The jumping Asian carp that made its escape into the Mississippi River are now in the Ohio, Illinois and Missouri Rivers. In fact, most any waterway that has some connection to the Mississippi River can expect the Asian carp invaders.

When a motor boat comes by, the fish jump up to ten feet in the air. Getting hit by a 30 pound flying fish is extremely dangerous. There are plenty of news stories:

• Craig Gemming, who got his teeth knocked out — or at least a filling — by a cannonball carp in August of last year.

• A boater being hit in the back so hard by a flying carp that the strike separated one of the man’s ribs from the vertebrae

• Seth Russell, 15, of Crossett, Arkansas was seriously injured when he was struck in the face by a Silver Asian carp while tubing on Lake Chicot.

Perhaps full body armor would be more appropriate.

Asian carp consume nearly 50% of their body weight every day in the small plant and animal life that forms the base of the food chain. This is the food for crayfish and smaller fish such as sculpins and perch. As these species die off, it will eliminate the prey for game fish. A crash in the populations of native sport fish in waterways connected to the Mississippi River, possibly even the Great Lakes, is not too far off.

It is true of all invasive species . . . they monopolize the food and habitat that native species rely upon.

Visit Wildlife Forever’s Invasive Species Central and check out the many links available to discover what you can do to help stop invasive species.

PS:  Our new DVD “Defending Favorite Places” about how hunters and anglers can stop the spread of invasive species is available free.  Just send $4 to help cover S&H costs and we will get you a personal copy of the 27 minute program

State-Fish Art Winners Announced

The top winners of each state and within each grade category in the State-Fish Art Contest were recently announced. This year each winning image is available to the public on an array of practical products, from coffee and travel mugs to official U.S. postage, t-shirts and even business cards. See the winners from your state.

Salmon and Steelhead Runs Revived

Though still under siege from agriculture and other threats, north-central California's Shasta River supports important spawning runs of steelhead, coho and chinook salmon, as well as a resident rainbow population.

The salmonids benefit recreational and commercial anglers along the Pacific Coast, and contribute to local economies throughout the watershed. But it wasn't always so.
Not long ago, diversion dams and an accumulation of debris in the slack water behind the impoundments would attract large numbers of juvenile fish in early summer. By midsummer, however, water temperatures would rise and dissolved oxygen levels would drop. As a result, fish kills were common.

The old Fiock Dam prevented fish from reaching their historical spawning grounds.

Wildlife Forever teamed up with a local watershed group working on the Shasta Valley Coordinated Resources Management Plan, along with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Restoration Center, Great Northern Corporation, Fish America Foundation and other partners to remove the Fiock Dam near Shasta Valley.

A new water control structure replaced the old dam and fish swim freely by.

With the dam gone, water velocities increased, water temperatures declined and dissolved oxygen levels improved. Besides restoring the habitat near the old dam, it helped draw young fish away from areas still prone to summer kills. Another major benefit was salmonid migrations were restored to more of their historical range, which has helped boost the number of young salmon and steelhead heading downstream.

Do You Squidoo?

Squidoo is the popular publishing platform and community that makes it easy for you to create "lenses" online. Lenses are pages, kind of like flyers or signposts or overview articles, that gather everything you know about your topic of interest--and snap it all into focus.

It's a super simple, fun and powerful way to share your interests, build your online identity and credibility, and connect with new readers and friends. It's all free, and you could even earn a royalty for Wildlife Forever, yourself or both!

You can build a free Squidoo lens on any topic you want . . . bird watching, hunting, fishing or how to build a loon pontoon. You can have your lens (web page) up and running in just a few minutes.

The Wildlife Forever lens includes a monthly conservation project, links to every state's DNR web site and even suggested books related to conservation and the outdoors.

Visit the Wildlife Forever lens and then visit the Squidoo "About Us" page and discover how you can have fun online and earn money for Wildlife forever and yourself.