REGION

REGION
Horse show
CANFIELD -- The Northern Ohio American Quarter Horse Association will conduct a show April 28-29 at the Canfield Fairgrounds. The event will test horses' abilities in dozens of classes and events. For information, contact Chris Cecil-Darnell, (330) 668-1090.
Birthday commemoration
CANFIELD -- Mill Creek MetroParks will present a hike and lecture with naturalists Wil and Sarah Reding in celebration of the 169th birthday of visionary preservationist John Muir. The hike will take place at 2 p.m. April 21 at Yellow Creek Park and cover a one-mile course that includes hills and steps. The Redings will speak at 7:30 p.m. at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield when they share experiences from their 53-day, 1,000-mile walk from Indiana to Florida, retracing Muir's legendary journey of 1867. No registration is necessary. For information, call (330) 740-7107.
Road closed until April 13
HOOKSTOWN, Pa. -- The main park road at Raccoon Creek State Park will be closed until April 13 from the Route 18 entrance to the family campground in order to complete road repairs. The entrance from Route 30 to the campground will not be affected.
OHIO
Walleye, perch quotas
COLUMBUS -- The Lake Erie Committee recently announced the 2007 total allowable catch (TAC) for walleye and yellow perch fisheries in Lake Erie. Both the walleye and yellow perch TACs represent a decrease in allowable harvest from 2006.
The 2007 lakewide TAC for walleye is 5.36 million fish, with Ohio's share or quota at about 2.75 million fish, a 54 percent decrease from last year's quota of 5.08 million fish for Ohio.
Ohio's yellow perch quota is 4.29 million pounds of the lakewide TAC of 11.38 million pounds. This represents a 34 percent reduction from last year's quota of 7.48 million pounds in Ohio.
The Lake Erie Committee noted that weak walleye and yellow perch year classes in 2002, 2004, and 2006 necessitated the lower harvest in 2007 to protect the fishery.
"We're closely examining reasons for the apparent inability of the fish population to fully recover in recent years," said Sean Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. "We will work to take the necessary steps to protect the health and vitality of this great resource for future generations of Ohioans."
The Lake Erie Committee comprises fishery managers from Michigan, New York, Ohio, Ontario and Pennsylvania. The committee's work is facilitated by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, a Canadian and U.S. agency on the Great Lakes. Each year the committee sets the total allowable catch for walleye and yellow perch. Total allowable catch represents the number of fish that can be caught by sport and commercial fishers without putting the stocks at risk.
Wild turkey hunting
COLUMBUS -- Spring wild turkey hunting opens in all 88 Ohio counties on April 23, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife. The season continues through May 20.
"It should be a good year for turkey hunters and I estimate between 20,000 and 25,000 gobblers will be harvested this season," said ODNR wildlife biologist Dave Swanson.
Hunters harvested 20,023 wild turkeys during last year's spring season.
Swanson added that Ohio's current wild turkey population is around 200,000. He anticipates as many as 85,000 people, not counting private landowners hunting on their own property, will enjoy Ohio's increasingly popular spring wild turkey season.
A special youth-only turkey hunt for those age 17 and younger will be held April 21-22. Young hunters must have their hunting licenses and spring wild turkey permits in order to participate and must be accompanied by a nonhunting adult 18 years of age or older. The young hunter's turkey season is open statewide with the exception of Lake LaSuAn State Wildlife Area in Williams County. Legal hunting hours are a half-hour before sunrise to sunset each day during the two-day youth season.
The wild turkey is Ohio's largest game bird. It stands 3 to 4 feet tall and may weigh up to 27 pounds. Legal hunting hours for the regular spring season are one-half hour before sunrise until noon. Hunters are required to have a hunting license and a spring turkey hunting permit and can take one wild turkey per day. A second spring turkey permit can be purchased, allowing hunters to take a limit of two bearded wild turkeys.
Shotguns using shot, longbows and crossbows may be used to hunt wild turkeys. It is unlawful to hunt turkeys over bait, to use a live decoy or electronic calling device, or to shoot a wild turkey while it is in a tree. A wild turkey must be properly tagged and taken to an official check station by 2 p.m. on the day it is harvested.
The Division of Wildlife advises turkey hunters to wear hunter orange clothing when entering, leaving or moving through hunting areas in order to remain visible to others. Additional turkey hunting information is available on the Internet at ohiodnr.com/wildlife.
Peregrine falcons
COLUMBUS -- Six pairs of peregrine falcons have produced eggs, kicking off the 2007 nesting season in Ohio.
The nests are located: Rhodes State Office Tower in downtown Columbus; Stuart Power Plant near Aberdeen in Brown County; Miami Fort Station Power Plant near the village of Cleves in Hamilton County; Bohn Building, Terminal Tower, in Cleveland; Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland.
State wildlife biologists say early reports indicate that there are at least 23 pairs of peregrine falcons across Ohio, including three new pairs at new nesting sites.