Beckie Gaskill
Recent Stories
Wolf predation shaped by prey availability, pup-rearing demands in summer
Thomas Gable of the University of Minnesota and his research team conducted a study from 2015-24 on the summer predation behavior of more than 500 wolves. The team searched over 40,000 clusters of GPS locations and identified over 1,900 kill sites in an effort to see how the temporal dynamics of wolf predation changed during summer months.
Healthy Watersheds High Quality Waters viewers show valuable lake information
Wisconsin, and the Northwoods in particular, is home to some high quality waters. This recent webinar, presented by Lauren Haydon of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), looked at what can be done to protect those waters.
Hunters can help stop the spread of terrestrial invasives this fall
As hunting season approaches, there is always an uptick in the number of people who are in the woods. Hunters hike in to their stands breathing in deep the crisp morning air and leaving crunching under their feet.
Fish Like a GIRL
Last week, I mentioned that this week I would talk about some of the grant applications that came through for the Besadny Grant Program. I am a member of the Natural Resources Foundation board, and through that, I was able to grab a seat in the Besadny Grant committee. Having been a member of the Lumberjack RC&D Council as the Vilas County representative for just over a year now, when I got the chance for a spot on the
Chew on this!
Before we know it, the holidays will be here. Many of us are already getting ready for deer camp and all the fun, food and camaraderie that comes along with that. All of these things can mean we need to bring a dish to pass, or bring something to add to the holiday festivities.
Preliminary deer harvest numbers available
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has preliminary deer season numbers available on their website through Oct. 29. So far, in the Northern Forest Zone, the DNR website shows 6,680 deer had been registered. Of those, 3,998 were antlered deer and 2,682 were antlerless.
Trees for Tomorrow gets funding to help with outdoor classroom
Founded in 1944, Trees for Tomorrow in Eagle River is the state’s oldest natural resources based school. The school uses transformative educational experiences to promote sustainable use of natural resources.
Wolf kills of deer fawns near human infrastructure more dependent on deer movement than building density, study finds
The Greater Voyageurs Ecosystem (GVE) is an ecosystem in Northern Minnesota in which many studies of wolves have been done. That research continues today. The ecosystem boundary was set nut by any geologic or hydrologic landscape features, but in order to bound the study area and therefore the research efforts.
Phenological extremes could jeopardize walleyes in north-temperate lakes
A 2024 study by Martha E. Barta et al. looked at phenological extremes and how those might affect walleye in 194 Midwestern lakes. Growing variability in things such as ice off and on could be causing trophic mismatches, or mismatches in the timing of peak predator and prey abundance.
