Briefly

Secchi Day set at lake

The 12th annual Secchi Day at Beaver Lake is set for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 19 at Prairie Creek park.

The education and water quality event features kayak and stand-up paddleboard test drives, a kayak giveaway, crafts for kids, and free food. Volunteer teams take water clarity measurements around the lake and report their findings to Beaver Water District officials at the event.

Beaver Lake is the drinking water source for most of Northwest Arkansas.

The event is named for the secchi disk, a black and white disk used to measure water clarity.

Beaver Lake cleanup set

The annual Beaver Lake Cleanup is set for Sept. 30 on all areas of the lake.

Volunteers are needed to pick up litter around the lake from 8 to 11 a.m. Lunch and prize drawings begin about 11:30 a.m. at the Grand Shelter at Prairie Creek park.

For details call the Army Corps of Engineers Beaver Lake office, 479-636-1210.

Free permit required for WMAs

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wants to get to know more about visitors to one of the many wildlife management areas in the state. People who hunt, trap, fish or boat in the areas are required to get a free General Use WMA Permit through the commission's license system. The permit may be obtained online at https://ar-web.s3licensing.com, at any license vendor or by calling 800-364-4263. It can be added as a code to your existing license or obtained on its own.

Brad Carner, chief of wildlife management for the commission, the purpose of the license is to find out exactly how many people are using the public lands and what outdoor pursuits they enjoy while on the areas. The commission has done vehicle counts in the past.

The permit is an expansion of the Sweet 16 Permits introduced in 2012. The permits gathered information about hunter use and satisfaction. Other portions of that program included modifications to antler-point restrictions, increased data collection to monitor herd health and habitat usage in deer and disease monitoring.

"One of the greatest benefits we saw from the permits was the ability reach out and ask our hunters and anglers about proposed regulations and information they needed to know before going to the WMA," Carner said. "The free permit required an email address, so we could let hunters who frequented some WMAs know if roads were closed or if deer season on the area had been shut down because of flooding. We also were able to survey hunters on many proposed regulations."

Names drawn for alligator hunt

The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission drew 101 names, including 10 from Northwest Arkansas, for permits for alligator hunting this year.

Arkansas's 2017 alligator season is Sept. 15-18 and Sept. 22-25. Hunting is only allowed at night.

All permit winners must attend a hunter orientation class before being issued temporary tags. Classes are scheduled Aug. 19 in Hope and Monticello and Aug. 26 at commission headquarters in Little Rock. Successful private land at-large applicants must provide written landowner permission and a map of the proposed hunt area.

Permit winners are allowed up to three assistants during the hunt, but only the permit holder is allowed to snare, harpoon and kill the alligator. Arkansas alligator hunters must completely subdue the gator before finishing it with a shotgun or shotgun shell-loaded bang stick using shot no larger than no. 4 common shot.

All dead alligators must be tagged with a temporary possession tag and may be checked online. Additional hunt details will be provided at the mandatory orientation classes.

Agency reviewing wildlife code

The Missouri Department of Conservation seeks public comment on all hunting and fishing regulations under the Wildlife Code of Missouri.

Comments may be submitted online at mdc.mo.gov. The department is also holding public meetings around the state to gather comment. A meeting will be held Oct. 10 at Springfield Conservation Nature Center, 4601 S. Nature Center Way in Springfield, Mo.

Sports on 08/08/2017

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