Dakota Chapter Meeting Brief:

Wayne Stancill, chapter president, provided comments on behalf of the Society at two public meetings regarding changes to the current operations of the Missouri River to benefit fish and wildlife species.  The chapter also provided a resolution to the City of Bismarck, ND, regarding their proposal to develop the few remaining riparian areas along the Missouri River.

The Dakota Chapter conducted its annual meeting in Pierre, SD on March 15-17.  Prior to the meeting, Dr. Steve Chipps conducted a well-attended continuing education seminar on "Indexing Lake Productivity."  Mr. Steve Erpenbach, Chief of Staff or Senator Tom Daschle spoke at the meeting banquet.

Numerous awards were given at the meeting.  The chapter presented its "Aquatic Resource Conservation Award" to the Northeastern South Dakota Walleye Club of Aberdeen, South Dakota.  The club won the award for its efforts toward improving fish habitat, educating youth, informing the general public, and enhancing angling opportunities in Northeastern South Dakota. 

Dr. Michael Brown from South Dakota State University received the Distinguished Professional Service Award from the Chapter for his service within American Fisheries Society, including Dakota Chapter President and North Central Division President-elect.  Dr. Brown was also recognized for his efforts mentoring numerous undergraduate students, co-advising the SDSU Wildlife and Fisheries Club, supervising numerous M.S. and Ph.D. students, and his publication record.

Eric Weimer and Quinton Phelps, graduate students in the South Dakota State University Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, won the Best Student Paper and Poster awards.  Mr. Weimer, a student under Dr. Michael Brown, won the Best Student Paper award.  His presentation on the "Winter habitat use and movement of bluegill in a South Dakota lake," explained his research monitoring the movements of bluegills using radio telemetry.  Mr. Phelps, a student under Dr. David Willis, won the Best Student poster award.  His poster described his research into the "Relations between climatological variables and larval yellow perch abundance in eastern South Dakota Lakes."

Dave Lucchesi and Mike Barnes tied for the Best Professional Paper award at the annual meeting.  Mr. Lucchesi's talk titled, "Evaluation of two different structures used for walleye and yellow perch age estimates," described the time required to determine fish age by either reading scales or looking at otoliths (ear bones), as well as the accuracy of each technique.  Mr. Barnes' presentation described the effects of different hatchery rearing densities on the number landlocked fall chinook salmon returning to spawn.