Chatfield, MN – Throughout the history of its Conservation program, the Pope & Young Club has supported various big-game wildlife research studies. That continues with the Club’s support of a study being conducted in Michigan’s Isle Royale National Park on how the overpopulation of moose directly affects their habitat. The principal goal of this study is to assist land and wildlife managers in promoting and managing a healthy and sustainable ecosystem. For fifty-nine years the unique wolf, moose, predator/prey relationship found on Isle Royale has been studied by land, and wildlife biologists and P&Y is honored to assist in the continuance of those studies.

“The Pope and Young Club has been vital to conservation efforts with their focus on education and outreach, it was for that reason I chose to apply for a research grant through this organization,” stated Zachary Merrill, M.A., Ph.D. Student, Graduate Teaching Associate Geography Department, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “The grant will go towards assisting me in my summer travel and fieldwork expenses incurred during the summer of 2018 on Isle Royale National Park. Because of the grant money, I was able to hire a local undergraduate student to assist me in the field and teach them about conservation practices and dendrochronological applications. My research entailed sampling balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) trees to investigate evidence of moose herbivory and identify periods of possible overpopulation starvation events that have occurred in the past. Evidence of moose browse on the balsam fir is prevalent from the exterior conditions of the tree, and preliminarily results suggest that there is sufficient evidence within the tree rings to possibly reconstruct moose population. This is important in terms of conservation because it potentially adds a new tool for conservationists and wildlife managers to look into past populations of a variety of ungulate species across North America. In the end, this will assist in better understanding the effectiveness and implementation of sustainable harvest.” Read more

EDGEFIELD, S.C. — The National Wild Turkey Federation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service have signed an agreement for cooperative staffing to sustain and improve forest ecosystems on as much as 350,000 acres of private land across 24 states over the next five years.

The two organizations have a mutual interest in conservation and the sustainable use of land, water, wildlife and other resources across the country and have worked together for more than 15 years.

“We have long partnered with the NRCS on conservation projects and are thrilled to have a five-year plan in place to realize additional conservation successes,” NWTF CEO Becky Humphries said. “Putting conservation dollars to work on the ground is critical, and our commitment to this agreement shows the NWTF and NRCS are ready to help lead the way with conservation partnerships.” Read more

MONTPELIER, Vt – Vermonters love to see birds around their home, and putting out bird feeders is a popular way to attract our feathered friends to back yards. Vermont is among the top states in the country for people who report feeding and watching birds near their home.

However, birds aren’t the only wildlife attracted by birdseed. Vermont’s abundant bear population is increasingly coming into conflict with people as they raid people’s bird feeders, often leading the bear to continue to seek food sources in residential areas. As a result, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department urges Vermonters to hold off on putting bird feeders out until snow is well-established. With plenty of seeds and berries on the landscape, birds have enough native foods to tide them over until bears are hibernating.

“Nature provides birds with ample natural food options, from flowers to seeds to fruits and insects,” says John Buck, Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s migratory bird biologist. “Vermonters can plant a variety of native plants and provide other resources that will naturally attract birds from spring through fall. These natural food sources are healthy for birds and provide bird-lovers with a safe alternative to putting out bird feeders. Providing natural food sources also helps prevent a concentration of birds in one place around a feeder, reducing the likelihood of disease transmission and unnatural predation rates.”

As Vermonters put their gardens and yards to bed this fall, Buck has several recommendations for fall plantings, as well as seeds to procure for the spring, that will safely encourage birds in backyards: Read more

ing the first October Big Day, on October 6, to find and record all the birds you see through eBird. You don’t need to be a bird expert or participate all day long; even birding 30 minutes in your backyard counts. The October Big Day runs from midnight to midnight in your local time zone, and you can report birds from anywhere in the world on eBird, a worldwide bird checklist program used by hundreds of thousands of birders.

On May 5, during the Global Big Day, more than 28,000 people ventured outside in 170 countries, finding 6,899 species, two-thirds of all the world’s bird species in one day, a new world record for birding! With that in mind, a fall event was conceived and the October Big Day was planned.

Why October 6? Because the northern reaches of the world are in the midst of fall migration, and spring is rejuvenating the Southern Hemisphere. No matter where you are, we’re confident you can find some great birds and share them with the world on eBird. Let’s see what we can find together on the first October Big Day! Read more

By Bill Karr

Karr is Northern California Editor for Western Outdoor News (wonews,com), California’s oldest weekly news magazine.

There is a major problem, not only in California, but also across the United States, when court judges make wildlife management decisions. The reason is obvious: They are not wildlife specialists and wildlife decisions are sometimes very tough, and often contrary to what the uneducated public believes should be done.

A perfect example is the recent ruling by a U.S. federal judge to overrule Trump administration officials who were to allow a very limited grizzly bear hunt in Wyoming and Idaho because the species had recovered after being placed under the Endangered Species Act in 1975. It was going to be the first grizzly hunt in nearly 30 years, but they are now cancelled.

The decision came 10 days after a hunting guide came across a sow grizzly with her cub, was mauled and killed near Jackson, Wyoming – the area which bear hunting advocates suggested a need to reduce grizzly numbers. There is no better evidence that grizzly hunting is necessary in that region to first, keep the population in check, but more importantly, to instill fear of humans in grizzlies.

This applies to the management of mountain lions, bear, grizzly bears and all wildlife species: When there are too many of them for the habitat to maintain or they are a threat to the public, they need to be culled to a manageable level. But “killing” doesn’t sit well with the uneducated public, even if for the benefit of the species.

Judges are “tuned” to public sentiment rather than proper wildlife management decisions, which aren’t “laws” per se, but common sense wildlife management practices that are hard to explain to the layman—or the judge. In other words, judges should not make wildlife management decisions.

The Wyoming and Idaho hunts would have only resulted in the take of 23 grizzlies this fall, a tiny fraction of the population, and would have had zero impact on the overall population. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said this ruling supports evidence of major flaws in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the need for Congress to step in and make important changes.

We concur, there are definitely things about the ESA that need to be changed, but it needs to be done carefully and with expert input so the good parts of it are left intact. But, leave the final decision-making process up to the experts, not the uneducated masses, or even judges.

Scientists use radar to shed light on the massive numbers of migrating birds and how many may not return

Ithaca, NY— Using cloud computing and data from 143 weather radar stations across the continental United States, Cornell Lab of Ornithology researchers can now estimate how many birds migrate through the U.S. and the toll that winter and these nocturnal journeys take. Their findings are published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

“We’ve discovered that each autumn, an average of 4 billion birds move south from Canada into the U.S. At the same time, another 4.7 billion birds leave the U.S. over the southern border, heading to the tropics,” notes lead author Adriaan Dokter, an Edward W. Rose postdoctoral fellow at the Cornell Lab. “In the spring, 3.5 billion birds cross back into the U.S. from points south, and 2.6 billion birds return to Canada across the northern U.S. border.” Read more

GW: I’ve been wondering where this action had been diverted as part of any ESA rewrite. Hopefully, this order begins to curb some of the frivolous suits that take money away from wildlife management.

WASHINGTON – Activists have grown rich by suing the government and reaping billions of taxpayers’ dollars – and all in secret. The U.S. Department of Interior, however, has issued an order to curb this abuse of basic, democratic processes and to open backroom deals to public scrutiny. The American Farm Bureau Federation applauds this overdue action.

Interior alone paid out more than $4.4 billion in monetary awards under terms of 460 settlement agreements and consent decrees between Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 19, 2017. In other words, Interior paid out an average of more than $800 million a year while keeping key aspects of litigation secret.

It’s easy to see why so many outside observers fear an unaccountable bureaucracy cutting deals with activists.

“The Department of Interior is shining light on a corner of government most people don’t even know exists,” AFBF General Counsel Ellen Steen said. “Basic transparency demands that citizens know what their government is doing. When activists sue, they can tie up the government with dozens of frivolous claims but still recover attorneys’ fees if a judge upholds even one, solitary claim. Read more

(Plymouth, Minn.) — Students in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Illinois who fancy themselves a prodigy in outdoors writing should take note of the Outdoor News annual Youth Writing Contest that kicks off Sept. 7, 2018.

Outdoor News, Inc., publisher of locally written fishing and hunting outdoor newspapers in seven Great Lake states, has promoted the writing contest since 1998, which encourages students in grades 6-12 to submit an outdoors-oriented essay or poem.

For students in grades 9-12, who qualify in the Senior Division, and 6-8 grade students entered in the Junior Division, the chance to win a $100 first place prize or $50 second place award is just part of the incentive to participate. Winning entries are printed in Outdoor News publications, and the winners are also presented plaque to honor their winning submissions. But this isn’t the end of their story. Winning entries in the Outdoor News contest will then be forwarded for entry into the Outdoor Writers Association of America annual writing contest. The OWAA contest offers the chance for youth writers to earn additional cash prizes and recognition. Read more