COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina has become a pretty big catch among fishermen and women.

The Palmetto State has rivers, lakes, mountain streams, salt marshes and the Atlantic Ocean, which allow anyone with a fishing license to catch to their heart’s content.

With over 1,000 public fishing spots, SC has developed into a premier destination ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Ding Darling didn’t worry about being heard when the topic was waterfowl management. To stress the importance of conservation, the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist simply sketched an image — and another and another — lampooning Washington bigwigs when he thought their regulations were hurting ducks and ...Read more

SEATTLE — You might know the proverb “April showers bring May flowers,” but have you ever heard that warm dry winters bring spring flowers quicker?

Probably not, because the new saying hasn’t been approved by the mythical proverb-officiants, but it’s a reality nonetheless.

Months of warm temperatures and a lack of rain mean early ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — As the first day of spring approaches, Connecticut boaters are getting ready to launch on the state’ on the state’s hundreds of ponds, lakes and rivers, but officials say there’s a few things to know this year before hitting the water.

Connecticut contains over 3,000 lakes, ponds and waterways across the state, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Some years ago, my two sons and I were on Lake of the Woods when a friend of mine, Benny Ratuski, suggested we go flying for walleyes in his plane, a de Havilland Beaver on floats. My boys were young at the time, maybe 8 and 10, and they were all-in for the idea. On a bright, clear day, Benny put the Beaver on step, and we were ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Imagine a herd of 100 deer in just one farm plot, chomping through a soybean field like a mower.

When an insurance adjuster visited Jim Lindley, who has a farm in the Scenery Hill section of North Bethlehem in Washington County, last summer, the soybean crop was so decimated the adjuster thought the field had been mowed.

“We ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — If you live, fish or boat on Lake Pepin, the St. Croix or Minnesota rivers, and you worry that someday thousands of silver carp might leap from those waters, ruining your fun, property values or both, nothing you’re about to read will give you comfort.

That’s because the Department of Natural Resources — though handed $12 ...Read more

BALTIMORE — A fight over Maryland’s 2026 rockfish season is pitting catch-and-release anglers against charter operators and other fishermen who want to preserve more traditional harvest opportunities, with a legislative hold threatening to delay the state’s season announcement just weeks before spring fishing typically begins.

At the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fisheries section chief Brad Parsons supports reducing the statewide walleye limit from six to four. The agency is accepting public comment until March 5, and an administrative law judge ultimately might decide whether the change should occur.

In another major change affecting ...Read more

SEATTLE — Rules for harvesting shellfish from Washington public beaches are poised to change.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife is proposing to increase the minimum harvest size for cockles from one and half inches to two and a half, decrease the limit of geoducks that can be gathered daily from three to one and modify ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A new, modernized licensing system for outdoor recreation in Minnesota is expected to phase in this spring, a top Department of Natural Resources administrator said.

The upgraded system, which was originally planned for a 2025 start, will include a new mobile app. The system will initially allow for the purchase of hunting and ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — When I lived in Ely in the late 1970s, the Boundary Waters was on fire. Not literally — the region’s pines, spruces and birches weren’t burning. Instead, the topic of how to federally regulate the more than 1 million-acre wilderness was again up for grabs, and Congress would be the decider.

At the time, newspapers had more...Read more

DENVER — Long before Ty Faber was one of Colorado’s best anglers, his dad was trying to keep him from falling in the San Juan River.

Faber started fishing at about 2 years old, when his father, Mark Faber, would carry him down to the river in a backpack. There, Ty would stand at the riverbank while Mark assisted the tyke’s fly-fishing rod...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Foraging has existed as long as people have hunted land and fished waters in Minnesota. In modern times, it has existed in a legal gray zone with few clear guidelines for personal use for mushroom hunters, plant harvesters and berry gatherers alike. That could soon change.

A state task force has produced what it says is a ...Read more