FRANKFORT, Ky. - Just a few days remain before the April 30 deadline to apply for Kentucky's 2010 elk hunt.

With a traditional 90 percent success rate among bull elk hunters and a low application fee of $10 for one of the 800 quota hunt permits being issued this year, thousands of hunters from across the United States are expected to register in the coming days. Kentucky's elk herd numbers approximately 10,000.

"There's a real excitement among hunters about Kentucky elk," said Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Jon Gassett. "We issue more than twice as many elk permits as the rest of the eastern United States combined. This is the chance of a lifetime."

Kentucky accepts online applications only through its Web site, fw.ky.gov. The drawing is open to residents and non-residents. Last year, more than 46,000 people from every state in the country applied for a Kentucky elk hunt, including 28 from Alaska and one from Hawaii.

Tom Baker, chairman of the Appalachian Wildlife Foundation

CORBIN, KY. -   The Appalachian Wildlife Foundation's board of directors elected wildlife conservation policy expert Tom Baker of Bowling Green, Ky., as chairman at its April 14 meeting. 

"We are thrilled to have Tom on our board as chairman," said David Ledford, president and CEO of the Appalachian Wildlife Foundation. "His experience working at the highest levels of wildlife conservation policy and passion for hunting and wildlife restoration give us real horsepower in moving forward."

Baker brings an impressive and extensive track record of achievement to the Appalachian Wildlife Foundation. He served for eight years on the Kentucky State Wildlife Commission and six years on the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's board of directors, including two years as chairman. 

Baker is currently serving his second year as chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation, an organization that supports the work of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, the largest caucus in the United States Congress.  Baker is a regular member of the Boone and Crockett Club and has advocated for wildlife conservation at the White House and on several national panels

NEWTOWN, Conn. -- The first comprehensive survey to look at ownership and use of modern sporting rifles reveals that 8.9 million Americans went target shooting with AR-style rifles in 2009 and that participants using this type of rifle were the most active among all types of sport shooters.

"These findings underscore that modern sporting rifles are becoming commonplace in America and are among the most desired firearms by sport shooters," said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, trade association of the firearms industry. "Those who want to ban these civilian sporting rifles simply because they look like military rifles must acknowledge after seeing this study that AR-style rifles are exceedingly popular with millions of Americans. These rifles are our industry's high-tech, cutting-edge product -- rugged, accurate, versatile, fun to shoot and easily accessorized -- and they're here to stay."

The study, "Shooting Sports Participation Survey in the United States in 2009," was conducted for NSSF by Responsive Management through a random digit dialing telephone survey of 8,204 U.S. residents ages 18 and older. (This is a separate survey from the NSSF/Harris Interactive online poll announced in a March 31 press release.) To avoid confusion, the term "modern sporting rifle" was further defined as an AR-style rifle.

DU Minnesota State Chair Lee Ness (left) and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau (far right) present Sen. Pat Pariseau with framed letters of congratulation from DU President John Pope and Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

ST. PAUL, Minnesota State Sen. Pat Pariseau was recognized recently by Ducks Unlimited and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty for her leadership in founding the DU Capitol Chapter, as well as her 19 years as the volunteer area chair of the chapter. With many of Pariseau’s legislative colleagues in attendance, Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau and DU Minnesota State Chair Lee Ness presented her with framed letters from Gov. Tim Pawlenty and DU President John Pope. Pariseau is retiring after 21 years of service as a state senator.

Pope congratulated Pariseau for the good will and recognition the DU committee has among state legislators and DU’s partners. “As an avid outdoors person with deep roots in farming and with a deep-seated conservation ethic, you set out to found the Capitol Chapter and what a job you have done,” he said. “Yours is an extraordinary record of stewardship of the outdoors, not only to your home state and its citizens, but to our conservation mission.”

Today, the Capitol Chapter boasts 161 members and seven Bronze Sponsors and has raised more than $143,000 for DU’s mission.

Pope says Pariseau has been a key player in the creation of the constitutional amendment to protect Minnesotans’ right to hunt and fish, advancements in personal protection laws and firearm safety, and a vast array of natural resources legislation.

Pariseau says her involvement in DU came from her interest in maintaining the rights and options for citizens, especially youth, to enjoy outdoor sports, including the hunting of legitimate game. “Ducks Unlimited seemed an obvious choice due to its efforts to conserve habitat and sustain waterfowl populations for future generations,” she said. “If you are interested in helping to further this great cause, the easiest way to get involved is to attend your local DU chapter events.”

“Your passionate advocacy for conservation and the outdoors is a prime example of your commitment and your ability to achieve results,” Pawlenty wrote, thanking her on behalf of the state of Minnesota for her dedicated service in the Minnesota Senate.

Ducks Unlimited is the world's largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America's continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 12 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever.

Members of the House leadership of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus, along with CSC Member Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, filed House Resolution 1282 yesterday, urging President Obama to take "necessary actions to provide for the promotion of recreational fishing and boating" in implementing the recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force.

WASHINGTON - The National Wildlife Federation teamed up with the Department of the Interior to welcome 600 students at a celebration of National Parks Week, joining the festivities marking the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis spoke at the event, highlighting President Barack Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative and emphasizing the importance of getting young people out into nature to continue our nation's conservation legacy.

Patrick Fitzgerald, Director of Education Advocacy at National Wildlife Federation, said today:

"Secretary Salazar and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis understand the importance of reconnecting kids to nature. Today's celebration on the National Mall emphasizes that time outdoors makes children healthier and happier while giving them a sense of conservation stewardship.

Hunter's Specialties® has acquired the exclusive rights to i-Kam Xtreme™ (Patent Pending) video eyewear. i-Kam Xtreme incorporates an advanced mobile video recorder into a lightweight pair of glasses. Whether it's your children's latest ball game, a downhill ski run, a fishing trip, or your last hunt, now outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds have a hands-free way to record what they see and play it back for future enjoyment.
 
i-Kam Xtreme offers completely wireless operation, with no cords or battery packs required. It has a digital camera incorporated into the frame with 4GB of built-in memory for up to 3 hours of recording. The glasses will also accept a Micro SD card for an additional 8 GB of memory. The integral microphone captures all the sounds to go along with the video.
 
The glasses can be hooked directly to a PC with the supplied USB cable to view the video, or when using the Micro SD card, it can be inserted into a card reader to watch footage.

The Longley awaited day had finally came, the opening day of spring turkey season. It was a last minute decision, whether or not to make it back to school or hit the woods in the morning. I decided to stay and hunt Monday morning. I got out of bed about 5:00a.m. Grabbed something to eat, and got geared up. My longtime friend Zach Slinker was going to be running the camera during this hunt. We got everything ready and got set up on the edge of the hay field where the long beards usually fly down. 

It was now about six o’clock and we had the decoys out and the cameras set up.

BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Nature Conservancy bought 1,786 acres of high-quality habitat in the steep, rolling hills of the Red Hills Conservation Area in southwest Alabama today. The site is a keystone in the big-picture effort by The Nature Conservancy, the state of Alabama and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to build a landscape-scale conservation area in the Red Hills and ensure the recovery and protection of an endangered species.

"We are so happy today to secure this property - the heart of a whole landscape is protected," said Steve Northcutt, director of protection for The Nature Conservancy in Alabama. "Without it, any other conservation purchases in the area would inevitably be fragmented, and our efforts to restore natural processes and protect the long-term viability of the landscape would be severely compromised."

The area is characterized by steep bluffs and ravines covered with a matrix of dry to broadleaf forest, including unusual magnolia, high oak and hickory diversity. The site is a major global stronghold for the Red Hills salamander: Not only the species, but the entire genus, is endemic to a few counties in south Alabama. Several other species found only in Alabama are found here.

Joe Hosmer has been working with Safari Club International and the Safari Club International Foundation for many years.  His knowledge of conservation issues is exceptional and we jumped at the chance to interview him.  He just got home from the CITES convention and we are honored to have him take time out of his day to share his insights with our readers.

Q: Joe, Can you tell us your position in Safari Club International and how you came into the world of conservation?
Answer:  I am currently a Vice-President of SCI and the SCI Foundation.  For the past four years I have served as Chairman for the SCI Foundation Conservation Committee.  As a life-long hunter, you could say that I’ve been involved with conservation since the first time I went afield.  I joined SCI over 15 years ago and have been a member of the SCI Foundation Conservation committee for over 10 years..

Q: You recently traveled to Qatar to attend the CITES Convention, can you tell our readers a bit about what this kind of convention entails and what SCI was doing at the convention?

Answer: CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. The CITES Treaty was negotiated and opened for signature in Washington, DC in March, 1973 and came into effect in 1975 after 10 countries, or “Parties,” ratified the treaty.  As of March, 2010, CITES has 175 Parties, making it one of the largest treaties in the world.. The main goal of CITES is to ensure that trade in wildlife is non-detrimental to their survival.  In other words, CITES prevents or regulates trade to ensure it is not a factor leading to the extinction of a species.

Every two to three years, the Parties are required to meet at the CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP) where they debate wildlife trade policies and proposals to increase or decrease trade regulations.  A myriad of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) also participate in these meetings, but they are observers and do not have a vote on decisions.  Some NGOs, such as SCI and SCI Foundation are dedicated to sustainable use conservation, while other NGOs are dedicated to banning all trade and consumptive use of wildlife.

SCI and SCI Foundation participate in the meetings of the CITES CoP to contribute factual and science-based information to the debates in support of sustainable use.  We highlight the importance of sport hunting as a conservation tool and when appropriate, offer research findings from projects that have been sponsored by the organizations.  All Parties recognize that SCI is an authority on hunting, and they listen to the institutional knowledge we have on how CITES decisions may affect hunters worldwide.  It is absolutely imperative that SCI and SCI Foundation contribute to the debates, as we are one of very few hunting organizations that are technically capable of defending hunting and sustainable use at a CITES CoP.

Left to Right: Johan Svalby, Yves LeCocq, Thomas Saldias, Matthew Eckert, Abigail Day, Rick Parsons, Al Maki, John Monson, Joseph Hosmer, George Pangeti.