Mike Clifford

I just saw that, and it reminded me of how I notice people at parties who are drinking water that always put the cap back on the bottle after taking a sip. I don't put a cap on my beer or glass of wine in between sips. So it always intrigues me when I see it. Just saying.

It just dawned on me that I actually picked a devil crayfish out of the Kankakee River one time. I was trying to show off to a friend of mine how to pick up a crayfish properly and the thing got its claws on two of my fingers and almost chomped them. It was the size of a small lobster.

Another place this relationship is being studied. 

https://www.inhs.illinois.edu/outreach/spotlight/devil-crayfish/

Not a whole lot to go on in the article, but are they assuming that introducing more devil crayfish will create more burrows, hence more dragonflies?

26 minutes ago, Bart Durham said:

Hopefully the new Agricultural Department Administration will be more receptive to the desires of the community.  It sounds like the only recourse may be the voting booth, and letting governmental officials in charge know how you feel about the Agricultural department not listening to the constituents.  

Nothing has changed even while political parties flip-flopped several times over many decades. Looking at every other state in the union and seeing how it does or doesn't work out for them would be a great place to start. Study our forefathers of conservation. Put those ideas to work in a world that can mobilize people within seconds, what with social media going ballistic already. It's not easy. Conservation takes incredible determination. What kills me is that people are paid to solve these problems.  The people pulling the strings on these CAFOS can't buy off everybody to look away.....

Keep in mind as well that you can't just make a more stringent rule regarding protections, while also cutting the IEPA budget. If the rules are too financially cumbersome, they won't be enforced regardless. If the new rule even makes it past the discussion phase.

The dragon master himself puts on a show, as if there is a conglomerate of groups that make up the "ILDG". Truth is, it's one guy in an office with a telephone and a laptop. We spoke several times. Click on the photo for the legible version....

Jonn......

In the case of Jo Daviess, the local board was at like 7-4 in favor. I wrote them a nice letter full of tourism stats and gushy stuff. They flipped to almost unanimous against it. Funny thing I came to learn was that Ag was about to rubber stamp it through regardless. We got the state's attorney general and EPA involved. What happened here was that they allowed nasty things to leach into the watershed before actual construction even got underway. Not a very pleasant greeting to your neighbors.

I learned from the very best in conservation to always follow the money trail, and start there. Then let your imagination run wild.

Fish kills all around us, yet this is still business as usual in Illinois? Remember the dairy farm in the Apple River watershed? We killed that one together. There is no CAFO there and never will be.

That was a long time ago, and not a thing has changed!! Pay particular attention to the last sentence in the quote below. It infuriates me that not one group....no, not one PERSON has stepped up to the plate to slay this dragon. Of all the conservation and environmental groups in the state, I was the only one to call the dragon master himself that brings every CAFO into the state on the Jo Daviess farm plan. He's one man. It isn't rocket science.

I bet we can find one man to step to the plate here and take a swing. Is it you?

http://thecommunityword.com/online/blog/2019/07/31/illinois-has-open-door-for-cafos/

"This form of raising animals is given preferential treatment by the state. CAFOs can be approved over local objections. Local county boards have control over wind turbines, solar farms, landfills and zoning decisions, but there is no local control over placement or size of a CAFO.

Danielle Diamond, director of field operations with the not-for-profit Socially Responsible Agriculture Project, said all of the surrounding states around Illinois have more regulatory authority over CAFOs. Illinois is the most lax and permissive in the region, she said.

The Marshall County Board voted against approval of Buffalo Run but that does not tie the hands of the Illinois Department of Agriculture that’s expected to approve Buffalo Run.

Allen Mayer, an attorney and former member of the Peoria County Board, said the system in Springfield takes control of CAFOs away from local jurisdictions and places it with the Illinois Department of Agriculture that rarely, if ever, rejects an application."

With threatening skies, the Sgt. Tommy's event still had over 400 kids attend. A record number for this! ISA volunteers got a workout, and ran the casting field like a well-oiled machine. 

Thanks Gene!!

20 minutes ago, John Loebach said:

I'll be there. at least it won't be to hot. Do they have bait donated for the kids?

They always buy the bait.

Thanks John!!

A reminder that we are hoping to see a few more volunteers TOMORROW!! Meeting around 7 or so at the lake.

It came to my attention that Herrick Lake has a severe algae problem this year, which is nothing new , but it may be virtually unfishable on Saturday. 

Wondering if any of our members that are coming out there might have some long nets to bring along early? 

I got a message that their website malfunctioned, and did not cut the registrants off at 350. We're now looking at 550 registrants. Just want to be sure we are prepared in the casting field. We've faced more kids. Please consider calling your friends to help!

Thanks! Original members of the Casting Crew, of course!!

Their group is once again asking for ISA volunteers for the casting field. The video below explains everything. Please reply with a comment.

"I hope you have been well! We just had our first Fishing Day meeting and I wanted to reach out to see if your crew were all in for this year. We liked the earlier start time of 9am, so think we are going to stick with that on June 15th. Let me know if all is a go. In addition, we discussed possibly having a fly fishing clinic off to the side by you guys as we have in the past. I just like the idea of giving the kids an option to elevate their interest little further. I know Tommy always liked to take the more challenging route to anything outdoor related. Let me know if you have any thoughts on that. Thanks so much Mike! Brad (773) 531-4380 "

Terry is a beast for conservation. This one is easy. When I was CD, I had factory farms. Sign it!!!!

On 2/26/2019 at 7:03 PM, mikeyd said:

To follow up on this, Mike Allen reached out to me to apologize and thanked me for bringing the issue to his attention.

At least you have that going for you. He simply "unfriended" me on FB. Didnt' know we were friends to begin with. Ha.

Having attended Conservation Congress, and watching Marc Miller stand up there and address every concern that sportsmen presented with a defined focus and the ability to seek and create dedicated funding, to see these types take the helm just sickens me. She actually applied for the job. 

We've been spoiled rotten with the likes of Manning and Miller determining the health and welfare of our natural resources in the past, but as with everything that involves politics rather than policy...we have no choice but to ride out the storm. I look forward to our local outdoors journalists and ISA conservation leaders jumping into the fray to get a seat at the table. Whether anybody likes it or not, we always have a seat at the table, because those smallmouth and their habitat aren't going to conserve themselves.

Thought I was reading an article from The Onion at first. According to an interview, her outdoor recreation consists of gardening. This appointment is downright comical, if not for the fact her inexperience spells disaster for your outdoor pursuits. She does have a background in disaster relief efforts to go with that agricultural broadcasting degree.
Perhaps when the smoke clears she sticks around to help clean up the disaster that is about to commence.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2019-02-21/pritzker-picks-ui-grad-head-illinois-department-natural-resources.html

On 2/21/2019 at 8:42 AM, John Gillio said:

I totally agree with that quote.

 Clicking on the photo I posted displays a clear version of the text.

I decided to do an online search regarding this matter, and was surprised at the lack of studies on the environmental impacts of jetboats. What I did find is actually a little comical, and primarily relates to salmon. 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292774727_Jet_boating_on_Canterbury_rivers 

Another spectacular event, despite the high temperature. Many thanks to the ISA for stepping up to mentor these kids once again!! We had volunteers in the casting field and on the lake. 

Alright, ladies and gentlemen. We're in for the usual scorcher tomorrow. In my 15 years of the casting field, this is right on par. 350 kids are counting on us all. 

I'm stoked for my favorite day of the year.