislators say the definitions, passed last year, distort the intent of the constitutional amendment and will result in money being spent on projects that weren't intended.
House leaders, including Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, met last week with some conservation groups, and they agreed to language changes. But others say those change still will allow Legacy funds to be used for projects that distort the intent of the amendment.
"The definitions are still very problematic,'' said Tom Landwehr, assistant state director of the Nature Conservancy. And he said there are other problems with the bill. "We don't support it."
Under the new House definition, protect "means action to maintain the ability of habitat and related natural systems to sustain fish, game, or wildlife through, but not limited to, acquisition of fee title or conservation easements.''
Bob Meier, the DNR's legislative director, said that wording would appear to allow funds to be spent to control invasive species, such as Asian carp, purple loosestrife and the emerald ash borer, instead of directly on improving wildlife habitat.
"They created a hole so big [with the definition] you can drive a truck through it,'' he said. The DNR wasn't at the meeting.
The Senate version of the bill simply repeals the definitions.
A House-Senate conference committee will have to work out differences in the bills.
Game and fish bill The legislative session is rapidly coming to a close, and one thing appears certain: Fishing license fees won't be raised. A provision that would have increased fees $4 next year was removed from a bill on the Senate floor last week. The increase was in the large game and fish bill, which has many other provisions affecting hunters and anglers.
The House hasn't passed its version of the bill. When it does, a conference committee will have to resolve differences.
Among the most controversial: The Senate bill would allow the spearing of northern pike on Cass Lake. It also would allow scopes to be used on muzzleloaders and would create a "walk-in" hunting program in which landowners would be paid to open their lands to the public.
Did you know?
â?¢ Some sturgeon anglers on the Rainy River have been cited for keeping illegal-length fish and failing to validate their sturgeon tags.
â?¢ Conservation officer Mark Fredin of Aurora discovered a butchered sturgeon on the bank of the Embarrass River with its head propped on a post.
â?¢ Fishing "guides" at the Governor's Fishing Opener at Lake Kabetogama next weekend will get around the U.S. Coast Guard licensing requirements because all will be unpaid volunteers. None of the "guides" will receive even tips.