Outdoorama 98 to feature Lampreys nd Snakes and Wolves, oh my!

Live sea lampreys on display at the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service booth at “Outdoorama ‘98" serve as vivid reminders of the on-going battle to control sea lamprey populations in the Great Lakes.

Adult lamprey can kill up to 40 pounds of lake trout and other fish in their 12 to18-month lifespan. Service and Canadian biologists are funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to monitor lamprey populations and kill the worm-like larvae called ammocetes in Great Lakes streams.

The sea lamprey is only one story told at the Service’s Great Lakes ecosystem booth this year. Visitors can see, touch, or hear the story of endangered snakes, wandering warblers, wild wolves, exotic pelts, dinosaur fish, zebra mussels and more. Visitors can test their knowledge of geography by putting a giant puzzle of the Great Lakes’ Ecosystem back together again.

The Service’s role in the Great Lakes is to conserve, protect and enhance fish and wildlife resources for the continuing benefit of the American people. Specifically, the Service manages refuge lands for plants and migrating fish, birds and mammals; raises fish and protects rivers to restore fish populations in lakes and streams; enforces Federal wildlife laws; controls exotic and harmful species; reduces pollutants; protects endangered plants and animals; and administers monies for State wildlife and fish projects.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies. For further information about the programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, please visit our home page at: http://midwest.fws.gov