Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking applications to fill one volunteer position on the Region 7 Citizen Advisory Council (CAC). The council was established to provide input and guidance to FWP from the public on a wide variety of issues.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking volunteers for help building a mile and a quarter of jackleg fence on the east side of the Sun River Wildlife Management Area. “Now is the time for all those folks who said last year they would help to step up,” says Mark Schlepp, WMA manager.

Wildlife Management Areas in north central Montana open to the public May 15, and the three WMA’s on the Rocky Mountain Front open at noon on that date. Those three are: Sun River, Blackleaf and Ear Mountain WMA’s.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks is now offering bowhunter education over the Internet. Although the course is online, students must still take a field test to receive their bowhunter education card.

Several field days are set throughout the state for online students. For more information check the National Bowhunter Education Foundation web site at www.nbef.org .

Fish, Wildlife & Parks is seeking to fill six volunteer positions on the Region 4 Citizen Advisory Council (CAC). The panel was established two years ago to provide input and guidance to FWP from the public.

From the artistic to the eccentric—it has been seen at one time or the other at one of Montana’s 306 Fishing Access Sites, say the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks folks who maintain, and like so many other Montanans, enjoy using these sites.

Attention boaters: new boat validation decals are needed before you launch your boat this year.

The red validation decal obtained for motorboats, sailboats, or personal watercraft expired at the end of February and should be removed or covered. The new decal needed before launching boats this spring is green in color and is valid through Feb. 28, 2011.

Montana drivers beware! The early signs of spring green up that are finally visible, may be especially bad news for unwary drivers.

"Deer and other wildlife are eating along roadsides this time of year, taking advantage of the fresh new green grass sprouts and buds on willows and brush," said Ron Aasheim, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks communication and education division administrator.

Patti Sowka, director of the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, got the call on a recent Tuesday afternoon. A facility maintenance person found an ailing loon wrapped in fishing line near the Big Sandy fishing access site at Hauser Lake.

The board of TIP-MONT, Montana’s outdoor crime stopper program, recently awarded $14,900 to 27 individuals who called the TIP-MONT hot line in 2007 and provided valuable information helping to solve outdoor crimes.

The third Saturday in May, May 17, is the 2008 general fishing season opener. That makes it a special day for thousands of anglers itching to fish Montana’s rivers and streams. The general fishing season traditionally opens on the third Saturday of May, while fishing on the state’s lakes and reservoirs is generally open year round.

Spring black bear hunting in some management units closes May 15, while hunting in other bear management units closes May 31 or June 15.

Hunters are responsible for checking the 2008 bear regulations for exact season dates before they hunt.

2007 marked the first 20 years of the Blackfoot River restoration initiative.

Work in the Blackfoot has evolved into a ridgetop-to-ridgetop philosophy of conservation with restoration on 50 tributaries completed, many of which host westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout.

Years ago, when my son was about six-years old, we went fishing near Helena at the York Bridge. He was casting near the boat launch, and typical of little boys, watching the launching of many different boats.

Many kids wish they had a fishing-hole just a bike ride from their back door. That wish is a reality for kids in a few communities around the state, thanks to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks’ new Community Ponds Program.

This past fall FWP biologists sampling fish on the Tiber Reservoir found a very uncommon fish for that water in the gill net—a shovelnose sturgeon.

Because there has never been any evidence of the shovelnose reproducing in the Marias River above Tiber, and only about a dozen adult sturgeon have been found in Tiber since netting began in 1973, this fish is likely a relic of the Marias River before it was impounded 51 years ago.

Montana’s angling community received a big surprise when Missoula angler Bob Hart caught the new state record walleye from Tiber Reservoir on Nov. 18, 2007.

Although Tiber produces good numbers of smaller walleye, it is not particularly known for producing trophy-sized fish. Hart’s record walleye, measuring 35 inches in length and weighing 17.75 lbs., unseated Dan Spence’s previous record by more than a pound. Spence’s walleye was caught in Fort Peck in 2000.

Last year 390,000 anglers purchased fishing licenses. Residents comprise about 59 percent of the state’s fishing-license buyers.

About 33 percent of all adult Montana residents purchase fishing licenses annually.

Montana’s fishing season officially opens the third Saturday in May, and that is May 17 this year. That means eager anglers are already digging out their tackle boxes, throwing out dried up bait and dreaming over new tackle at sporting goods stores on the weekend.