New Hunting Rules at Upper Miss

New hunting rules have been proposed for Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (IL, IA, WI, MN). The proposed changes, open to public comment through May 28, are available in the Federal Register.

The proposal creates two new "no hunting zones" on the 240,000-acre refuge but nearly doubles the acreage open to hunting in the Winona District (MN) by changing the "waterfowl hunting closed areas." Although more acreage will be open to hunting in the Winona District, the change is predicted to dramatically improve secure resting and feeding for waterfowl since a new but smaller closed area is richer in the aquatic vegetation favored by waterfowl.

There has been extensive public involvement in these proposed changes through the CCP process, subsequent open houses and workshops and the preparation of an environmental assessment on the recently acquired Mathy Tract near LaCrosse.

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