News & Views
September/Ocbotber 2007
Dear Reader,
Outdoor Indiana has brought the best of our state’s wildlife, history, culture and outdoor sports into Hoosier homes for more than 70 years. We’re proud of our heritage and are committed to maintaining the high standards that have defined this magazine for so many years.
Occasionally, that process means changing to keep up with the times and make sure we get the most out of 48 pages.
We hope you’ve noticed that this issue looks a little different from previous issues. Our style has been updated; we hope it’s cleaner, more consistent and will allow for more attractive display of photos and text. The stories are also a little different. We’re going deeper into a wider array of topics. And that’s just between the covers.
Outdoor Indiana’s Web site has been redesigned to give you the “magazine experience” online. The site now hosts a variety of features that complement each issue’s content. Look for extra photos, videos, opportunities to interact with us and more at OutdoorIndiana.org.
Thanks for reading.
The Staff of Outdoor Indiana
OI Editor leaves for State Museum...
Kim Brant, former editor-in-chief of this magazine and director of communications for the DNR for two-plus years, took over as vice president of institutional advancement at the Indiana State Museum Foundation, Aug. 1.
Brant now works with museum and foundation board members, creating and managing a comprehensive fund-raising program. She also coordinates development efforts, including corporate and individual giving, foundation support, membership and special fund-raising events.
The OI staff thanks her and wishes her great success in working just across the street from our office.
Fossils at the Falls...
Piles of fossil-rich Waldron shale and clay subsoil with Devonian material are brought in for Fossils at the Falls. More than 800 "kids" of all ages dig, wash and take home fossils from these rock piles that come from quarries owned by Hanson Aggregates
Visit Falls of the Ohio State Park, Sept. 15-16, for the Falls Fossil Festival. This annual event has something for every rock-loving member of the family.
The festival includes programs from renowned amateur and professional geologists, educator workshops (advance registration required) sponsored by the Indiana and Kentucky Geological Surveys and more than 30 tons of rock for fossil collecting. Bring your hiking boots for a rugged hike to the outer fossil beds. Dr. Claudia Johnson of Indiana University, the keynote speaker, is presenting on the history of corals.
The festival is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the 15th, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 16th. Visit www.fallsoftheohio.org for more information. Register for educator workshops at park@fallsoftheohio.org.
Rifles with pistol cartridges...
Hoosier deer hunters have more options this year. An administrative rule proposal allowing the use of rifles with pistol cartridges was approved by the Natural Resources Commission at its May 22 meeting.
The rule has been approved by the attorney general and governor and has been filed with the publisher. Under the rule, rifles with pistol cartridges that meet the specifications listed below will be allowed during this year’s deer firearms season, which takes place Nov. 17 through Dec. 2.
The deer hunting rule change language continues the DNR’s long-time position of allowing only short-to-medium range equipment for taking deer. The DNR has often received requests from the public for a rule change allowing some rifles during deer firearm season.
The rifle must fire a cartridge that meets the following specifications: Fire a bullet of .357 diameter or larger, have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches and have a maximum case length of 1.625 inches.
These administrative rule proposals, as well as several others, can be viewed in full at wildlife.IN.gov.
Bald eagles off endangered list...
The success the Indiana DNR has had reintroducing bald eagles demonstrates locally the rationale of the recent move by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which announced June 28, that it would remove the iconic birds from the federal “threatened” designation of the Endangered Species Act.
Bald eagles are still listed as state-endangered in Indiana, but, as a reaction to the national change, the State’s DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Wildlife Diversity Section plans to change that classification to “Species of Special Concern.” That means bald eagles would still be a priority species, and that monitoring and management of the species would continue, but to a lesser degree.
The federal recovery goal for Indiana was to have five nesting pairs of bald eagles in the state by 2000. An active state restoration from 1985-89, when 73 young eagles were reintroduced, formed a core population in south-central Indiana. The first successful nests in the state in more than 90 years were documented in 1991.
As long as the bald eagle stayed on the federal threatened list, by State law it needed to remain on the state-endangered list. The Nongame Bird Technical Advisory Committee to the Wildlife Diversity Section recommended removing bald eagles from the state list once a nesting population of at least 50 pairs was being maintained in the Indiana.
That standard was first achieved in 2004, and the population continues to increase annually. This year, there are 85 known eagle territories in 42 counties, that have produced 123 eaglets. The excellent production of recent years should result in further increases. As a result, with federal de-listing, Indiana will begin the process of removing bald eagles from the state list.
Bald eagle fishing over Starve Hollow Lake in Jackson County (above).
Wetland photo contest...
Outdoor enthusiasts who are photographers still have time left to create and enter their best Indiana wetlands photos for the 2008 Indiana Wetlands Calendar produced by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
The deadline is Sept. 14 for the photo contest, which promotes the protection and preservation of Indiana wetlands.
Contest entry information is at www.in.gov/idem/photocontest/. Winning photographs will be printed in the calendar.
Need to find wetlands for your photographs? Send a request to rhedge@dnr.IN.gov to receive a helpful publication.
Award-winning OI...
John Maxwell's "Diana of the Dunes" (left) and "Moonrise over Deam Lake" (right).
This magazine took home two first-place photo awards at the Hoosier Outdoor Writers conference. John Maxwell’s “Moonrise over Deam Lake” won in the outdoor scenic category. This photo was part of the Deam Lake story in the 2006 May/June issue. Another of Maxwell’s photos, “Diana of the Dunes,” won the outdoor recreation category. “Diana” appeared in the 2006 September/October issue.