Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Free Feathered Friends Curriculum for Educators

Teachers receive a free bird feeder to support science lessons 

Ithaca, NY--Inspire students with engaging, hands-on science curriculum that meets the Next Generation Science Standards. BirdSleuth, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s K-12 education program, has updated its popular Feathered Friends curriculum with fun, new lessons that are perfect for elementary students. Thanks to the support of Pennington Wild Bird Feed, the entire curriculum is available free of charge.

“Feathered Friends is a fantastic resource for inspiring wonder, outdoor learning, and connections with families at home,” says Jerri Pisani, a teacher with Boston Public Schools. “The shared experiences lead to powerful learning!”

Feathered Friends provides year-round content to educators, which introduces children to their local environment through the pleasures of feeding and watching birds. Activities cover topics such as habitat, migration, citizen science, and bird behavior. To help bring bird feeding into the classroom, Pennington is offering a free window bird feeder to educators. Read more

Wildlife

Addressing deer disease: DNR, MSU collaborate on deer movement study in south-central Michigan

Michigan State University and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources will be placing location-tracking collars on white-tailed deer in south-central Michigan as part of a multiyear study of deer disease, including chronic wasting disease.

The study will assess deer movement and distribution patterns, and their influence on disease spread in and around Clinton and Ingham counties. This is one of a series of aggressive actions to address CWD in Michigan’s deer population and to maintain healthy wildlife for current and future generations.

Chronic wasting disease attacks the brain of infected animals, creating small lesions, which result in death. The disease is transmitted through direct animal-to-animal contact or by contact with saliva, urine, feces, blood or body parts of an infected animal, or infected soil. CWD first was detected in free-ranging deer in mid-Michigan in 2015.

The disease can spread through the deer herd and, once established, could – over the long term – significantly reduce the number of deer in the region and/or depress numbers of older age-class deer.

Presently, there are no known health risks posed to humans by CWD. As a precaution, however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends animals infected with the disease not be eaten.

A scientifically based understanding of localized deer dispersal rates, timing and direction, seasonal movement patterns and basic population characteristics is critical for developing effective disease control strategies.

“We know that that CWD may be spread through direct deer-to-deer contact and by the shedding of CWD proteins, or ‘prions,’ into the environment. By understanding where and why deer are moving across the region, we can better understand the role deer play in moving the disease,” said Dr. Sonja Christensen, postdoctoral research fellow in the Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center at MSU.

This study will improve the ability to proactively manage CWD, particularly in areas where the disease is just being discovered.

“Understanding how local deer populations change with the presence of CWD and associated management actions will help us measure the effectiveness of disease control actions and anticipate future disease management needs,” said Dr. Dwayne Etter, DNR research specialist.

Another benefit of this research is the ability to measure how deer move during different seasons and to track movement in real time. Importantly, it could help the DNR and partners focus efforts on areas with high probabilities of disease risk.

This work is part of a larger collaborative effort between the DNR, MSU, the Hal and Jean Glassen Memorial Foundation and the Boone and Crockett Club, aimed at improving wildlife disease surveillance and management statewide.

“CWD is a serious threat to the state’s deer population and conservation efforts. No single stakeholder group has any hope of tackling that challenge alone. The Boone and Crockett Quantitative Wildlife Center and our Michigan Deer Disease Initiative are uniquely positioned to partner with hunters, wildlife watchers, natural resource managers, veterinarians and scientists across the country to tackle the challenge of CWD in Michigan so that our kids and grandkids can see and hunt healthy deer,” said Dr. David Williams, principal investigator of the study and assistant professor at MSU.

For more information on deer in Michigan, visit www.mi.gov/deer; for more on chronic wasting disease, visit www.mi.gov/cwd. Information about the deer movement study can be found at www.bcqwc.org/cwd.html.

Wildlife

Elk Habitat Protected, Hunting Access Improved in Colorado

MISSOULA, Mont.—Thanks to a conservation-minded landowner and a key state funding program, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation joined Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to permanently protect 2,677 acres of vital elk habitat in northwest Colorado.

“We are grateful to Rick Tingle, a RMEF life member, for placing a conservation easement on his Louisiana Purchase Ranch,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “Additionally, this project highlights the critical need for the Colorado Wildlife Habitat Program (CWHP) and its Habitat Stamp which supplied important funding to help push things through to the finish line.” Read more

Wildlife

Arizona Elk Heading West Virginia

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — In late February, dozens of elk from Arizona will be establishing a permanent change of residency more than 2,000 miles away.

The healthy, strapping animals were captured earlier this week through a partnership between the Arizona Game and Fish Department and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. The Arizona Game and Fish Commission approved the capture and transport as part of West Virginia’s ongoing restoration project at its August meeting.

“We’re pleased to assist the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources in its efforts to restore elk to their native range,” said Jim Ammons, commission chairman. “Helping restore wildlife populations is in keeping with the vision of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, using science-based principles to manage wildlife in the public trust.”

The roughly 50 cows and 10 bulls, captured east of Flagstaff, will be quarantined for a minimum of 33 days before being loaded on livestock trailers and transported to the 24,245-acre Tomblin Wildlife Management Area in southwest West Virginia, where they will join nearly two dozen elk received in 2016 from Kentucky. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan Sportsmen and Women to Support House Bill 5321

BAN STERILIZATION OF GAME SPECIES

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW TO SUPPORT HB 5321

Around this time last year, the Michigan DNR gave the City of Ann Arbor the go-ahead to sterilize free-ranging whitetail deer in some parts of the city while culling deer in other parts of the city, all by White Buffalo, Inc., the same company behind the plan to give vasectomies to bucks on Staten Island, New York.

Introduced by Representative Triston Cole (R-Mancelona) at the beginning of December, HB 5321 would prohibit the Department from issuing permits that authorizes the sterilization of game.

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 bowhunting or future culling.

Sterilization as a wildlife management tool is not only impractical and expensive, it could even be considered less humane than a well-placed bullet (or arrow).

Next Wednesday, January 24, the House Natural Resources Committee will be taking up this important piece of legislation. Call your representatives today and support HB 5321!

Members of the House Natural Resources Committee can be contacted here, please urge them to support HB 5321:

Gary Howell (R) Committee Chair, 82nd District: (517) 373-1800

Beau LaFave (R) Majority Vice-Chair, 108th District: (517) 373-0156

David Maturen (R) 63rd District: (517) 373-1787

Joseph Bellino (R) 17th District: (517) 373-1530

Daire Rendon (R) 103rd District: (517) 373-3817

Curt VanderWall (R) 101st District: (517) 373-0825

William Sowerby (D) Minority Vice-Chair, 31st District: (517) 373-0159

Stephanie Chang (D) 6th District: (517) 373- 0823

Sara Cambensy (D) 109th District: (517) 373-0498

Also, find out who your representative is here and call them today!

Amy Trotter, Deputy Director
Michigan United Conservation Clubs
PO Box 30235
2101 Wood Street
Lansing, MI 48912
Ph: 517.346.6484
F: 517.371.1505
www.mucc.org

Wildlife

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
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