Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Celebrating 100 years of wild Michigan elk

By KATIE KEEN
Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Michigan’s native herd of elk – massive animals standing 4 to 5 feet tall at the shoulder and weighing more than 600 pounds – had disappeared from the state by about 1875.

What followed has been a pretty remarkable conservation story. This year marks the centennial of elk restoration efforts in Michigan, which represents the contributions of many led by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Today’s healthy and abundant elk population is found in the northeastern Lower Peninsula. During a January 2017 elk survey, approximately 1,100 elk were estimated to be in Michigan’s elk range, which includes the Pigeon River Country State Forest. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan awards $3.6 million in grants to combat invasive species

The Michigan departments of Environmental Quality, Natural Resources, and Agriculture and Rural Development Thursday announced that 23 projects will share $3.6 million in state grants through the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program, an initiative launched in 2014 to help prevent and control invasive species within the state.

The program targets 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.

Read more

Wildlife

RMEF Conserves Wisconsin Elk Habitat

MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation permanently protected key elk habitat in Wisconsin elk country by first acquiring and then conveying a 360-acre inholding to Jackson County Forest.

“This is a crucial transaction because it prevents the potential of development and fragmentation within an area that is vital to Wisconsin’s newest elk herd,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “It also both improves and increases public access for hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities.”

The Morrison Creek property is surrounded on three sides by the 122,000-acre Jackson County Forest and is located less than three miles east from where more than 70 elk were released in 2015-2016. The area also provides year-round habitat for black bear, whitetail deer, wild turkey and an array of other wildlife species. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan DNR announces $100,000 now available in Upper Peninsula Deer Habitat Improvement grants

Projects on private lands aimed at improvements for white-tailed deer

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has announced a March 1 deadline to apply for a total of $100,000 in deer habitat improvement grant funding in the Upper Peninsula.

The Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative is a competitive grant program designed to enhance deer habitat on non-state lands in the Upper Peninsula.

“To date, over $530,000 in grant funds have been spent across the U.P. on 70 projects,” said Bill Scullon, DNR field operations manager and administrator for the grant initiative. “These projects have involved hundreds of private landowners, positively impacting thousands of acres of habitat.” Read more

Wildlife

Bring elk knowledge to your classroom this spring with Michigan’s Elk University

2018 is the 100th anniversary of the reintroduction of elk in Michigan, making now a perfect time to bring elk knowledge into your classroom.

“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.

Not an educator? Share this email with someone who is!

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.

Wildlife

Michigan: DNR to Begin UP Deer Migration Study

White-tailed deer are the subject of a new multi-year study by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to determine seasonal migration and abundance in the Upper Peninsula.

This map shows areas of the western Upper Peninsula where capturing and collaring of white-tailed deer are expected to take place in the next few weeks.

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

Wildlife

Arizona: Bald Eagle Breeding Season Restrictions

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

Wildlife

QDMA Receives 132 Acre Land Donation for HQ Addition

QDMA Senior Director of Operations John Eastman (left) and CEO Brian Murphy (right) officially receive the gift of 132 acres of land from donor Ricky Chastain of Athens. The donation is the single largest gift ever presented to QDMA.

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

Wildlife

SCI, NRA Score Victory in Elephant Importation Lawsuit

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

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