By Glen Wunderlich

A moratorium on the sterilization of wild game species in Michigan is now in effect, after Governor Snyder signed House Bill 5321 this month.  Four years from now, the DNR, NRC, and stakeholders  will have analyzed available data in an effort to determine if sterilization is an effective method to manage an over-population of deer based on outcomes from Ann Arbor’s current test project.

The bill would amend Part 401 (Wildlife Conservation) of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to prohibit the Department of Natural Resources, until April 1, 2022, from issuing a permit authorizing the sterilization of game.  

The bill also would require the Department to submit, to the standing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives with primary responsibility for natural resources issues, two reports on the results of research under any permit authorizing the sterilization of game issued before the bill’s effective date. A preliminary report would have to be submitted by December 31, 2020, and a final report by March 31, 2022. The reports would have to include any recommendations for legislation, including whether and how sterilization of deer should be authorized as a manner of taking game.  

The bill would allow the Natural Resources Commission to establish, in or adjacent to urban areas with a high concentration of deer, special deer management zones for which a higher number of deer kill tags would be issued.  

The bill also would allow the legislative body of a municipality, by ordinance, to adopt a firearm hunting distance requirement shorter than the 150-yard requirement under Section 40111, as part of a deer management plan. The 150-yard requirement would not apply in circumstances addressed by the ordinance. (Section 40111 prohibits an individual from hunting with a firearm within 150 yards of an occupied building, dwelling, house, residence, or cabin, or any barn or other building used in connection with a farm operation, without obtaining the written permission of the owner, renter, or occupant of the property.)

Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) Deputy Director Amy Trotter said this is a victory for sportsmen and women across the state.  “MUCC firmly believes that the proper management of game species in Michigan belongs to its citizens who pay, through licensing dollars and other methods, to manage these species,” Trotter said. “We have worked this bill hard since its inception, and the passage of this bill to the governor’s desk is a testament to the grassroots process and engagement that MUCC brings to the table.”

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been pushing communities and state agencies around the country to adopt sterilization as a way to prevent urban bow hunting or future culling to manage deer. The DNR approved this permit under the guise of “research” with no input from the public and it actually runs counter to the DNR’s own approved urban deer management policy.

The current Ann Arbor permit appears to be an attempt to satisfy anti-hunting and anti-culling stakeholders – always the common denominator with HSUS, which has pushed the sterilization and fertility control efforts in Ann Arbor and elsewhere.

Four years from now, we’ll have the opportunity to determine if factual results matter.

The full list of grant recipients, project descriptions and award amounts is available on the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program website.

Since its start, the program has targeted four key objectives:

• Preventing new introductions of invasive species through outreach and education.
• Monitoring for new invasive species and the expansion of existing invasive species.
• Responding to and conducting eradication efforts for new findings and range expansions.
• Strategically managing and controlling key colonized species.

This year’s grant awards provide funding for several projects involving promising new methods of reducing the effects of terrestrial (land-based) invasive species:

• Using new techniques to increase development of beech trees that are resistant to beech bark disease. These trees will be planted in the Upper and Lower peninsulas.
• Grafting selected ash trees that have survived the emerald ash borer and testing them for resistance, with the goal of developing stock that could be used for restoration plantings.
• Testing a newly approved biological control, Hypena opulenta – a moth from the Ukraine whose larvae primarily feed on invasive black and pale swallow-wort vines – to determine its ability to establish, reproduce and help control these vines in Michigan.

Some of the grant dollars also will support a range of efforts to prevent and manage aquatic (water-based) invaders: Read more

PHOENIX — The camera is set, zoomed in and ready to broadcast the day-to-day life of a pair of bald eagles hoping to raise a family inside their nest at Lake Pleasant Regional Park.

On Tuesday, Dec. 18, the Arizona Game and Fish Department — in partnership with Salt River Project, Maricopa County Parks and Recreation Department, Arizona State Land Department and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation — began live-streaming from the camera perched near the bald eagle nest on Lake Pleasant.

Watch the cam

Download b-roll from the nest cam Read more

Formerly on the brink of extinction, the bald eagle has rebounded, and hundreds of these birds spend their winter along the Detroit River. Photo by Bonnie Block/Audubon Photography Awards 2017.

Getting antsy in this cold weather? Check out these community science opportunities hosted by MI Birds partners across the state.

Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count (multiple dates throughout December): Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count is entering its 119th year of existence. Originally created in 1900 by ornithologist Frank Chapman, the CBC replaced an old holiday tradition known as the Christmas “Side Hunt,” which was how scientists and hunters originally would census an area, shooting everything in their path! Chapman and others established the CBC in an effort to curb bird population declines. Conservation efforts have grown tremendously since 1900, as has the reach of the CBC. This census is conducted primarily by community scientists, like you, and the data collected has been used by Audubon, the Environmental Protection Agency, American Bird Conservation Initiative, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others to help identify long-term population trends and movements for hundreds of species across North America.

Visit Audubon’s interactive map to find contact information for the coordinator of a Christmas Bird Count near you. Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have proposed removal of Clean Water Act protections for ephemeral streams and intermittent streams and their wetlands.

Such waterways flow in response to rain and wet seasons, and, according to the EPA, comprise 59 percent of all streams in the Lower 48 states; including 81 percent of waterways in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah.

The proposed change would remove environmental protections for many wetlands associated with these waterways, reserving protections only for ephemeral and intermittent wetlands connected to other waters covered by the Clean Water Act.

Passed in 1972, the Clean Water Act is intended to maintain “chemical, physical, and biological integrity of our nation’s waters.”

Disregarding research

“This disregards the EPA’s own research that shows wetlands and ephemeral and intermittent streams—even those that lack surface connection—provide important biological and chemical functions that affect downstream waters,” maintains the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP).

Tuesday, active EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler denied that research. Read more

This from MUCC…

Good morning, MUCC friends, followers and family.

Just before 2 a.m. this morning, the Michigan House of Representatives concurred on minor amendments to House Bill 5321, which would prohibit the Michigan Department of Natural Resources from issuing any sterilization permits to municipalities for game species, which now heads to Gov. Snyder’s desk.

For more than a year, Michigan United Conservation Clubs has worked on this legislation with bill sponsor Rep. Triston Cole, R-Mancelona. This bill puts in a place a four-year moratorium on sterilization permits being issued to Michigan municipalities in response to the current white-tailed deer sterilization efforts in Ann Arbor.

Per a Detroit Free Press article this morning by Kathleen Gray:

“Why do we need deer sterilization in the first place when we have sportsmen who are fully capable of managing our deer species,” Cole said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for urban residents to learn about quality deer management and the benefits of hunting to the entire state.”

This bill would allow the “research permit” granted to the city of Ann Arbor to run its course; however, no sterilization permits to Ann Arbor or any other city will be issued until at least April 1, 2022, giving the Natural Resources Commission, Legislature, and DNR time to study the effectiveness of the current project and determine if there are more suitable ways to manage urban deer herds.

Michigan United Conservation Clubs Deputy Director Amy Trotter said this is a victory for sportsmen and women across the state.

“MUCC firmly believes that the proper management of game species in Michigan belongs to its citizens who pay, through licensing dollars and other methods, to manage these species,” Trotter said. “We have worked this bill hard since its inception, and the passage of this bill to the governor’s desk is a testament to the grassroots process and engagement that MUCC brings to the table.”

MUCC would like to thank all of you who called your representatives, sat in on hearings and helped to spread the word about this bill. It is because of you that our game species in Michigan have the chance to remain protected from sterilization and under the management of Michigan hunters.

Yours in conservation,

Nick Green, Public Information Officer

For questions or comments, please email MUCC Deputy Director Amy Trotter at atrotter@mucc.org or Public Information Officer Nick Green at ngreen@mucc.org.

MISSOULA, MT – The group behind the creation of North America’s system of conservation – the Boone and Crockett Club – applauds the passage of the new Farm Bill, which includes several critical conservation and forest management provisions.

“The Club has been closely involved with the Farm Bill since the early 1990s,” said James L. Cummins, co-chairman of the Boone and Crockett Club’s Conservation Policy Committee. “We are especially pleased that this new bill includes key conservation measures for forest, grassland, wetland and other wildlife habitats.” Read more

Last week, representatives of the DNR, Pheasants Forever and several other groups gathered at Maple River State Game Area (which stretches through Clinton, Gratiot and Ionia counties) to launch the Adopt-A-Game-Area program and dedicate a kiosk recognizing sponsors of the game area.

This new program encourages individuals and organizations to sponsor grassland habitat projects on the state-managed lands they use and value. Maple River is the first to be sponsored.

“Grasslands give important benefits to both wildlife and people. In addition to providing habitat and food resources for many wildlife species, grasslands also improve water and air quality,” said Al Stewart, DNR upland game bird specialist. “Plus, grassland areas are simply stunning to view in mid- to late summer when the prairie wildflowers are in full bloom.”

Stewart said that grassland pollinators, like bees and monarch butterflies, help to pollinate crops that keep the country fed. “Without grasslands, we’d be in real trouble,” he said. Throughout Michigan, grasslands are being converted to agriculture and development and now are one of the rarest habitat types in the world.

The new Adopt-a-Game-Area program is a partnership between the DNR, Pheasants Forever and the Hal and Jean Glassen Foundation. Expanded support of this program, through sponsorships, will provide valuable nesting, brood-rearing, foraging and winter habitat for a wide range of wildlife including deer, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, cottontail rabbits, songbirds and pollinators. Read more