The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is recommending waterfowl hunting dates and waterfowl hunting zone lines for the next five years that reflect an extensive review of scientific data, waterfowl hunter survey data, and comments from sporting organizations, waterfowl hunters and other constituents during the last eight months.

  IDNR Acting Director Sam Flood announced that the state’s proposals include:

  * An elimination of Canada goose hunting harvest quotas in Illinois beginning this fall.

  * A 79-day Canada goose seasons in the North and Central Zones and a 56-day Canada goose season in the South Zone with a daily limit of two geese in all zones.

  * A 60-day duck hunting season in all zones (subject to federal approval of a 60-day duck season for 2006-07).

  * Adjustments of existing waterfowl zone lines to take effect this fall, and which federal regulations require remain in place through the 2010-11 waterfowl hunting season.

  "The recommendations we’re taking to the Mississippi Flyway Council and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are based on our best available biological and scientific information, including historical freeze up data, aerial waterfowl survey data, and the results of our extensive waterfowl hunter surveys," said Flood.

  IDNR conducted a series of meetings this past winter, spring and early summer with hunters and waterfowl groups to discuss the state’s plans for duck and goose hunting for the next five years.

  "I want to personally thank the hundreds of waterfowl hunters, hunting organization leaders, advisory board members and others who spent countless hours reviewing alternatives for hunting zone changes and season dates," Flood said.

  "One of our goals in this process was to select dates and zone lines that maximize hunter satisfaction by providing waterfowlers with the most possible days in the field when ducks and geese are available to them. I believe these recommendations will help meet that goal."

  "For the North and Central zones, duck season opening days have been established for the next five years. However, we will be monitoring carefully the effects of the Thanksgiving opener in the South Zone this fall, particularly on duck hunting at Carlyle Lake and Rend Lake," Flood said. "We heard some support for an earlier opener in the South Zone and will be evaluating the decision on the later opener prior to the 2007-08 seasons."

  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service require that states select hunting zones as part of their regulatory framework every five years. Illinois is recommending changes in the existing boundary lines for its three zones that include moving farther south segments of both the dividing lines between the North and Central zones and the Central and South zones. The recommendation also includes a slight adjustment farther north of the existing Central-South zone line near the Mississippi River in southwest Illinois (see map and specific zone line descriptions below).

  "Illinois is a difficult state to split three ways for waterfowl hunting because of the long distance from north to south," Flood said. "With changes in weather affecting when ponds and lakes freeze up - and changes in the migratory behavior of ducks and geese - we listened to suggestions for moving the zone lines and believe our recommendations are the best plan for Illinois for the next five years."

  As announced earlier this year, Illinois is also recommending an elimination of Canada goose hunting harvest quotas and Canada goose quota zones, effective this fall. In recent years, harvest quotas limiting the number of geese that could be taken during the season in each of the state’s waterfowl hunting zones occasionally resulted in goose seasons closing earlier than their scheduled ending dates. Harvest quotas were established to protect sub-arctic nesting Mississippi Valley Population migratory geese. Hunters in Illinois now harvest far more resident giant Canada geese. If the change is approved by federal authorities, there will be no quotas, no goose permits or phone-in required by hunters, and goose season dates selected will run to the end of the season.

  Illinois is also recommending a September Canada goose season in all zones to be held Sept. 1-15. During the September season only, Illinois will retain a Northeast Illinois Canada Goose Zone. That zone includes Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties. During the September season only, the daily harvest bag limit for the Northeast Zone will be five geese, with a daily bag limit of two geese for the North, Central and South zones. Possession limits will be double the daily bag limit.

  Proposed Illinois Waterfowl Hunting Dates for the 2006-07 Seasons

  North Zone
  Youth Waterfowl Season - Oct. 14 - 15
  Duck Season (60 days) - Oct. 21 - Dec. 19
  Canada Goose Season (79 days) - Oct. 21 - Nov. 12 and Nov. 20 - Jan. 14

  Central Zone
  Youth Waterfowl Season - Oct. 21 - 22
  Duck Season (60 days) - Oct. 28 - Dec. 26
  Canada Goose Season (79 days) - Oct. 28 - Nov. 5 and Nov. 23 - Jan. 31

  South Zone
  Youth Waterfowl Season - Nov. 11 - 12
  Duck Season (60 days) - Nov. 23 - Jan. 21
  Canada Goose Season (56 days) - Nov. 23 - Nov. 26 and Dec. 10 - Jan. 31

  For more information, visit the Illinois Department of Natural Resources web site at: http://www.dnr.state.il.us.

  The New Mexico record for the largest smallmouth bass now belongs to Cale Sanders of Roswell, who caught and released a 7-pound, 3-ounce, 24-inch monster March 31 at Ute Lake.

  Sanders, 26, a teacher and coach at Goddard High School, caught the record fish on a white crank bait in about 11 feet of water. The fish measured 16 ½ inches in girth. It was initially weighed and measured at Ruf-Nec Tackle in Logan, then taken to the Logan Food Mart, where it was weighed again on USDA certified scales. The bass was kept in an aerated live well during the process and was reported in good shape when it was released back into Ute Lake on Friday evening

  New Mexico's previous record smallmouth was a 22-inch, 6-pound, 14-ounce fish caught in Navajo Lake by David Young in 1999. The North American Record is a whopping 11-pound, 15-ounce fish caught in Dale Hollow Lake, Tennessee, in 1955.

  Eric Frey, the Northeast Area Fisheries Manager for the Department of Game and Fish, said it was only a matter of time before a state-record smallmouth was caught at Ute Lake "We've been seeing some very large smallmouth bass in our nets during the spring walleye spawns," Frey said. "In the spring, the large female bass move into shallow water to get ready to spawn, so it's not surprising that someone finally caught one."

  A rare species of legless lizard was recently captured in the Conecuh National Forest in Covington County, Alabama by biologists from Auburn University (AU) and Conservation Southeast (CS). The biologists began working in the area in 2005 through funding from the State Wildlife Grants program of the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries and the U.S. Forest Service.

  The mimic glass lizard (Ophisaurus mimicus) was first described in 1987 when careful scientific study revealed it to be distinct from the slender glass lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus), a much more common species with which the mimic glass lizard is easily confused. In fact, the mimic glass lizard earned its common name from the fact that specimens of it had resided for decades in museum collections where they had been misidentified as slender glass lizards.

  Attaining a maximum length of about two feet, the mimic glass lizard is the smallest of the three legless lizard species occurring in Alabama, all of which are commonly known as "glass snakes" and "joint snakes." Although legless lizards are often mistaken for snakes, they can easily be distinguished from snakes by the presence of movable eyelids and external ear openings. The fragile and somewhat brittle tail, which constitutes an astonishing two-thirds of the body length, may break into multiple segments if struck or seized. Popular (but erroneous) folklore has it that the segments will rejoin after sunset.

  The geographic range of the mimic glass lizard extends across a very thin band of the lower Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from southeastern North Carolina to the Pearl River in Mississippi. Its habitat includes pine flat-woods, savannas, and hillside seepage bogs where it prefers grass-covered areas maintained by frequent fire. Within Alabama, the species is suspected to occur only in the southernmost tier of counties and is known by only four verified records from Baldwin (1 record), Covington (2), and Mobile (1) counties. Before its recent capture by biologists Jimmy and Sierra Stiles, the species had not been confirmed in the state for 30 years. Although the mimic glass lizard may never have been abundant, loss of key components of its habitat, like pitcher plant bogs, is thought to have increased its rarity.

  AU and CS initiated the study to acquire baseline data for long-term monitoring of the response of amphibian and reptile populations to the ambitious 30-year longleaf pine ecosystem restoration program being implemented at the Conecuh National Forest. Restoration of native ecosystem composition, structure and function involves re-establishing a natural fire regime (i.e., burning often, with emphasis on growing season fires), thinning stands to allow the development of a woodland/savanna structure with well-developed herbaceous layers, and replacing off-site tree species by clear-cutting and planting longleaf pine.

  This study is intended to contribute to the overall understanding of the value of longleaf pine ecosystem restoration to amphibians and reptiles by measuring herpetofaunal response to various restoration stages and corresponding control sites. This study should result in the development of well-informed management recommendations for the Conecuh National Forest as well as other pine-dominated, fire-maintained ecosystems throughout the Southeast.

  To see a picture of the rare legless lizard go to the Outdoor Alabama website at: http://www.dcnr.state.al.us/news/release.cfm?ID=413.