Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Goldfinch
WEST POINT, MS – The winter months are the best time to prune trees. Pruning is important for productivity of all trees, but fruit trees benefit the most from the practice. The GameKeepers of Mossy Oak have provided the following tips for pruning. Read more
“Elk University – Educating tomorrow’s wildlife managers” is an education program designed to fit into a busy semester while meeting educational standards and touching on Michigan history, forest management, elk biology, wildlife disease and social considerations for wildlife management. Students will learn about how the Michigan Department of Natural Resources manages and maintains a healthy elk herd for current and future generations.
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Once registered, educators will receive an electronic educator guide by email within two business days. Total class time is three hours and includes three video lessons with activities.
This program is free of charge and open to all interested ninth- through 12th-grade educators. You must register by Jan. 30 for the fast-approaching spring semester! Contact Katie Keen at 231-775-9727 with questions.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will soon begin capturing and collaring white-tailed deer in the western Upper Peninsula as part of a multi-year study to quantify movement patterns of deer, especially migration between winter and summer ranges.
Completing the study will provide DNR wildlife managers with valuable information needed if chronic wasting disease – an incurable, always fatal disease found in deer, moose, mule deer and elk (cervids) – is detected in the U.P.
“Although CWD has not yet been documented in the Upper Peninsula, managers found infected deer in two Wisconsin captive cervid facilities within 30 miles of the Michigan border,” said Terry Minzey, DNR U.P. regional wildlife supervisor. “While it is not possible to predict if, or when, we will find CWD in the U.P., preparations seem prudent. In some instances, deer in the U.P. have been documented seasonally migrating more than 30 miles.” Read more
PHOENIX — Each year as part of its highly successful program to manage and conserve bald eagles in the state, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) asks outdoor recreationists, aircraft pilots, drone operators and motorized paragliders to help this magnificent bird in Arizona.
Various land and wildlife management agencies close areas around breeding locations during the birds’ breeding season to protect the state’s 67 breeding pairs of bald eagles. Some closure areas are located near popular recreation sites.
“Arizona’s bald eagle populations continue to grow each year, and that success wouldn’t be possible without the cooperation of outdoor recreationists who respect the closures during breeding season,” said Kenneth Jacobson, AZGFD bald eagle management coordinator. “We continue to work to create increased awareness among aircraft pilots, drone operators and motorized paragliders about the closures.” Read more
ATHENS, GA – In October 2017, a man walked unannounced into the QDMA National Office and told receptionist Sherri Marsh that he wanted to speak to the person in charge. When Marsh asked for his name, the man replied “Santa Claus.” True to that name, Santa Claus delivered the most significant gift QDMA has ever received: 132 acres of land adjoining the QDMA Headquarters site.
“Santa Claus” was actually Ricky Chastain of Athens, Ga., co-owner along with Russ Crump of RC-Coggins LLC. Chastain and Crump’s donation of 132 acres will increase the National Headquarters site to 155 acres in a single tract. QDMA’s original 23-acre Headquarters property was donated to the organization in 2003 by businessman Frank Coggins of Elberton, Ga. Read more
Chalk-up a win for Safari Club International and National Rifle Association of America in the continuing saga of the elephant trophy import question.
The road to complete victory continues, but SCI and the NRA have forced the government to do real fact-finding and not react to emotion from the antihunters. Although the ban on imports remains in effect until the government finishes its rule-making, SCI, the NRA and other hunting organizations now have a chance to get the real story of hunting-based sustainable use conservation on the table.
SCI and NRA received excellent news Dec. 22 from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled in favor on a key claim in SCI’s and NRA’s 2014 elephant importation litigation. In that case, SCI and NRA sued the previous administration for imposing on April 4, 2014 an abrupt ban on elephant importation from Zimbabwe.
In its 33-page opinion, the D.C. Circuit reversed an earlier unfavorable ruling issued by the lower court. Read more
Agreement paves way for early successional habitat work to benefit bobwhite quail, wildlife in 27 states
St. Paul, Minn. – Dec. 29, 2017 –Quail Forever has finalized an agreement with the USDA Forest Service that will allow collaborative active forest management in more than half of the United States. The new partnership will provide increased opportunity for efforts focused on habitat restoration between the U.S. Forest Service and Quail Forever, while allowing each party to seek additional funding and expand partnership opportunities in the quail range.
This agreement was put in place to address habitat conditions within the National Forest System (NFS) that have changed over time. Wildfires have been suppressed and timber harvest activities diminished, which has resulted in reduced early successional habitat needed by quail and other wildlife. Forest stands have become denser and expanded into historically shrub-dominated areas, increasing fire hazard, reducing foraging and depleting water resources needed to sustain riparian vegetation. Wildlife habitat can be improved with active forest management using stewardship principles. Read more
Chalk-up a win for Safari Club International and National Rifle Association of America in the continuing saga of the elephant trophy import question. The appellate court ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) should have conducted notice and comment rulemaking before abandoning almost two decades of a formal position that the import of legally hunted trophies enhanced the survival of the African elephants in Zimbabwe.
The road to complete victory continues, but SCI and the NRA have forced the government to do real fact-finding and not react to emotion from the antihunters. Although the ban on imports remains in effect until the government finishes its rule-making, SCI, the NRA and other hunting organizations now have a chance to get the real story of hunting-based sustainable use conservation on the table.
SCI and NRA received excellent news Dec. 22 from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled in favor on a key claim in SCI’s and NRA’s 2014 elephant importation litigation. In that case, SCI and NRA sued the previous administration for imposing on April 4, 2014 an abrupt ban on elephant importation from Zimbabwe.
In its 33-page opinion, the D.C. Circuit reversed an earlier unfavorable ruling issued by the lower court. The appellate court ruled that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) should have conducted notice and comment rulemaking before abandoning almost two decades of a formal position that the import of legally hunted trophies enhanced the survival of the African elephants in Zimbabwe.
The FWS had adopted negative enhancement findings for elephants harvested in 2014 and 2015. SCI and NRA sued, at least in part, because the FWS’s negative findings prevented U.S. hunters from importing Zimbabwe elephants harvested in those years.
Although the court determined that the previous administration had acted illegally, it will take some time before we know the effect the ruling will have on the ability of individuals to import elephants from Zimbabwe.
It is also uncertain how the FWS will respond to the court’s ruling and how long the entire process could take if and when the FWS engages in further rulemaking on the importation of elephants harvested in Zimbabwe in 2014 and 2015. It is possible that the government will decide not to do anything, but that opens the door for hunting organizations to file petitions to try to force the government to propose a rule to lift the ban. Questions also remain about how this ruling will affect the decision-making process for the importation of other species for which the FWS has made or will make enhancement findings.
While some things about the practical impact of the ruling remain in question – there is no question that the D.C. Circuit’s ruling is a victory for SCI, NRA and all those who recognize that hunting plays an essential role in conserving Africa’s wildlife. The court’s opinion requires the FWS to include the public, including the hunting public, in the process of decision-making that affects the importation of legally-hunted wildlife.
Hunters and organizations like SCI and NRA will be able to provide information about the role that hunting plays in species management and conservation. The FWS will not be able to impose uninformed, abrupt importation bans, like it did in 2014. Read more
An elk of unknown origin in eastern Iowa was shot Saturday afternoon to protect the Iowa deer herd and domestic livestock from the potential impacts of chronic wasting disease and other diseases.
The bull elk had been spotted in various locations in Dubuque and Jackson counties since it first appeared on a trail camera by Cascade in October.
Sightings of elk that had escaped from a captive herd are fairly common in Iowa and when an elk is spotted, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) works with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (IDALS) to determine status of elk and the best available options. If the elk can be returned to the proper owners, then they are. If not, they then pose a risk to spreading CWD and/or other diseases and are dispatched. Captive producers from the area did not report they were missing any animals. Read more
Whitetails Unlimited recently awarded a grant in the amount of $4,500 to the Allegan Michigan Conservation District for a habitat enhancement project. The project will take place in the Allegan State Game Area where a hunting opportunity need has been identified. Almost 200 acres of habitat will be rehabbed by thinning overpopulated trees and removing invasive plants. The focus will be creating habitat for deer, turkey, and small game, which would then be open to public hunting.
This project falls into WTU’s H.O.P.E. (Habitat Options and Planned Enhancement) Program. Over the past fiscal year, WTU has contributed over $150,000 towards projects similar to the one in Allegan Michigan. Read more