Outdoor notes

A firearms safety class has been scheduled in Nisswa for Aug. 19-23 at the Nisswa Fire Hall. Class times are 9 a.m. to noon. A range day will be scheduled for a later date.

Cost for the class is $7. Students must be at least 12. Class size is limited to 20. Phone Nikki Johnson at 692-3456 or Bruce Edberg at 963-2380 for more information.

Milfoil found in five more lakes

Eurasian watermilfoil has been found in five more lakes, bringing total new infestations to seven in 2002.

The latest discoveries are in Little Elk Lake (Sherburne County), German and East Jefferson lakes (Le Seuer County), Fish (Wright County) and Ripley (Meeker County). Based on patterns observed in recent years, more infestations are likely to be found before freeze-up, said Chip Welling, the DNR's Eurasian watermilfoil program coordinator.

Eurasian watermilfoil was confirmed earlier this year in Mitchell Lake (Hennepin County) and Ossawinnamakee (Crow Wing County). It now infests 140 Minnesota lakes, wetlands and rivers. It was first discovered in Minnesota in Lake Minnetonka in 1987.

Book captures beauty, mystery of scientific and natural areas

For more than 25 years, the Minnesota DNR's Scientific and Natural Areas program has acquired precious natural areas to provide sanctuary for rare plant and animal communities -- in some cases the last representatives of their kind in Minnesota.

The Minnesota Book Award-winning "Worlds within a World" by Paul Gruchow captures the beauty and mystery of these wild places. Readers will discover the Lost Lake Peatland SNA, where the landscape is so devoid of nutrients that sundews and pitcher-plants must capture and consume insects and other small animals to survive. Readers can marvel at the eccentric and rare rough-seeded fameflower, which blooms only from three to six in the afternoon on sunny summer days in the Kellogg-Weaver Dunes SNA. In all, 12 Minnesota SNAs are featured, each with their own unique and other-wordly attributes.

"Worlds within a World" costs $24.95 and is available from Minnesota's Bookstore at 117 University Ave. in St. Paul and in the Explore Minnesota USA Store at the Mall of America. For more information or to order, call (651) 297-3000 or toll-free (800) 657-3757, or visit the Web site at www.minnesotasbookstore.com.

Public asked for comments on proposed boating rule changes

The DNR is asking the public for comments on its planned rule amendments and repeal of obsolete existing rules on boat and water safety. Most of the proposed changes are technical in nature and bring Minnesota's rules in line with current U.S. Coast Guard requirements and standards.

A summary of the proposed changes includes:

* Modify the requirements for rental watercraft by repealing obsolete language, simplifying language, substituting U.S. Coast Guard standards for boat flotation requirements, and bringing the rule into compliance with existing rule language on throwable personal flotation device requirements.

* Amend the life jacket requirements to comply with the U.S. Coast Guard approval label on the device, where use of the device may be restricted by such items as activity or age, as part of the approval process by the Coast Guard.

* Change the capacity plate requirements for boats to repeal outdated language and references, and amend the rules by simply referencing U.S. Coast Guard standards in effect at the time of the craft's manufacture.

* Amend the standards for buoys and signs to bring them into compliance with the U.S. Aids to Navigation system in federal regulations; this would include adopting standard flash characteristics for lights on aids to navigation, standardizing shapes for daymarks, changing the meaning of the red-white vertically-striped buoy to define the center of a navigation channel, establishing the black-white vertically-striped buoy as the shoreward obstruction buoy, as well as repealing repetitive language.

* Raise the minimum property damage amount from $500 to $2,000 for boating accident reportability.

Individuals or groups may submit comments or request more information on these possible changes in writing, by e-mail, or by phone until 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 4 by contacting Kim Elverum, Boat and Water Safety Program coordinator, Minnesota DNR, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-4046; phone (651) 296-0905 or (888) 646-6367; facsimile (651) 296-0902; e-mail kim.elverum@dnr.state.mn.us.

Bill St. Peter wins PWT tournament on Saginaw Bay

AuGRES, Mich. -- Bill St. Peter, Bay City, Mich., claimed his first In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail (PWT) victory Aug. 2 on his home waters of Saginaw Bay. St. Peter averaged six pounds for each of his 15 walleyes (89.55 total pounds) to beat 140 other competitors at the Lund/Powerbait Northeast Pro-Am.

St. Peter took home the $53,000 top prize as well as the $500 Gander Mountain Heavyweight award for his second-day 34.08 pound catch. He qualified for the PWT Championship for the fourth straight. year.

Local AuGres angler Jason Kaniszewski placed second to win $15,000 and said he will fish the East Division next season. Wally Luoma, Minneapolis, won $10,000 for third place, John Gillman, Freeland, Mich., won fourth and $7,500, and Keith Kavajecz, Kaukauna, Wis., won fifth and $5,500. A total of $250,000 was awarded.

The winning amateur was Tom Gonya, Toledo, Ohio, who took home a $15,000 Lund/Mercury 17-foot boat on an Eagle trailer.