Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Court Orders Feds To Release Mexican Wolf Recovery Plan

By — Etta Pettijohn

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to do what it should have been doing all along: establishing an updated recovery plan for the Mexican Gray Wolves.

Last Monday U.S. Judge Jennifer Zipps, in the District of Arizona, approved an agreement reached last April between environmental groups, the states of Utah and Arizona, and the FWS, to complete a recovery plan by the end of November 2017. The agreement sets parameters for management of the reintroduction program, including where they should be allowed to roam, and to establish population targets.

The New Mexico Game and Fish Department (NMGF) declined to join the settlement, although it did intervene in the lawsuit, after the FWS released pups into the wild, despite the NMGF declining the issuance of a permit to do so. Read more

Wildlife

Sportsmen’s Alliance Presents Oral Arguments in Wolf Case

On Oct. 18, attorneys for the Sportsmen’s Alliance, the federal government and the state of Michigan presented oral arguments in their appeal of the ongoing Great Lakes wolf case. Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota were joined by other states in support of the appeal.

In December 2011, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed wolves from the list of endangered and threatened species, restoring management oversight of the species to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Unhappy with that delisting, and the subsequent possibility for a wolf hunt, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) sued. The HSUS lawsuit sought to return wolves to Endangered Species Act protections.

Despite overwhelming evidence that wolves are not only recovered, but thriving, in the Western Great Lakes region, in Dec. 2014, a Washington, D.C.-based, U.S. District Court Judge ruled that until the apex predators were deemed recovered throughout their entire historic range – which means from New York City to San Francisco – they could not be delisted. The Sportsmen’s Alliance and the federal and state governments appealed this ruling.

“Under the lower court’s ruling, it doesn’t matter that wolf numbers in the Great Lakes states are two or three times higher than the recovery goals adopted by the federal government in the 1990s. The ruling by the lower court means that until wolves are found in Chicago, Seattle and New York, wolves cannot be managed appropriately by state wildlife experts in the Great Lakes states,” said Evan Heusinkveld, president and CEO of Sportsmen’s Alliance. “The ruling makes absolutely no sense, is legally and factually incorrect, and spells disaster for the future of the Endangered Species Act, wildlife and our entire ecosystem, which is why we’re appealing it.” Read more

Animal Rights, Wildlife

DNA testing conducted on cougars killed in the Upper Peninsula


Genetic testing on tissue samples from two cougars poached in the Upper Peninsula shows the two animals likely came from a population found generally in South Dakota, Wyoming and northwest Nebraska.”This genetic research lines up with what we’ve presumed previously, that cougars found in the Upper Peninsula are males dispersing from this population east of the Rocky Mountains,” said Kevin Swanson, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife management specialist with the agency’s Bear and Wolf Program. “These males dispersed from the main population are looking to establish new territories.”

Since 2008, the DNR has confirmed 35 cougar reports in the Upper Peninsula, but so far there remains noThe cougar shown was poached in Schoolcraft County in 2013. This is one of two male cougars the Michigan DNR sampled tissue from for genetic analysis. conclusive evidence of a breeding population. No reports have been confirmed from Lower Michigan.

Cougars are an endangered species in Michigan protected by law. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan: Pheasant Hunting Season Kicks Off


With the opening of pheasant hunting season last week, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds hunters that there are a growing number of opportunities to take part in this treasured Michigan tradition.Pheasant hunting season is Oct. 10-31 in the Upper Peninsula in Menominee County and portions of Iron, Marquette, Dickinson and Delta counties; Oct. 20-Nov. 14 in the Lower Peninsula and Dec. 1-Jan. 1, 2017, in selected areas of Zone 3 in the southern Lower Peninsula. The bag limit is two male pheasants daily, with four in possession. A base license is required to hunt pheasants.

“A few years ago, Outdoor Life magazine rated Michigan’s Thumb in the top 10 places in the country to go pheasant hunting, which points to the fact that pheasant hunting is still alive and well in our state,” said Al Stewart, DNR upland game bird specialist. “The DNR and our partners are making progress toward creating more quality pheasant hunting opportunities with the Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative, a collaborative effort to revitalize Michigan pheasants.”

Stewart, who recently returned from attending the National Wild Pheasant meeting, explained that while pheasant populations have been in decline for a number of years, pheasants can be found in southern lower Michigan and in some areas of the Upper Peninsula. The best counties for pheasant hunting are in south-central to mid-Michigan and into the Thumb. There are some localized concentrations of birds elsewhere based on habitat availability. Stewart advises hunters to look for warm-season grasses, especially idled farm fields. Late-season hunters can have success in cattail and shrub lands adjoining picked agricultural fields. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Monarchs in Michigan

Fall is here, and with the cooler temperatures and lessening daylight, many different species have begun to migrate. Mammals, birds and even insects make a journey away from their summer range to find a place suitable to spend the winter. One remarkable insect that makes such a journey is the monarch butterfly.

Monarchs from Michigan typically travel south to Mexico to overwinter. Four new generations of monarchs are born each year, so the generation that migrates north in the spring is not made up of the same individuals that migrate south!

Because of this tremendous journey, monarchs have need for a variety of habitats. In the early summer these butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed because that is the only plant their caterpillars will eat. Monarchs also need habitat to overwinter in, not to mention habitat where they can stop and refuel along the way. They are very active insects and require a wide variety of flowering plants to provide the food they need to survive and make their long journey.

Unfortunately, this remarkable insect has had a 90-percent decrease in its eastern population over the last 20 years. Read more

Wildlife

Court Ruling Reopens Comment Period on North American Wolverine Proposed Listing Rule

Ø The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is reopening the public comment period on a proposed rule to list the North American wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Ø The Service had proposed to list the North American wolverine, which is a Distinct Population Segment of wolverines found in the lower 48 states, but withdrew its proposal in 2014 after concluding that the factors affecting it were not as significant as were once thought.

Ø However, the District Court for the District of Montana overturned the Service’s withdrawal, effectively returning the wolverine population to the point at which it was proposed for listing as threatened. Read more

Wildlife

Endangered Whooping Cranes to Move Through OK

Each year, sportsmen, bird-watchers and other wildlife enthusiasts can join forces with the Wildlife Department to track federally-endangered whooping cranes as the birds migrate south.

“We rely on the public to help us monitor this rare bird’s path through Oklahoma,” said Matt Fullerton, endangered species biologist for the Wildlife Department. Outdoor enthusiasts can report the location of migrating whooping cranes, along with information about the sighting, at wildlifedepartment.com. Read more

Wildlife

New agreement will provide $550,000 for Michigan pheasant habitat restoration

A male, in the background, and female ring-necked pheasant are shown. The species was introduced to the United States from Asia in the late 1800s.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is partnering with Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. and Pheasants Forever in an agreement that will see Enbridge provide half a million dollars for pheasant habitat restoration in Michigan.

Improvement projects are scheduled to take place over the next three years in various areas in Michigan, focused on Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative priority landscapes and oak savanna restoration.

“This partnership allows the parties involved to work together cooperatively, producing significant habitat improvements for wildlife and the betterment of upland game hunting opportunities,” said DNR Director Keith Creagh.

In 2013, Enbridge replaced a 30-inch pipeline, which runs for about two miles across the Crane Pond State Game Area in Cass County. As a result of the permitting process, the DNR and Enbridge worked together to improve the pipeline infrastructure and restore and improve habitat impacted during construction. Read more

Wildlife

Wild bull elk has made mid-Michigan its temporary home

Occasionally wildlife travel to areas where they are not typically found. A young bull elk recently has been spotted in several locations in mid-Michigan that are outside its home range.

“We first started receiving reports of a bull elk in Ogemaw County, and then Gladwin County and most recently near Beal City and the Herrick area in Isabella County,” said Michigan Department of Natural Resources elk specialist Chad Stewart. “We were able to confirm the locations and also that it does appear to be a wild elk.”

Michigan’s wild elk population is found in the northeast Lower Peninsula, the vast majority in the Pigeon River Country State Forest east of Vanderbilt. Michigan also has privately owned elk, within high-fence facilities located across the state. When a species like an elk is reported so far from its typical range like this, the first steps are to ensure it is not an escaped private animal. Read more

Wildlife

Conservation Community Calls for Congress to Pass Sportsmen’s Provisions

On October 5, thirty-four of the nation’s leading hunting, angling and conservation organizations sent a letter to Senate and House Energy bill (S. 2012) conferees in strong support of including important provisions from the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act (S. 405) and Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act (H.R. 2406) in final conferenced energy legislation. The 47 bipartisan conferees from the Senate and House include 34 members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC).

S. 405, introduced by CSC Members Senators Lisa Murkowski (AK), Martin Heinrich (NM), and Senate CSC leadership, expands access to and opportunities for hunting and angling and promotes wildlife and habitat conservation. On April 20, the Senate adopted many of the provisions within the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act with a vote of 97 – 0 under the Natural Resources Title of the Energy Policy Modernization Act (S. 2012). The House followed suit by adding its version of comprehensive sportsmen’s legislation, H.R. 2406, to S. 2012.

The SHARE Act, introduced by the bipartisan House CSC leadership, includes provisions such as the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage Opportunities Act; the Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act; Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act; the Farmer and Hunter Protection Act; the permanent creation of the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee; and the Preserving Public Access to Public Water Act, among others.

The inclusion of these provisions in the final conferenced energy legislation between the House and Senate Committees, and ultimately signing them into law, is crucial to the traditions of sportsmen and women across the country as well as fish and wildlife conservation for the future.

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife
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