The C.D. “Buzz” Besadny Anadromous Fish Facility just might be the busiest place in Kewaunee County Saturday as scores of visitors arrive to check out its annual open house.

All the rain combined with pumped well water is luring hundreds of chinook salmon — and a few coho salmon and brown trout, too — to the manmade fishway, viewing windows and holding ponds along the Kewaunee River.

DNR staff and volunteers from the Algoma-Kewaunee Area Sport Fishermen and other conservation and civic groups will be on hand from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Facility manager Mike Baumgartner encourages visitors to walk the paved path to view salmon from above, or go below to get a face-to-face look at fish through a pair of underwater windows.

Egg collection demonstrations, casting and fly-tying lessons and an opportunity to sponsor and release a tagged fingerling sturgeon are among the activities. There will also be guided tours, fish print T-shirt-making and food and refreshments.

Individuals and families can park and walk to the facility, or take a free horse-and-wagon ride from the parking area.

One of the county’s top attractions spring and fall, the facility was named after Kewaunee native and former DNR secretary Carroll D. “Buzz” Besadny, who devoted his entire career to conservation.

Preliminary work began in 1989 and was completed 20 years ago, in 1996.

You can check out some of Besadny’s career accomplishments at http://www.wchf.org/inductees/besadny.pdf, and learn more about the open house at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Fishing/outreach/BesadnyOpenHouse.html.

Meanwhile, DNR fisheries biologist Nick Legler anticipates salmon spawning for hatchery egg harvest beginning Monday at Strawberry Creek near Sturgeon Bay.

Youth deer

This year’s mentored youth gun deer hunt is set for Oct. 8-9, and all licensed hunters ages 10 to 15 can participate as long as they have appropriate tags.

Youth hunters must be accompanied by a mentor 18 years of age or older. Youth ages 12-15 with a hunter education certificate may hunt within visual and voice range of a mentor. When accompanying one or two youth ages 12-15 that have successfully completed hunter education, a mentor is not required to possess a hunter education certificate or a current hunting license.

Hunters ages 10 and 11, as well as those ages 12-15 that have not completed hunter education, are required to hunt within arm’s reach of a qualified mentor who has completed hunter education and holds a current hunting license.

First-time hunters are eligible for a discounted first-time buyer license.

New view

A new and modernized view of Wisconsin’s land cover is now available to the public for use in multiple ways including forest management, conservation and urban planning and particularly in providing effective customized habitat and deer management plans for as many landowners as possible.

The two-year Wiscland 2.0 (2-point-0) project combines ground level mapping, satellite imagery, and USDA data in a product produced jointly by the DNR, UW-Madison and the State Cartographer’s Office. It’s the first update of land map data in more than 20 years.

The goal of Wiscland 2.0 was to map the current vegetation, water, and urban patterns for the entire state. Having a current land cover dataset is a critical element in research and establishing scientifically based management plans that can also be used by counties, municipalities and the public.

Anyone can download the new and improved Wiscland 2.0 data at http://dnr.wi.gov/maps/gis/datalandcover.html.

Survey says

Updated Wisconsin wildlife surveys for big game, small game, waterfowl and more are now available at http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/reports.html.

Reports available include estimated harvest of some species, spring population and winter tracking surveys, winter severity index and rare mammal observations, among others.

Kevin Naze is a freelance outdoors writer. Email him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Salmon open house Saturday at Besadny