CONSERVATION ROUNDUP.  Efforts around the state, country and continent are constantly working to preserve habitat, protect creatures and learn more about the magic of migratory animals.  We’ve got insights on all three in today’s Outdoors Roundup.

Featured Photo:  GREENING UP.  Spring takes on a new hue as vegetation greens up. Simonson Photo.

WEATHER (Bismarck Forecast):
Today: Fri 5/15 – Best of the Week – Hi 67, Lo 40, Wind SE@10
Tomorrow: Sat 5/16 – Clearing Late – Hi 62, Lo 40, Wind ESE@9

SOLUNAR (Bismarck Times):

Sunrise        Sunset
6:07AM        9:11PM

Moonrise         Moonset          Overhead                Underfoot
3:43AM           2:00PM           8:47AM            9:09PM
Moon Phase:  Waning Crescent (41% Full)

EDGE HOUR:  8:30-9:30PM.  Sunset & moon underfoot will overpower any light rain chances for a good bite tonight, in our Edge Hour.

DAY RATING:

OUTDOORS ROUNDUP:

SHIPP IT OUT.  The USDA’s ongoing Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP) is designed to protect soils and waters of the prairie pothole region, offering operators incentives to lock up lower-quality lands in perennial cover.  More information can be found on the USDA information page.

UNDERCOVER.  PBS details the awakening of monarch butterflies in their ancestral winter home with the help of a hummingbird.  Well, not a real hummingbird, but a drone disguised as the non-threatening co-inhabitant of the forest, which captures some amazing scenes.

SAVING SAL.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service details the efforts put into saving a species of salamander in the southeast that had dwindled down to populations present in just three ponds along the Florida-Georgia Line. Getting over the hump of recruitment, biologists recently had a breakthrough in establishing more mature amphibians from their efforts.