DNR game camera records cougar in Gogebic County

A game camera set up as part of an ongoing state deer movement study has captured images of a cougar in Gogebic County, about 9 miles north of Ironwood.

The images were reviewed and verified by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ cougar team.

Since 2008, the DNR has confirmed 38 cougar reports, with all but one of those occurring in the Upper Peninsula. These reports include multiple sightings of the same cougar, not 38 individual animals.

So far, there remains no conclusive evidence of a Michigan breeding population of mountain lions. Cougars are an endangered species in Michigan protected by law.

“This latest confirmed report illustrates just how rare cougars are in the Upper Peninsula,” said Brian Roell, a DNR wildlife biologist in Marquette. “This is the first time we’ve ever caught a cougar on more than three million game camera images we’ve collected in our studies since 2009.”

DNR researchers use game cameras in their Quantifying Upper Peninsula Deer Movements and Abundance, predator-prey and bear studies. The deer movement study alone uses 50 game cameras in the western U.P., including the one in Ironwood Township that caught the images of the cougar at 7:15 p.m. on Oct. 1.

The three daylight photos on the game camera show the mountain lion walking past, from right to left. Biologists noted there was no tracking collar on the cougar. No identification of whether the animal was a male or female was possible. Michigan cougar confirmations have been derived from trail camera video, photographs, tracks, scat, or in the case of two male cats poached, carcasses. Previous genetic testing on tissue samples from those two cougars poached in the U.P. showed 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 DNR wildlife management specialist with the department’s Bear and Wolf Program. “These males dispersed from the main population are looking to establish new territories.”

Researchers investigated the potential population of origin for the two cougars using a database that includes samples from cougar populations in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Oregon and Florida. Read more

At the Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education annual conference earlier this month in Port Huron, 10 alliance members were honored for their work. Outgoing alliance board president Cindy Fitzwilliams-Heck said these award-winners have “devoted hours and careers to promoting environmental literacy in Michigan.”

Each year, five award levels are open to competitive nominations, including the two highest honors: the Julian W. Smith Outdoor Education Award and the William B. Stapp Environmental Education Award. This year’s winners include: Read more

GW:  It had to happen eventually considering the close proximity to CWD laden Wisconsin.  Now the restrictions will be implemented in the U.P.  Say goodbye to baiting.

A 4-year-old doe killed on a deer damage shooting permit in Dickinson County’s Waucedah Township has tested positive for chronic wasting disease, marking the first confirmation of the incurable deer disease within Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The finding was verified by Michigan State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in East Lansing and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa.

The deer was shot on an agricultural farm about 4 miles from the Michigan-Wisconsin border.

“We remain committed to maintaining healthy Michigan wildlife for the residents of, and visitors to, this great state, now and into the future,” said Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Keith Creagh. “Fortunately, over the past few years, with the help of hunters, the U.P. CWD Task Force, DNR staffers and others, we are far better prepared to respond to threats posed by chronic wasting disease in the U.P.” Read more

Walden Middle School teacher Jon Gray was presented with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Partners in Conservation Award at Thursday’s Natural Resources Commission meeting in Lansing.

The Lake Orion teacher, who previously received the 2018 Michigan United Conservation Clubs Educator of the Year Award, has greatly benefited teachers and students throughout the state by making natural resources education training available to hundreds. Read more

By DAVID RAINER

Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Pay attention, high schoolers and parents. Students who love the outdoors and plan to continue their education after graduation will have a new option for a college degree rooted in the outdoors at Auburn University in 2019.

The undergraduate degree will be in Wildlife Enterprise Management with training in wildlife sciences, business and hospitality. Auburn professors Steve Ditchkoff and Mark Smith collaborated on developing the major in an effort to fill a need in the outdoors community that doesn’t require a wildlife biologist degree.

Heather Crozier, Director of Development at the Auburn School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences unveiled the program to outdoor writers recently at the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Conference in Florence, S.C.

Outdoor recreation generates about a $14 billion impact on the Alabama economy and about $887 billion nationwide. Outdoors-related businesses and companies support 135,000 jobs in Alabama. Read more

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