In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

vii vii Acknowledgments This book is dedicated to career employees of the Department of Natural Resources in Minnesota and Wisconsin and of similar agencies elsewhere. The professional people I have encountered in the field of natural resources deserve much more credit than they are often given. Their quality of work and the services they provide in the face of numerous obstacles are more than comparable to any in private industry. In particular,the fisheries staff in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, provided the setting that enabled my work. I thank Gary Phillips,Bruce Vondracek,Paul Cunningham, and Sandy DeLeo for helpful reviews and edits. Being part of the fisheries research group for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has been important to me. The group has a well-deserved reputation throughout the United States as second to none. Old-timers from the group have been mentors, and the newer folks are tackling difficult issues. Their backup during challenging spring field seasons was an enormous boost. Personal supervisors Jack Wingate, Dennis Schupp, Don Olson, Don Pereira,and Melissa Drake gave me the outstanding support needed to accomplish long-term research. I benefited from new energy levels sparked byAndy Carlson over the past two years,and my longtime colleague Cindy Tomcko deserves a huge share of credit for work we accomplished with northern pike. Cindy spent a large part of her career doing the heavy lifting with me,including ice-out trapping in blizzard conditions and enduring many days of frozen hands and toes. This work would never have been completed without the love and support of my wife, Diane; parents, Lowell and Doris; and daughter,Laura,along with Sean,Jared,and the rest of my family. This book is dedicated to career employees of the Department of Natural Resources in Minnesota and Wisconsin and of similar agencies elsewhere. The professional people I have encountered in the field of natural resources deserve much more credit than they are often given. Their quality of work and the services they provide in the face of numerous obstacles are more than comparable to any in private industry. In particular, the fisheries staff in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, provided the setting that enabled my work. I thank Gary Phillips, Bruce Vondracek, Paul Cunningham, and Sandy DeLeo for helpful reviews and edits. Being part of the fisheries research group for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has been important to me. The group has a well-deserved reputation throughout the United States as second to none. Old-timers from the group have been mentors, and the newer folks are tackling difficult issues. Their backup during challenging spring field seasons was an enormous boost. Personal supervisors Jack Wingate, Dennis Schupp, Don Olson, Don Pereira, and Melissa Drake gave me the outstanding support needed to accomplish long-term research. I benefited from new energy levels sparked by Andy Carlson over the past two years, and my longtime colleague Cindy Tomcko deserves a huge share of credit for work we accomplished with northern pike. Cindy spent a large part of her career doing the heavy lifting with me, including ice-out trapping in blizzard conditions and enduring many days of frozen hands and toes. This work would never have been completed without the love and support of my wife, Diane; parents, Lowell and Doris; and daughter, Laura, along with Sean, Jared, and the rest of my family. This page intentionally left blank ...

Share