Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Boone and Crockett Club Receives Funding from Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Boone and Crockett Club announced today that it has received a $50,000 grant through the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund to support policy outreach, research on chronic wasting disease, and the Club’s Poach & Pay project to address wildlife crime. This year’s grant also included a new area of interest – a virtual education curriculum created at and distributed from the Rasmuson Wildlife Conservation Center located on the Boone and Crockett Club’s Theodore Roosevelt Memorial (TRM) Ranch in north central Montana. The new, multi-faceted virtual education approach brings the TRM Ranch and all of its Rocky Mountain ecosystem inhabitants into the lives of classroom teachers and students through a variety of formats including augmented reality applications, Facebook live events, and downloadable electronic trail-camera curriculum modules. The lesson plans adhere to “Next Generation Science Standards” utilized by educators.

“Thanks to the support of the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Outdoor Fund, we have made major strides on forest management policy, funding for conservation efforts, and improving access to federal lands and waters,” said Tony A. Schoonen, Boone and Crockett Club Chief Executive Officer. “Now with the additional support for our virtual education program, our nation’s youth will be able to learn about North American wildlife, including alpha predators like wolves and grizzlies, through the photos collected through our network of trail cameras and our live webcam.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Utah Company and Its Owner Plead Guilty to Wildlife Trafficking Charges

A Utah man and his company Natur Inc. pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Salt Lake City to violating the Lacey and Endangered Species Acts.

On Nov. 18, 2020, a grand jury issued an indictment charging Jean-Michel Arrigona, 58, of Midvale, with unlawfully importing wildlife into the United States and reselling it from the Natur store in Midvale, which he owns. In a plea agreement with the government, Arrigona admitted that he imported approximately 1,500 wildlife items from 2015 to 2020. He only declared three of the packages, as required, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or customs authorities. Arrigona resold the wildlife online and at Natur. The wildlife, primarily from Indonesia, consisted of taxidermy mounts and bones of bats, flying foxes, frogs, starfish, insects, rodents, and lizards. Some of the wildlife, such as the flying fox (Pteropus sp.) and monitor lizard (Varanus sp.) are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates trade in endangered or threatened species through permit requirements. The United States, Indonesia, and 181 other countries are signatories to the CITES treaty. Read more

Poachers, Wildlife

ALPS Mountaineering Helix 1- and 2-Person Tents

New Haven, Mo. – ALPS Mountaineering, manufacturer of performance-driven technical support gear for wilderness adventures, exploration, and family camping, adds two new backpacking tents to its expansive line of wilderness adventure gear with the release of the Helix series lightweight tents.

The new Helix tents are available with one- or two-person capacity and are sized for backpacking or ultralight camping. Based on a three-pole mesh tent and rain fly configuration, the Helix boasts a minimum weight of 2 lbs., 14 oz. or 3 lbs., 12 oz. for the one- and two-person models, respectively, and with a packed size of 5×16 or 6×18 inches.

These free-standing tents utilize 7000-series aluminum poles and lightweight aluminum hardware for support. Both the floor and fly are made of 20D 380T nylon ripstop, with the floor receiving a 3000mm silicone/pu coating and the fly a 2000mm silicone/pu coating that resists UV damage. The fly offers full coverage for maximum weather protection and, along with the floor, has factory-sealed seams.

Practical and ergonomic features include roof ventilation to minimize moisture buildup, mesh storage pockets, and vestibule storage to accommodate gear. Assembly is quick and easy thanks to snap-on pole clips, 7075 aluminum stakes, and guy ropes for anticipated high-wind conditions. Read more

General, Wildlife

Michigan: Great Lakes frontage, acres of forest and more DNR surplus lands available at online auction

Great Lakes frontage, acres of forest, prime residential lots – these and more DNR surplus lands available at online auction

Keeping your eyes open for the right piece of Michigan property? Don’t miss the current auctions of surplus public land from the Department of Natural Resources.

After careful consideration of properties it manages on behalf of Michigan residents, the DNR has selected 10 that are much better suited for private ownership. The department is preparing these surplus properties – in Antrim, Baraga, Benzie, Berrien, Delta, Gogebic, Midland and Oakland counties – for sale via online auctions open now through June 15 and 16.

Scott Goeman, DNR Real Estate Services manager, said that while these properties no longer fit the department’s goals of efficient management and broad access to public outdoor recreation opportunities, they could fit nicely into potential bidders’ future plans.

“We are responsible for more than 4.6 million acres of public lands, and we regularly review those lands to evaluate how well they fit with our overall management strategy,” said Goeman. “Sometimes, it becomes clear that, due to a number of factors – for example, if a parcel is landlocked by private property, isolated from other DNR-managed land or doesn’t support optimum outdoor recreation opportunities – it makes more sense to remove that parcel from our management. Read more
Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Michigan DNR firefighters continue to suppress 68-acre fire in Marquette County

A crew of 10 Michigan Department of Natural Resources firefighters is continuing to construct a containment line around a fire that ignited Tuesday afternoon in a remote area of Marquette County, near the south end of Goose Lake in Richmond Township.

The crew is working with hand tools in a rocky area inaccessible to larger equipment, with the fire reported today as 75% contained.

The area burning is situated south of Marquette County Road 480 and north of County Road NC, which leads to the DNR’s boating access site on Goose Lake.

“We don’t anticipate any problems with the fire at this point,” said Pete Glover, the DNR’s incident commander on the fire. “We will continue to be out here monitoring the fire over the next few days.”

The so-called “gravel pit fire” was fought initially Tuesday afternoon by more than 30 firefighters from the DNR, the Sands Township Fire Department and the U.S. Forest Service, which had a crew from Oregon on fire stand-by in the region. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan: Leave firewood at home

Hot tip for travelers: Leave firewood at home

Wherever your travels may take you this summer, you can make more room for your favorite recreational gear, your pet or even an extra friend by choosing to leave firewood at home.

Moving firewood when you camp, hunt or head out for a weekend getaway means you risk carrying tree-killing insects and diseases inside the firewood. Bugs can crawl out, infesting trees and carrying diseases that can forever change the landscape of the places you love.

“Much like the emerald ash borer – which spread across the state in the early 2000s, killing many of Michigan’s 700 million ash trees – invasive oak wilt, beech bark disease and hemlock woolly adelgid are threatening tree species that are critical components of our forests and landscapes,” said Robin Rosenbaum, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Plant Health Section manager.

According to MDARD, there are 140 pests and diseases that can be moved with firewood. Some are already present in Michigan, while others, including Asian longhorned beetle, beech leaf disease and spotted lanternfly, are infesting nearby states.

“On their own, these insects and diseases can’t travel very far, but they can travel hundreds of miles on firewood,” said Sue Tangora, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Forest Health and Cooperative Programs Section supervisor. “Trees cut for firewood often died due to insects or disease. Why risk carrying oak wilt to your cabin or beech bark disease to your favorite camping spot?”

Keep the fire burning

You can still have a roaring campfire, or a cozy night in front of the fireplace, if you just know how to burn safe. Read more

Wildlife

SCIF Launches Grizzly Bear Conflict Mitigation Work With Bear Spray Giveaway Event

Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF) over the weekend participated in its first bear spray giveaway event with the Wyoming Game & Fish Department (WGFD), publicly launching the organization’s new work on grizzly bear conflict mitigation.

Thanks to a recent grant award from the Wyoming Wildlife Foundation’s Memorial Bear Fund, SCIF donated 100 cans of bear spray to the WGFD for distribution out of Dubois, WY for the local area’s shed hunting season opener on May 15 at the Thunderhead Campground up the East Fork of the Wind River in the Absaroka Mountains.

This year, as a pilot project WGFD permitted 25 shed hunters with 3 guests each onto the Spence & Moriarity Wildlife Management Unit to better manage the influx of humans into grizzly country and any potential impacts to wildlife. The area has been at high risk of conflict, especially as both bears and humans become more active on the landscape during the spring. While luckily there were no incidents this year, a man was mauled last year on this same unit on the opening day of shed season.

“This event is a continued effort by the WGFD to reduce human-bear conflicts in occupied grizzly bear habitat,” said WGFD Bear Wise Coordinator Dusty Lasseter. “It’s important that anyone recreating in bear country is prepared for a bear encounter and can protect themselves in the rare case of an aggressive encounter.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Firminator: Best Cultipacker Makes Food Plots Healthier

It starts with the soil. Ensuring your soil has the proper chemical composition is critical to food plot success, but it doesn’t stop there. The physical condition of the soil is just as important. This is why components like the Firminator’s built-in cultipacker are so essential in allowing you to get the job done right, and more efficiently.

Before you can plan your food plot, you need to prepare the site by turning the soil. Shortening the top link on the Firminator’s main pitch adjustment leans the implement more heavily onto its disk assembly for a deeper cut into sod and stubborn soil. Switching to a mid-range setting gives varying degrees of disk depth, while simultaneously allowing the built-in cultipacker to maintain good ground contact. This helps break apart clods while leveling and firming the soil.

One of the most important, yet often overlooked steps in maximizing the productivity of your food plots is compacting, or “firming,” the soil. This improves seed-to-soil contact, which dramatically improves germination rates and plant growth. This also saves you time, money and effort that would otherwise be wasted on poorer growing crops. Proper firmination means better germination. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Every Yard Counts!

Enjoy the birds that visit your yard, and watch for a new arrivals as they migrate north, and perhaps you will see a new species. Watch the low underbrush for a Mourning Warbler (above) if you are in the East – a MacGillivray’s Warbler if you’re in the West (photo by Paul Konrad).

For migrating birds, as well as nesting birds, every yard counts – every tree and scrub and flower garden counts – and the food in every feeder counts, every type of feeder food counts in a feeding station, and every bird bath or other water feature counts! Everything we do individually makes a difference, and all the things each of us does for birds combines with the efforts of other birders so it all adds up to provide millions of backyard habitats, office habitats, schoolyard habitats, churchyards, city parks, and more. Think of each one as an island, then think about how they interconnect to form tracts of habitat, and towns of habitat, and it all means so much to migrating and nesting birds – starting with your yard, and expanding across the country, the continent, and the hemisphere!

It’s that time of the year when all you have done for birds in your property really pays off in the form of the variety and number of birds that come to your yard. That includes new birds and rare birds that only stop by once or twice a year, or every couple years – but especially resident birds and nesting birds. Your yard is most important for birds that will stay for May, June, and July to nest nearby and visit daily; then bring their fledglings to your yard to benefit from all you provide.

That’s all very important! Providing for vulnerable migrants and nesting birds is highly commendable, so be sure to give yourself credit as you enjoy the birds you have attracted as a benefactor. Take time to enjoy the birds, watch for them, appreciate them when they appear, drink in their beauty and their nature, appreciate what you’ve done, take a few photos, and appreciate you are richer for the birds that surround you. These weeks of May could be the best of the year to appreciate the fruits of your landscaping, your choice of feeders, the variety of foods you provide along with the fresh water so necessary for birds – the best of backyard birding is providing a total package for birds.

Share your backyard birding experiences and photos at editorstbw2@gmail.com

Wildlife

Fire danger is high around Michigan; be careful with campfires, debris burning and other activities

Fire danger is high around the state; be careful with campfires, debris burning and other activities

Whether you plan to get in some early-season camping, hit the trail on an ORV or clean up dead wood around your property, keep in mind that fire danger is high in many parts of Michigan this weekend.

“Even though the landscape is green, our forests and grasses are very dry,” said Paul Rogers, fire prevention specialist with the Forest Resources Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. “A fire can escape and move quickly due to the dry air and dry fuels.” Fuels includes things such as dry grass, brush and downed tree branches.

If you build a campfire or a bonfire, enjoy the dancing flames but never leave the fire unattended, even for a moment. Make sure you always have water on hand while the fire is burning. Douse your fire with water, stir the ashes and douse with water again before going to bed or leaving the site. Read more

Wildlife
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