DNR offers women's shooting sports and firearms safety classes

Shooting sports are a fast growing segment of the population, especially with women. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources? (DNR) Becoming An Outdoors Woman (BOW) program will offer courses in June, July and August to teach firearm safety and trap shooting.

"Many of the women attending our workshops are finding out how much fun it is to participate in shooting sports," said Jean Bergerson, program coordinator. "These clinics are an opportunity to continue developing those skills."

Women who would like to learn about firearms, and the proper way to handle and care for them can register for a firearms safety workshop on July 10-11. The two-day, hands-on training will be held at the Minnesota Shooting Sports Education Center in Grand Rapids. Women who complete the course will also receive their Minnesota firearms safety certification. The cost for the two-day class is $10.00.

Women interested in trap shooting can participate in two Saturday shotgun clinics, both of which will be held at Metro Gun Club in Blaine. The first clinic is scheduled for Saturday, June 12 from 1-4 p.m.; the second will be August 28 from 1-4 p.m. Each clinic is limited to the first 25 participants so early registration is important. Cost is $35.00 per person, which includes guns and ammunition. Women can also bring their own firearms to shoot. Firearm safety prior to the clinic is strongly encouraged but not required. Participants will be divided into groups based on their shooting level.

To register for the firearms safety workshop or either one of the two trap shooting clinics, women should contact the DNR Information Center at (651) 296-6157 in the metro area, or 1-888-MINNDNR (646-6367) out-state. Pre-registration is required for these courses.

The Minnesota DNR's BOW program, which began in 1994, focuses on teaching women outdoor skills in areas such as hunting, fishing and other outdoor pursuits. It offers a wide variety of half-day clinics and weekend workshops throughout the year. The classes are designed for women 18 years of age and older.

For information about BOW programs, log onto the DNR?s Web site at www.dnr.state.mn.us/education/bow/index.html .

DNR urges boaters to have patience at public accesses

With more than 800,000 registered boats in Minnesota and over one million fishing licenses issued each year, expect there to be a flurry of activity at the public boat accesses on fishing opener weekend.

"Anglers are so anxious to get on the water, they can be unprepared or out of the practice of launching their boat and that causes problems at the public boat access sites," said Kim Lockwood, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) water recreation operations supervisor.

Lockwood offered these suggestions for the opener:

- plan to be patient and prepared as you head to the public access

- there may be complications launching boats due to low lake water levels in most regions of the state

- low lake levels began developing last year and have continued their decline into this spring. Many lakes are now at summer levels

- extra care should be taken at the ramps during the launch and load process to prevent unnecessary problems or damage to equipment and egos.

There are about 1,500 public boat access sites managed by the DNR and another 1,500 that are managed by other units of government.

Work crews from the DNR's Trails and Waterways Division have been busy the last few weeks preparing the access sites for use. Reports from the field offices indicate there were about 200 sites that incurred ice damage, which rendered the launch ramps unusable. Ice damage is an annual event for the crews to contend with. Work crews have completed repairs to those ramps in time for the opener.

Boaters should note there are some new recently acquired and developed access sites around the state which are now open. New sites are located on the Rainy River near Baudette, Wolf Lake between Tower and Ely, Perry Lake near Crosby in Crow Wing County, Little Webb Lake near Hackensack and Mule Lake near Longville in Cass County.

In addition to the new sites, many existing sites were improved last year. Close to the Twin Cities, sites were improved on East Rush and North Center Lakes in Chisago County, the site at Hidden Falls Regional Park on the Mississippi River in Ramsey County was updated and additional parking provided, the Boom site on the St. Croix River above Stillwater was improved with the addition of a new parking area exclusively for cars without trailers.

Other lakes of note where improvements were made last year, include Leech Lake, the Kabetogema site on the west side, the Lake Benton County park site in Lincoln County, Fountain Lake, Freeborn County and Lake Vermilion, Hoodoo Point in St. Louis County.

Boat registration fees and the gas tax on motorboat fuels are primarily responsible for maintaining, acquiring and developing public access sites throughout the state.

Choose fish, but choose wisely, health department says

Minnesotans concerned about their health are wise to include fish in their diet, but need to be aware of the risks posed by contaminants in fish.

That's the main message contained in the Minnesota Department of Health's (MDH) annual fish consumption advisory, updated and released each spring to help consumers make wise choices about the kinds of fish they eat and how often to eat fish. The advisory is available on line or in brochure format by contacting the department.

"Fish are an excellent food source, high in protein, vitamins and minerals and low in saturated fat," said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dianne Mandernach. "And studies have shown that eating fish may help prevent heart disease in adults. However, even fish should be eaten in moderation," Mandernach said, "because any fish could contain harmful chemicals, such as mercury or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)."

The advisory provides guidelines on how much fish people can safely consume while minimizing their risks from contaminants. The advisory contains guidelines for both sport-caught and commercial fish. Generally, the smaller the fish the safer, but some species tend to accumulate more contaminants than others.

"In terms of safety, not all fish are created equal," said Patricia McCann, an environmental scientist for MDH who analyzes data on both Minnesota-caught and commercial fish. "And good choices about fish are not the same for everybody."

Pregnant and breastfeeding women, women who are planning to be pregnant and children under 15 are more sensitive to contaminants and need to take extra precautions to minimize their risks from eating fish. This does not mean, however, that they should stop eating fish, McCann said. The oils in fish are important for brain and eye development.

The advisory provides guidelines for people in these groups. For example, while one meal a week of locally-caught panfish would not pose a health risk, people in the group should not eat any large walleye, large northern pike, shark or swordfish. There are many species of fish that can be eaten twice per week by this group.

In March, the Food and Drug Administration published new data on levels of mercury in commercial fish. "We've revised our advice in the 'Expectant Mother's Guide' to reflect these changes in reported mercury concentrations," McCann said. Of note is the change in advice for canned tuna - two meals per week for canned "light" and two meals per month for canned "white" tuna. "Unfortunately, mercury levels in canned 'white' (albacore) tuna are higher than canned 'light' tuna," she said.

MDH continues to recommend eating all types of salmon - canned, fresh wild-caught and farm-raised. Although the levels of contaminants in farm-raised salmon are higher than wild-caught salmon, the levels are still relatively low and it is a good food choice. Contaminants are higher in farm-raised salmon because of the processed feed, McCann said.

For most people, two meals of fish per week are generally considered optimal for balancing the health benefits and the health risk from contaminants in fish. "Choosing which fish to eat for those meals is important to minimize exposure to mercury and other chemicals in fish. Following the MDH fish consumption guidelines keeps your exposure to a safe level," McCann said. "The right fish choice depends on each person and his or her health status."

Considering this, people who need to be very careful about the amount of mercury they consume, such as pregnant women, may want to choose the "light" canned tuna instead of albacore canned tuna and smaller locally-caught fish. An older person or men in general may choose a certain fish based on its content of beneficial Omega-3 oils more than on its mercury content.

General statewide consumption guidelines are available online at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/fish/index.html  and in the form of an eight-page brochure, "Eat Fish Often?" which is available by contacting MDH at (651) 215-0950 or 1-800-657-3908.

More detailed, site-specific recommendations are available on the MDH web site or by contacting MDH. The recommendations have been updated this year with information on additional lakes and rivers that have been tested.

Detailed recommendations are also available in the Lake Survey Reports produced by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The Lake Survey Reports are also available online at www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/index.html .

The MDH also has a separate publication that provides additional information for pregnant women. "An Expectant Mother's Guide to Eating Minnesota Fish" is available in both English and Spanish. Both are available online at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/fish/orders/materials.html