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for removing carcasses on their land.
• The state veterinarian says carcasses must be burned, buried to a depth of 4 feet or disposed of by a licensed rendering plant as soon as possible to prevent health and safety problems.
• Livestock owners are urged to document livestock deaths in case disaster payments are available in the future.
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• DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- When pheasant hunters take to the fields of South Dakota this weekend to renew a treasured rite of autumn, they'll have less land to do it on thanks to the federal government shutdown.
• Some 150,000 acres in the national wildlife refuge system will be off-limits for the state's annual public lands hunt. It's a scenario being played out across the country, affecting millions of acres that are ordinarily available to hunters seeking antelope in Colorado, ducks in Montana or bears in Alaska.
• In South Dakota, millions of acres leased or owned by the state will still be available. But the national wildlife refuge system sites offer some of the best cover for upland birds, said Mark Norton, hunting access coordinator for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department.
• "In the grand scheme of things, it won't be a huge amount," Norton said. "But a lot of the waterfowl production areas are in the prime pheasant land of South Dakota. It will be felt by sportsmen, that's for sure."
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said this week it was closing its public properties across the country due to the shutdown.
• That presents a security risk, outdoors groups say, as just 350 Fish and Wildlife Service workers are protecting more than 150 million acres of wildlife refuges-- an area nearly twice as large as the national park system.
• Wildlife-related recreation is a big business in the U.S., with more than 90 million Americans spending more than $144 billion in 2011, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
• In Minnesota, which celebrates its pheasant opener this weekend, the Fish and Wildlife Service has closed 13 national wildlife refuges, eight wetland management districts, one ecological services office and the Midwest regional office, totaling more than 489,000 acres.
• More than a half-million residents and visitors hunt in Minnesota each year, contributing an estimated $725 million to the state's economy, according to the Minne

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