Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

BirdSpotter Photo Contest: Give Us Your Best Shot

Grab your camera and your keyboard and submit your photos and bird-watching stories to the BirdSpotter contest run by Project FeederWatch at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Ithaca, N.Y.–As the temperature falls with the autumn leaves, birds begin flocking to their favorite backyard feeders. Grab your camera and your keyboard and submit your photos and bird-watching stories to the BirdSpotter contest run by Project FeederWatch at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This year marks the 31st season for the citizen-science project, which collects observations about feeder birds from November through early April. Wild Birds Unlimited is sponsoring the current FeederWatch season and the BirdSpotter contest. Anyone can participate in the photo contest, whether they are a FeederWatch participant or not.

The 16-week contest opens on November 6 with the photo category “Birds with Food or at the Feeder.” Every two weeks the photo category changes. Check the contest website for the category schedule. Winners in each of eight categories will be chosen through public voting (People’s Choice) on the FeederWatch website and by internal judges (Judges’ Choice). Bi-weekly winners will receive Wild Birds Unlimited gift cards plus other prizes from the Cornell Lab, such as the All About Backyard Birds book and a tote bag. Read more

Wildlife

Boone and Crockett Club: New Database Reflects Successful Conservation and Future Work To Be Done

MISSOULA, Mont. (October 31, 2017) – The Boone and Crockett Club applauds the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) on the release of their new state-by-state database of Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN).

 

“Without data there is no science, and without science we would not be able to do what’s right for our wildlife,” said Ben B. Hollingsworth Jr., president of the Boone and Crockett Club. “This new database is an innovative information tool that helps state wildlife agencies and conservation organizations be more proactive and practical in their conservation efforts.”
The national database is the first step in following a mandate from Congress in 2000 for each state to develop a State Wildlife Action Plan in order to receive federal state wildlife grant dollars. The overall goal is to “keep common species common” and prevent species from needing even higher levels of attention such as being classified as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The first State Wildlife Action Plans were rolled out in 2005, and the congressionally mandated 10-year updates have been released over the past year by each state fish and wildlife agency. Each plan has a list of SGCN the state compiled, and the USGS database provides one-stop shopping where all state lists are combined so that conservationists and others with interest can see if a species is considered an SGCN in any or all states. This will facilitate cooperative multi-state conservation measures.
“This database encompasses hundreds of species of animals and plants,” commented Hollingsworth. “Of special interest to sportsmen are the big game species that do show up on some state lists. Being on the list might look like a red flag that a species is in trouble, but that is not necessarily the case. The actual causes for listing vary and each case will be taken into consideration for future actions. The good news is this database, more often than not, reflects successful conservation.”
Several big game species are gradually expanding their ranges naturally into other states, like grizzly and black bears and mountain lions, so their numbers are currently low in those newly colonized states and warrant listing as a state’s SGCN. Others like elk and bighorn sheep have and are being reintroduced to some of their historical ranges in states with suitable habitat. These new populations are on state lists so they receive the attention they need. In some states, species like bison, moose and pronghorn are being affected by habitat loss, which requires specific management strategies, and in the case of moose, a warming climate is also a factor that needs to be addressed.
The State Wildlife Action Plans will next identify and implement strategic conservation and management opportunities for wildlife and their habitats. The focus will be on these species of need by applying science-informed measures to conserve, restore, and manage important lands and waters. These measures include addressing invasive plant species that degrade critical habitat and old unproductive habitats, as well as other steps to ensure these species get the helping hand they need.
“The situation was dire for many big game species in 1887 when Theodore Roosevelt formed the Boone and Crockett Club,” Hollingsworth continued. “Every single species of big game that we sustainably hunt today was so depleted from unregulated take that had the ESA been in place, every one would have surely been listed as threatened or endangered. We avoided a wildlife disaster by changing the way we used and managed big game without resorting to ESA-like protections. Today, the SGCN represents another valuable step in our ever-evolving conservation success story.”
The USGS list includes all species of wildlife, game and non-game mammals and birds, reptiles, fish, mollusks, insects and plants. The State Wildlife Action Plans will be developed in collaboration with federal, state and private partners and with participation from the public and layout a vision for sustaining fish and wildlife for future generations.
Hollingsworth concluded, “This new database is both what wildlife recovery looks like today and a roadmap for work to be done so we can avoid any further ESA listings. Our founder, Theodore Roosevelt, was a stickler for using the best science to direct decisions on natural resources, especially wildlife. He would be proud to know this science-focused approach, known as the ‘Roosevelt doctrine’ is still alive and well.”
To view the USGS database visit https://www1.usgs.gov/csas/swap/
About the Boone and Crockett Club
Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club is the oldest conservation organization in North America and helped to establish the principles of wildlife and habitat conservation, hunter ethics, as well as many of the institutions, experts agencies, science and funding mechanisms for conservation. Member accomplishments include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, fostering the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the cornerstones of modern game laws. The Boone and Crockett Club is headquartered in Missoula, Montana. For details, visit www.boone-crockett.org.
Wildlife

Hunters Asked to Report Bear Den Sightings in Michigan’s Northern Lower Peninsula

DNR asks hunters to report bear den sightings in northern Lower Peninsula

While out in the field, hunters and trappers could come upon a denned black bear. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is looking for locations of denned bears in the northern Lower Peninsula, in order to fit the bears with radio collars for an ongoing bear management program.

“Information gathered from bears assists in managing the black bear population,” said Mark Boersen, wildlife biologist at the DNR Roscommon Customer Service Center. “Currently, we have six female bears being monitored from both air and ground using radio tracking equipment.”

After locating a denned bear, DNR biologists will determine if the animal is a good candidate for a radio collar. Bears that are selected will be sedated by a wildlife biologist and fitted with collars and ear tags. A small nonfunctional tooth will be collected to determine each bear’s age and to provide a DNA sample. Upon completion of the short procedure, biologists will carefully return the bear to its den, where it will sleep through the remainder of the winter months.

Those who encounter bear dens in the northern Lower Peninsula are asked to record the location, with a GPS unit if possible, and contact Mark Boersen at 989-275-5151 or boersenm@michigan.gov with specific location information.

As a reminder, it is illegal to disturb a bear den or disturb, harm or molest a bear in its den.

Wildlife

MDF Opposes AZ Ballot to Initiative to End Mountain Lion, Bobcat Hunting

Mule Deer Foundation Opposes Proposed Arizona Ballot
Initiative to End Mountain Lion, Bobcat Hunting

Salt Lake City, Utah: The Mule Deer Foundation opposes the proposed ballot initiative in Arizona that would end hunting of mountain lions and bobcats. MDF believes that wildlife populations should not be managed by ballot initiatives. State wildlife agencies, especially the Arizona Game & Fish Department, have a great track record of managing wildlife species. Predators can have a dramatic impact on the populations of their prey items. Mountain lions, bobcats and other predators need to be managed at a level that balances their populations with big game population levels.

“Professionals in the wildlife agency need to manage all wildlife, including predators.
The Humane Society of the United States, a California-based animal rights organization and other anti-hunting groups are only concerned with stopping hunting and not the health of all wildlife populations,” says Miles Moretti, President/CEO of the Mule Deer Foundation. “We have seen these groups attempt their ballot initiatives in several states. They won’t stop trying to meet their goal of ending all hunting.” Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

RMEF Grant to Benefit Montana Wolf Management


MISSOULA, Mont.—The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation awarded Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) a $50,000 grant to assist with wolf management in the state of Montana.”Montana’s wolf population is more than three times larger than federally-required minimum mandates,” said David Allen, RMEF president and CEO. “This funding will help FWP get a better grasp on wolf numbers as a benefit to wildlife managers tasked with seeking to balance predator and prey populations while doing so in a more cost effective manner.”

Half of the grant funding will go toward wolf collaring and management actions for problem wolves. The other half will assist a joint effort by FWP and the University of Montana in further developing what’s called the Patch Occupancy Model (POM) for estimating wolf populations. Read more

Wildlife

Another Montcalm County, MI deer suspected to have CWD

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced today that a second hunter-harvested deer in Montcalm County is suspected positive for chronic wasting disease. A sample has been sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for confirmation. If confirmed positive, the 1.5-year-old buck, harvested in Sidney Township, would be the 11th free-ranging deer in Michigan found to have CWD.

“The fact that we already have another positive deer within Montcalm County is of major concern,” said Dr. Kelly Straka, DNR state wildlife veterinarian. “We strongly recommend hunters who harvest deer in Montcalm County have their deer tested. Deer with CWD can look perfectly healthy even though they are infected.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Michigan Deer Camp 2017 is Nov. 14

Please join the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for this year’s Deer Camp, and teach your students about the importance of Michigan’s white-tailed deer!

As you may know, deer hunting is an important part of Michigan’s heritage. More than 600,000 deer hunters take to the field each year and contribute over $2.3 billion to Michigan’s economy. In addition, these hunters pay for almost all of the DNR’s wildlife conservation and management work. We want to share these important facts and traditions with Michigan students.

On Nov. 14, thousands of second- through fourth-grade students across the state will join in a one-day adventure designed to teach them about the importance of white-tailed deer. This day, fondly called “Deer Camp,” is full of fun activities for all school subjects.

Once you register, we provide you with a complimentary packet of interactive activities that you can do throughout the day (or pick a few if you are limited on time). The activities cover a variety of subjects, including science, math, English, gym and art. We also provide you with a PowerPoint presentation as an optional aid to guide discussions. Some schools even start the day with breakfast for their students. What a great idea – it really is like deer camp!

If you would like to participate, please register online by Nov. 7. Feel free to email Rebecca Benedict at benedictr@michigan.gov with any questions. Materials will be emailed to you by the end of October, or if you register in November, you will receive materials the next business day. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Boone and Crockett Club Vice President: How We Are Loving our Forests to Death

MISSOULA, Mont. (October 17, 2017) – James L. Cummins, vice president of the Boone and Crockett Club, has released an Op-Ed on the mistreatment of our public lands with special attention on the negative effects on our national forests. The Boone and Crockett Club and its founder, Theodore Roosevelt, developed and nationalized the concept of conservation in the 19th century, and secured our federal public lands trust that makes up our national forest system. The Club continues to promote and educate responsible conservation and sustainable use of our natural resources.

In August 2017, over 650,000 acres were burning in the western U.S. Most of these fires were on public lands, particularly federal lands. By September 1, seven hundred wildfires raged in the state of Montana alone, ravaging some 1 million acres of public and private lands. California currently has more than a dozen fires consuming homes, wildlife and human lives.
National forests comprise a large segment of the ecosystems in the western United States. Most have evolved with fires, insect and disease outbreaks and blow-downs to retain biodiversity and forest health. But, times have clearly changed. More people are living farther out into wild-land urban interfaces. To protect lives and homes this has logically led to a forest policy of suppressing natural fires and insect outbreaks. This intolerance of fires combined with decades of relying on our forests for timber production and then dramatically scaling this back, have helped produce very “unnatural” conditions of fuel build up ripe for the wildfires we’re seeing today.
More than 60 million acres of national forests are at high risk of wildfire or in need of restoration. In the past 10 years, over 65 million acres have burned. Federal foresters estimate that an astounding 190 million acres of land managed by the Departments of Agriculture and the Interior are at an unnatural risk to catastrophic wildfire.
At the heart of this matter is a public misconception that forests unattended will somehow return to a natural state, and this misconception is driving lawsuits to block conservation actions. Conservation focuses on using and managing natural resources to benefit both habitat and people. Nationally acclaimed wildlife biologist, Dr. Bruce D. Leopold, once said, “Nature just can’t take its course because frankly, there is no location on Earth where humankind has not had an impact. From radioactive materials and dust in polar ice, to ever-expanding distributions of invasive species, the evidence is clear that disruption of natural processes is a global phenomenon. Humans are a significant component of natural ecosystems (contributing the good and the bad) and the notion of suddenly removing their influence is both illogical and impossible. Natural ecosystems are just too altered to be left alone.”
Conservation practices can reverse these “unnatural” conditions through a variety of actions, such as harvesting trees and using controlled burns to mimic natural disturbances. These management actions reduce build-ups of forest litter (fuel) and overgrowth to encourage a variety of successional stages for wildlife, biodiversity and the prevention of larger, hotter, more devastating fires from occurring that can destroy even old-growth forests. A “letting nature take its course” hands off approach seeks to halt management actions and multiple use on the mistaken assumption the forests can and will return to their former “natural” condition.
Forest management eliminates or reduces the impact of catastrophic wildfire; protects riparian areas important for stream health (shade, filtering, etc.) and fish species such as trout and salmon; and protects water quality due to fires followed by rains with sediments washing downstream and damaging important drinking water supplies.
Using 21st century techniques by land management professionals – and not direct mail specialists and environmental litigators – we have the technology and know-how to restore America’s cherished landscapes to a healthy, natural condition. Through the use of environmentally smart thinning, prescribed burns and other scientifically validated management practices, overstocked forests can be returned to a natural balance, reducing the risks of catastrophic wildfire and insect and disease infestations along with the associated expenditure of taxpayer dollars that should be used to manage forests instead of fighting more frequent and hotter fires.
Cummins’ full Op-Ed can be read in its entirety here.
About the Boone and Crockett Club
Founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, the Boone and Crockett Club is the oldest conservation organization in North America and helped to establish the principles of wildlife and habitat conservation, hunter ethics, as well as many of the institutions, experts agencies, science and funding mechanisms for conservation. Member accomplishments include enlarging and protecting Yellowstone and establishing Glacier and Denali national parks, founding the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and National Wildlife Refuge System, fostering the Pittman-Robertson and Lacey Acts, creating the Federal Duck Stamp program, and developing the cornerstones of modern game laws. The Boone and Crockett Club is headquartered in Missoula, Montana. For details, visit www.boone-crockett.org.
Wildlife

SCI Opposes Ballot Effort To Stop Mountain Lion, Bobcat Hunting In Arizona

Safari Club International opposes efforts by the Humane Society of the United States and other anti-hunters to end the hunting of mountain lions and bobcats in Arizona by way of the ballot box.

HSUS and other anti-hunters currently are circulating petitions, hoping to place their deceitfully draconian measure on the ballot in 2018.

“This is just the latest move by anti-hunters to end all hunting,” said SCI President Paul Babaz. “They have made it clear that their strategy is to go state-by-state, species-by-species, if that’s what it takes for them to end all hunting. Please join SCI’s fight to block this attack on our freedom to hunt.”

As they attempt to gather signatures to qualify their initiative, the anti-hunters no doubt will be raising money and using those funds in emotional appeals to fool voters.

SCI and other hunter groups are launching an aggressive campaign to educate voters in Arizona about the benefits of having wildlife managed scientifically by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and not by emotionally-driven political initiatives.

In addition to ending hunting for mountain lions and bobcats, the initiative measure also attempts to heighten emotions baselessly by prohibiting the hunting of ocelots, jaguars and lynx, which is already illegal.

And, what follows are some little-publicized facts about the Humane Society of the U.S from www.Humanewatch.org.

While most of the country enjoys the temperate fall weather, snow has already fallen in many areas out west. Those looking for warm retreats as the weather cools are already looking at places in the Caribbean. We might suggest the Cayman Islands, where the Humane Society of the United States is keeping donor money tanned, rested, and ready—and away from the animals it is supposed to help.According to HSUS’s most recent (2016) tax return, the organization has $51,469,167 sitting in “investments” in the Caribbean. In the past, HSUS has disclosed that these millions are sitting in specific funds in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

Meanwhile, HSUS continues to engage in predatory fundraising. The past few weeks have been replete with pleas from HSUS and its highly compensated CEO Wayne Pacelle, begging for donations to fund its disaster relief team. However, we’ve seen this script before. After Hurricane Sandy, HSUS raised several million dollars but only spent about one-third of what it raised on Sandy relief.

The rest might have made a nice addition to HSUS’s Cayman funds. Much like we suspect money raised after the three recent storms will end up. Read our report, “Looting in the Aftermath,” for more evidence of how HSUS exploits high-profile events.

Safari Club International – First For Hunters is the leader in protecting the freedom to hunt and in promoting wildlife conservation worldwide. SCI’s approximately 200 Chapters represent all 50 of the United States as well as 106 other countries. SCI’s proactive leadership in a host of cooperative wildlife conservation, outdoor education and humanitarian programs, with the SCI Foundation and other conservation groups, research institutions and government agencies, empowers sportsmen to be contributing community members and participants in sound wildlife management and conservation. Visit the home page www.SafariClub.org, or call (520) 620-1220 for more information.
International Headquarters Tucson, Arizona · Washington, District of Columbia · Ottawa, Canada
www.SafariClub.org
Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife
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