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Invasive mussel species cause for concern

Our first event of 2015 was our annual Awards and Fundraising Banquet.

Our first event of 2015 was our annual Awards and Fundraising Banquet. The weather was good and we had a great turnout as we had an overflow crowd. The food was very good as usual. There was a good variety of our own Canadian products; thanks to our cooks who always do an outstanding job. Keep that up and we will put you on regular.

There were lots of silent auction items to bid on and we had a strong competition among the bidders - good to see. The animal race was very close this year. There was lots of cheering for the different racers. The fund raising was very good and we have some projects we will be working on this summer, so the proceeds will help us do improvements at the club.

The Alberta Fish and Game Conference was held in Lethbridge Feb. 19 -21. Based on our membership of over 840, our club was eligible to send as many as 8 voting delegates this year. We sent four delegates: the current President and three past Presidents who are still active members and current executives. There were many different concerns discussed about our fish and big game in Alberta. One of the concerns was about invasive species of mussels that are coming across our border into Alberta. There are wash stations being set up at border crossings so any one coming into Alberta with any kind of equipment that might have been in contact with these species must clean and wash their equipment before they are allowed to enter Alberta.

The number of grizzly bears is estimated at about 1000 in Alberta. The do not increase very fast as the females only breed about every three years. The elk population is increasing quite fast in parts of Alberta where they have been established for quite a while. Some places are having problems with predators, such as wolves and cougars that can be hard on elk and deer population.

Looks like the snow is going pretty quick now. There was very little snow from Olds to Lethbridge when we went to the conference, which was nice as the roads were clear.

I read an article recently about elk that were transplanted from Banff and a couple of the western states to Kentucky a few years ago - they now figure they have at least 10,000 elk there. Looks like they have adapted to that country real well.

We will be starting archery and trap season very soon, so check with someone pretty soon and come out and have a go at tuning up your skills after winter.

See you soon.

Robert Greene

Publicity Chairman

Ponoka Fish and Game