By Glen Wunderlich

The U.S. House on November 16th voted 196-180 to pass a bill named the Manage Our Wolves Act. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, a 2011 rule would be reissued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which among significant other revisions to the Endangered Species Act, would remove ESA protections for the gray wolf in the lower 48 states including Michigan.

According to the FWS, all three States of the Western Region (WGL) – Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan – have wolf management laws, plans, and regulations that adequately regulate human-caused mortality. Each of the three States has committed to manage its wolf population at or above viable population levels, and this commitment is not expected to change.

The predictable hyperbolic response by the animal-rights crowd includes such language as the following: Republicans are gunning for the ESA; danger comes from conservatives; it will hurt endangered species. Almost immediately, The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) chipped in with a lawsuit claiming passage would make wolves vulnerable to trophy hunting and trapping, halting their progress toward recovery.

The wolf population in the WGL currently occupies all the suitable habitat area identified for recovery in the Midwest in the 1978 Recovery Plan and 1992 Revised Recovery Plan and most of the potentially suitable habitat in the WGL. However, groups like CBD like to point out that only 5 percent of the original territory occupied by the wolves is now inhabited by them and that makes wolves not fully recovered. Do these folks really want to foster the establishment of wolves in the large metropolitan areas from which they throw their stones? I think not.

These city slickers have a lot of clout and that clout comes from sheer numbers of the unaffected. The phrase “tyranny of the majority” best describes the real danger of an all-powerful force of these voting blocs that could tyrannize unpopular minorities thus marginalizing individuals such as those living in sparsely populated wolf territory.

In actuality, the group of nine bills that comprises the act is aimed at the following amendments to the 45 year-old ESA to:

• encourage voluntary conservation efforts
• provide for greater certainty and improved planning for incidental take permit holders
• provide for consideration of the totality of conservation measures in determining the impact of proposed Federal agency action
• prohibit designation as critical habitat of certain areas in artificial water diversion or delivery facilities
• provide for greater county and State consultation with regard to petitions under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and for other purposes
• require publication on the Internet of the basis for determinations that species are endangered species or threatened species, and for other purposes
• to increase State and local involvement in management plans
• provide for improved precision in the listing, delisting, and down listing of endangered species and potentially endangered species
• define petition backlogs and provide expedited means for discharging petitions during such a backlog

Under current law, plaintiffs who challenge the federal government under the ESA may be entitled to the repayment of attorneys’ fees. Such payments are made from the federal government’s Judgment Fund, which has a permanent indefinite appropriation. By prohibiting judicial review, the act could reduce the number of civil actions that otherwise would be filed and thus the potential for payments from the Judgment Fund. This would mean that taxpayers’ money could actually be used for the betterment of wildlife through projects such as enhancement of habitat rather than continuing to pad the bank accounts of animal lawyers with permanent indefinite funding.

“This is not about a hatred or fear of predators. This is about actually recognizing that the ESA has done its job, and it’s time for the wolf to be delisted,” said U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers, R-Washington. In fact, it’s long past time.

GW: And, may this bird not fly up your nose

Study suggests key physical traits & behaviors evolved in tandem

November 20, 2018

Ithaca, NY—Male birds-of-paradise are justly world famous for their wildly extravagant feather ornaments, complex calls, and shape-shifting dance moves—all evolved to attract a mate. New research published in the open-access journal PLOS Biology suggests for the first time that female preferences drive the evolution of physical and behavioral trait combinations that may also be tied to where the male does his courting: on the ground or up in the trees. There are 40 known species of birds-of-paradise, most found in New Guinea and northern Australia.

Lesser Bird-of-Paradise during courtship dance. Photo by Tim Laman.

Study lead author Russell Ligon, a postdoctoral researcher at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, suggests females are evaluating not only how great the male looks but, simultaneously, how well he sings and dances. Female preferences for certain combinations of traits result in what the researchers call a “courtship phenotype”—bundled traits determined by both genetics and environment.

Study authors examined 961 video clips and 176 audio clips in the Cornell Lab’s Macaulay Library archive as well as 393 museum specimens from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. They conclude that certain behaviors and traits are correlated:

• As the number of colors on a male increases so do the number of different sounds he makes.
• The most elaborate dancers also have a large repertoire of sounds.
• Males that display in a group (called a lek) have more colors to stand out better visually amid the competition.

Because female birds-of-paradise judge male quality based on a combination of characteristics, the study suggests that males may be able to evolve new features while still maintaining their overall attractiveness to females—there’s room to “experiment” in this unique ecological niche where there are few predators to quash exuberant courtship displays.

The researchers found that where a bird-of-paradise puts on his courtship display also makes a difference.

Graphic shows which types of displays are most common at varying heights in the rainforest. Birds-of-paradise illustrations by Szabolcs Kókay; background illustration and graphic design by Jillian Ditner. Graphic courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Click image for full-size version. Read more

Ready for a new day-after-Thanksgiving tradition? How about fresh air, time with family and friends, and a healthy dose of the great outdoors! #OptOutside on Black Friday, and enjoy free admission to Michigan state parks all day long.

The #OptOutside movement – started in 2015 by outdoor recreation cooperative REI Inc. – encourages people to spend more time outside and highlights the health and well-being benefits of being outdoors. Hundreds of agencies across the country, including the DNR, have joined the movement. Read more

PHOENIX — Sandhill cranes have returned to southeastern Arizona and the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s live-streaming camera is again trained on their wintering grounds at Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area.

Viewers this year can now watch thousands of the large migrating birds in high-definition after the department recently upgraded its live-streaming camera.

Download footage from the Sandhill crane cam

“This is truly an exciting time of year at Whitewater Draw,” AZGFD Watchable Wildlife Program Manager Randy Babb said, noting that each year sandhill cranes come as far away as Siberia to winter in southern Arizona. “Not only are the birds putting on a wonderful show, we are pleased to offer this feed in HD in an attempt to bring the public a truly unfiltered, crisp view of our state’s wildlife.”

The live stream, which can be viewed at www.azgfd.gov/sandhillcranes, is one of two in the country that offers viewers a glimpse into crane wintering habits. The live stream is offered in late October, when cranes first start to arrive at Whitewater Draw, through March or early April when the birds leave to migrate to northern nesting grounds. Read more

Contact:
Nathan Gonzalez, AZGFD PIO

(623) 623-7230, ngonzalez@azgfd.gov

PHOENIX — Sixty of Arizona’s bighorn sheep have a new home.

Dozens of bighorns were returned to their historical ranges last week as part of two translocations from robust populations of desert bighorns in the Silver Bell Mountains northwest of Tucson and Rocky Mountain bighorns near Morenci.

The first 30 animals relocated from near Tucson were moved in an effort to re-establish bighorn sheep in their historical range in the Picacho Mountains to the north.

Download b-roll of the bighorn sheep release

Watch a video of the project

“When we can help re-establish a native species to their historic habitat, we’re truly part of something special,” said Amber Munig, AZGFD’s big game management supervisor. “Projects such as these help us to conserve and protect bighorn sheep by establishing subpopulations within their native ranges, which could help if there ever were a disease outbreak. Such an outbreak wouldn’t have a devastating effect on the entire population.”

The capture and relocation near Tucson las week was the first of two completed by AZGFD and its wildlife partners. The second involved the capture and relocation of 30 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep from Eagle Creek near Morenci to East Clear Creek/Leonard Canyon north of Payson. Read more

Bovine TB found in Alcona County herd
Routine surveillance testing recently revealed bovine tuberculosis in a large beef herd in Alcona County. It is the 73rd cattle herd identified with bovine TB in Michigan since 1998. In Michigan’s modified accredited zone, which includes Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Oscoda counties, bovine TB, an infectious bacterial disease primarily affecting cattle, is endemic in the free-ranging white-tailed deer population.

Annual surveillance and movement testing are required of cattle producers to help catch the disease, early, and prevent it from being moved off farms.

“In the modified accredited zone, anything shared by deer and cattle can be a potential source of bovine tuberculosis infection,” Nancy Barr, assistant state veterinarian, said in a recent news release. “Preventing deer from having contact with cattle feed, feed storage or watering areas is crucial for farmers in this area of Michigan and a part of wildlife biosecurity programs being implemented.”

As part of the DNR’s efforts to restore wetland habitat at sites around the state, restoration projects in Gratiot and Osceola counties are well under way.

At a site known as Potato Creek in Gratiot County’s Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area, initial construction on a 60-acre wetland restoration project is complete.

“The Gratiot/Saginaw site was a cornfield, and we’ve converted it back to a wetland,” said Steve Shine, DNR wetlands mitigation bank administrator. “It is greening up with the temporary seeding, and the basins are filling with water.”

In the spring, seeds planted this fall for dormant seeding will germinate, and shrubs will be planted.

Restoration and vegetation are complete on a 52-acre wetland project in Sears (Osceola County). A cooperative effort with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, this work took place on private land, and a permanent conservation easement will ensure the wetlands never will be converted to another use. Read more