Possible Seismic blasts effect on fish in Lake Sakakawea

I am an originally from Minot North Dakota and as a kid I grew up camping on Lake Sakakawea every weekend of the summer. If you didn't know much about Lake Sakakawea it is one of the biggest man made lakes in the United States and it came from the  damming up of the great Missouri River, which means it has some of the best fishing around. The "Big Lake" which is most North Dakotan's nickname for Lake Sakakawea is known for its  elite walleye and northern pike fisheries as this huge lake is said to be 178 miles long and covers around 1,500 miles of shoreline. With all of this shoreline and lake available the Big Lake has many boat ramps and recreational areas, which makes this a very popular place to go fishing or just hang out and enjoy the beauty North Dakota has to offer. Some of the fish species in Lake Sakakawea are chinook salmon, brown and rainbow trout, walleye, sauger, northern pike and many more. There are also two species of prehistoric fish which or native to the Missouri River which are the pallid sturgeon and the paddlefish, which there is a snagging season open for paddlefish in early may but the pallid sturgeon are endangered and are protected. The reason I am talking about these two prehistoric species is that possible seismic blasting going on under Lake Sakakawea could possibly be effecting the lifestyle of these prehistoric monsters, as an adult paddlefish can weigh over a hundred pounds. As many people might already know western North Dakota is currently in a major oil boom, which is also surrounding the borders of one of North Dakota's prize fisheries which is Lake Sakakawea. You might wonder how drilling could effect Lake Sakakawea but with the technology of horizontal drilling many drilling companies that have oil sites a few miles from the lake are probably using horizontal drilling to get to oil thats located thousand of feet under Lake Sakakawea. This is something you may also think would never have an affect on the lake but a recent study by Steve Krenz of the National Fish and Wildlife Service is currently starting a study which is supposed to show the effects that seismic blast will have on the fish in Lake Sakakawea. Since the palled sturgeon and paddlefish are both old and important fish to the Missouri River Steve has decided to use them to do the study, he will also use walleye since it is one of the most popular fish on the Missouri River. To do the test the fish have been tagged and will be dropped into specially designed cages as the seismic test blasts are done. To simulate the blast the biologists use compressed air shot through guns at the bottom of the lake which is said to produce up to 2,000 pounds of pressure. Then after the tests are done the fish will probably get released back into their natural habitats and and follow up sampling will probably occur often so they can continue to monitor the fish. If no instant result occur from these test this could end up being a very long study, especially if biologist want to determine if this changes any of their life history traits wether it's spawning, migration, or reproduction. Even if this study does take many years to get any information it will be very interesting to see how the oil could possible effect our prehistoric fish and more importantly to the fisherman of North Dakota, how will this effect the walleyes and sauger. Which if the results are bad it could easily put a big damper on oil production in North Dakota as walleye fishing on the big lake is probably one of the most important things on most residents minds that live in the western part of the state. For the most part I think in the long run it may change some of their lifestyle but it probably won't do anything to effect the population of the walleye sturgeon or paddlefish but you never know and thats why probably why they're doing a study, cause its always better to be safe than sorry especially when it involves something like Lake Sakakawea, which if something bad happened to this lake it could effect a lot of people.

Elections energy policies slows down oil production in North Dakota

My hometown is Minot North Dakota, which if you didn't know this has turned into a major boom town in the last year. Our economy is booming, and everything from cars, housing market, rent, and groceries is all sky high which can be very frustrating at times, but the main reason for our boom is the plentiful oil job's 30 miles to the west of us. But in the last few months oil rigs have been stacking up and shutting down, while many people first think the wells are running dry, but the truth to the matter is the oil will be around for many years, but us drilling for it has slowed down a bit due to our upcoming presidential election which many think could have a huge impact on the oil industry, which would majorly effect our state. I am honestly not a big fan of politics but this issue is very interesting to me, mainly because of were I live. On one side you have president Barrack Obama who has really done nothing in his first four years in office, but his new energy plan is pretty interesting. For the most part his plan is to stop the purchase of foreign oils and start using more clean and eco friendly energy, as his energy campaign shows how eco friendly he's going to be as he promises to try to make our country better by doing different things to help the environment and be more green which he thinks will also improve our country and our economy. For a fish and wildlife major like myself this is kind of what you look for in a president, someone thats willing to put money into conservation. But, seriously it all sounds great but is it just another promise like he made four years ago, and if it isn't and he does go through with his energy plan how do you think it will effect our states oil industry. 

On the other side of the spectrum you have  Mitt Romney who has a great reputation of reviving business's and making millions doing it. When you take a look at Romney's energy plan you see an aggressive plan, with a goal to make the U.S energy independent by 2020. This plan would highly increase the productivity of all types of coal, oil, and gas production which would create a high influx of jobs, which would greatly hep our economy and also help our country climb our way out of debt by producing and using our own energy resources. This energy plan of Romney's would keep the oil and gas industry in North Dakota and neighboring states booming for decades, but their are also some huge risks to this aggressive approach. The major risk to this plan is that he plans to produce oils on federal and state land which could have a huge effect on are environment and are animals, and he also would be risking other things like the chance of us contaminating our water source. Either way you look at at this plan could be very good or it could turn out very bad, Romney is a business man and business men are never afraid to take risks.

 Let me know your thoughts on these two energy policies, which one do think is better, and which one would help are country out more, and will either of these policies effect western North Dakota's oil industry?

Importance of trees in North Dakota and possible replacements for the green ash tree

I currently work for the ward county soil conservation and my job is to plan and plant conservation trees which in the future will help our state become more green and also give us great windbreaks and great cover and food for are wildlife. While working hear I have realized how important it is to make sure that you plant trees especially if you have a new lot or house that is bare. Trees add so much to your property they add cover beauty and privacy. Another thing I have noticed is that most of are state is full of the green ash and boxelder trees, two trees that we are not suppose to plant cause of the threat of diseases like the emerald ash bore, to me the green ash is good fast growing deciduous tree that works good in a windbreak but with this disease threatining are state what can you do, I agree you defiantly don't want to plant a vulnerable tree but honestly their isn't very many deciduous trees that grow and flourish like the green ash, this year we tried Northern Hackberry, but they're such a tough tree to get going and they didn't have a very high success rate. Another tree that I think could be a possible replacement would be the Souixland Cottonwood which is a cotton less cottonwood tree that is very fast growing and lives a long time but the problem with this tree is that it doesn't match many soil types in North Dakota which most conservation districts have to follow. But, in my opinion I have seen this tree panted in soil types were it doesn't fit and it has flourished growing three feet of new growth in a summer which was very hot and vulnerable to drought. In the longterm I think the residents of North  Dakota are doing a very good job planning for the future and a lot of people seem to be aware of the importance of starting new tree rows or replacing old ones.

Record high early season honker limit

Recently the North Dakota Game and Fish Department opened up the 2012 early season canadian goose season. This year they bumped the limit from 8 to 15 birds which is an enormous amount of birds. I am a huge bird hunter and I am still wondering why they would up the limit to that many geese, first of all if someone shoots that many geese whats the chance they're going to want to clean that many birds, my guess is half of them would get wasted. I also wonder is their that many birds around that their becoming that big of a problem, I personally have been out scouting and I don't think thats the case. The reason I think the limit is raised is because of are farmers complaining the gees are ruining their unharvested fields which I would have no problem with, but the sad thing is theirs always some farmers out their that will complain about the geese and then when it comes down to letting people hunt them they so no. It is their land and they have the right to let who they want on it but if they were one of the ones complaining about the geese they should be letting anyone who asks hunt their land. I honestly respect farmers and most of them will give you an opportunity to hunt but their is always some guys out their that make them all look like the bad guy, thats my opinion tell me what you thing about the huge limit and why it is that high.