Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

QF Signs Master Stewardship Agreement with U.S. Forest Service

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

Wildlife

SCI, NRA Score Victory In Elephant Import 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 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

Hunting, Wildlife

Elusive Iowa elk put down Saturday by wildlife officials

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

Wildlife

Whitetails Unlimited Contributes to Michigan Habitat Project

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

Wildlife

OK Wildlife Department Offers Online Guide for Attracting Birds

Bird feeding tips, birdhouse basics and landscaping ideas have been brought together in an online guide, with the goal of helping Oklahomans better enjoy their backyard birds.

“This guide was created to help the hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans who watch birds around their home attract even more birds to their backyards,” said Jena Donnell, information specialist with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. “We want to help a beginner choose a feeder, or give longtime bird watchers ideas for updating their backyard landscape.” Read more

Wildlife

NWTF Opens Nature Trails at Outdoor Education Center


EDGEFIELD, S.C. — The National Wild Turkey Federation recently opened six nature trails to the general public on the Outdoor Education Center portion of its 700-acre campus.The trailhead, and accompanying trails kiosk, is located at NWTF headquarters. Here, visitors log on to trails.nwtf.org from their mobile device to sign in to use the trail systems or access maps and view notifications of trail closings. Rest assured, there are trails for everyone.

If fitness is the goal, the Whitetail Walk or the Jakes Jog trail will provide a challenge for the beginner to the advanced user. Whitetail Walk takes users alongside various types of habitats from hardwood creek bottoms to food plots and along the pollinator garden in 1.6 miles. Jakes Jog trail is shorter at 0.8 miles but offers glances at a variety of habitats. Read more

Wildlife

‘Tis the season for Christmas bird counting


Michigan DNR and Audubon Great Lakes working together for conservationBy HOLLY VAUGHN
Michigan Department of Natural Resources

This holiday season tens of thousands of Americans will fan out across the country with one goal in mind: finding and counting as many species of birds as they can find.

These observations will add to a large data set going back 117 years to Dec. 25, 1900, when the Christmas Bird Count, known then as the Christmas Bird Census, was first established.

The Christmas count remains one of the most important citizen science datasets today, helping scientists understand population declines and range shifts in North American birds.

“From beginning birdwatchers to experts, participants in Christmas counts gather to identify and census birds within 15-mile diameter count circles,” said John Pepin, DNR deputy public information officer. “The Christmas counts are a great opportunity to learn more about the winter birdlife of a particular area, and for beginners to gain experience birding alongside experts. Some participants count for an hour or so, some birdwatch for the whole day, some count at their bird feeders at home.” Read more

Wildlife

Michigan: More Deer Suspected Positive for CWD

Additional deer suspected to be positive for chronic wasting disease identified throughout the firearm season

30 deer from Clinton, Ingham, Kent and Montcalm counties have been identified either as CWD positive or CWD suspect since 2015

With the firearm deer season complete, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has now identified a total of 30 free-ranging white-tailed deer that are confirmed or suspected to have chronic wasting disease. Several thousand additional samples are awaiting testing by Michigan State University, so numbers for this deer season could still change. Read more

Wildlife

Boone and Crockett Club on Conservation and Preservation

MISSOULA, Mont. (December 6, 2017) – The Boone and Crockett Club today released a comprehensive essay on conservation and preservation, which was approved by its board of directors during the Club’s 130th annual meeting atSavannah, Georgia. Club members gather the first Saturday each December to commemorate the founding of the organization by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887.

“Even during Roosevelt’s time, there was a debate about the roles conservation and preservation should play in the use of natural resources and the recovery of decimated wildlife populations,” said Boone and Crockett Club President Ben Hollingsworth Jr. “Today, more people are engaging in and having a greater influence on natural resource issues than ever before. Unfortunately, it appears far too many people are confusing the terms or not understanding what they mean.  Most want to do what’s best, but many mistakenly believe they are supporting conservation when in fact they are supporting actions that stop conservation from happening. Having over a century’s worth of experience applying both conservation and preservation, the Club thought it was time to share what it has learned.”

The new essay explores the results preservation and conservation can produce and their relative effectiveness against inescapable forces such as climate change, invasive species, human population growth, and use of natural resource. It explains the important role of science and why the notion of “letting nature takes its course,” which is a phrase associated with preservation, will never result in the outcomes people really want in the vast majority of our landscapes, ecosystems, and economies.

Conservation and preservation are both concerned with protection of the environment, but they are based on different philosophies and management strategies that produce different results. Conservation is based on wise use and active management, and recognizes that people are part of nature and depend on natural resources; preservation views people as a negative influence on nature and seeks to eliminate their influence.
Despite their dissimilarities, however, the Club has never viewed conservation and preservation as opposing schools of thought. Conservation is the overarching concept with preservation being one of many management options within a broad conservation approach. Hollingsworth Jr. noted, “The Club has always believed preservation has value in the right place at the right time but not as a substitute for conservation in all instances. History proves this has been the correct approach.”

“If you read this essay, not only will you acquire a working knowledge of conservation and preservation, it will bring to light the widespread misuse of the terms conservation and conservationist by the media and some organizations,” Hollingsworth Jr. continued. “The challenges facing our wild places and wild things today are serious and complex. Whether it be intentional or out of ignorance, leading people to believe that locking up our natural resources is the only way to protect those resources and then calling it conservation is a major problem these resources cannot afford.

The Club is encouraging everyone, from journalists to educators to concerned citizens, to read this essay in order to develop a common understanding of conservation and preservation and what each can achieve.”What we need to be doing is advancing natural resource polices to achieve socially acceptable and ecologically beneficial results,” Hollingsworth Jr. concluded. “This has been made more difficult by the confusion and misinformation circulating today about historically proven best practices. We hope this essay will help clear up a few things so conservation can continue to thrive.”
The full essay can be read here. Read more
Wildlife

Arizona: GFC Opposes Initiative to Ban Hunting of Wild Cats

“I like to describe it as ballot box wildlife management versus scientific management of wildlife,” said Commissioner Kurt Davis, of Phoenix.

PHOENIX – At its regular December meeting, the Arizona Game and Fish Commission passed a motion in opposition to a proposed ballot initiative that would ban the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats and restrict management of the state’s wild cats by the Arizona Game and Fish Department.

The proposed initiative has not yet qualified for the ballot, but the Commission regularly takes positions on federal and state legislation with potential impact on the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) and the management of Arizona wildlife. The Commission voted 4-0 “in opposition to the initiative related to wild cats, and to affirm that the department has all the tools necessary to manage our state’s wildlife.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife
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