Two locals named to committees Ryan Saulsbury of Baxter and William Faber of Brainerd have been appointed by DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr to two newly created citizen oversight committees that monitor fish and wildlife spending by the DNR.

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) - Randy Prachar knows what it's like to pinch pennies, but the longtime wildlife manager for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says things now are reaching a breaking point. Prachar oversees two of the largest wildlife management areas in Minnesota - 75,000-acre Roseau River WMA and 55,000-acre Thief Lake WMA. That's a lot of ground to cover, but Prachar has managed the workload by splitting his time between the two northwest Minnesota WMAs and relying on assistant managers at each site to help carry the daily routines.

Local voices will be heard in St. Paul on Monday. A rally in support of the game and fish license fee increase proposal before the Legislature is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the state Capitol Rotunda in St. Paul.

ST. PAUL (AP) - Like a hungry raptor, a helicopter flew just above the tree tops, seeking to force its prey out of the woods and into an open snow-covered field last week in southeastern Minnesota.

ST. PAUL (AP) - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will fill dozens of vacant jobs and improve fish and game habitat with money from hunting and fishing license fee increases and lottery proceeds.

Jim Miller, the director of the Minnesota Walleye Trail, is scratching his head.

...auction drew more than 1,000 people who purchased 289 confiscated guns. The auction raised $101,000 for the DNR's Game and Fish Fund. Brainerd Dispatch/Brian S. Peterson Photos

ST. PAUL - Increased hunting and fishing license fees were paired Wednesday with lottery money to increase funding for natural resources.

The Paul Bunyan Chapter of Trout Unlimited will meet on Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Northland Arboretum fireplace meeting room. The group will have further details and discussion of its annual spring fly casting and fly fishing clinic, scheduled for April this year. In addition to other brief business items, the group will have its usual throughout-the-meeting fly tying session. Equipment and materials will be available. Non-members are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Mike Rahn, 829-7569, or John Imgrund, 829-0616.

Their guns were confiscated, their two deer seized, and they faced fines of nearly $1,300.