DICKINSON (AP) - State and federal wildlife officials might finish what nature started at Patterson Lake in southwestern North Dakota.

Thousands of fish in the lake died because of winterkill, which happens when heavy snow cover on a lake leads to reduced oxygen levels.

Only undesirable fish such as carp and bullheads remain. The North Dakota Game and Fish Department and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management are proposing to poison them, then later restock the lake with northern pike, crappies and walleye.

A public meeting about the proposal was set for Monday night.