Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Monarchs in Michigan

Fall is here, and with the cooler temperatures and lessening daylight, many different species have begun to migrate. Mammals, birds and even insects make a journey away from their summer range to find a place suitable to spend the winter. One remarkable insect that makes such a journey is the monarch butterfly.

Monarchs from Michigan typically travel south to Mexico to overwinter. Four new generations of monarchs are born each year, so the generation that migrates north in the spring is not made up of the same individuals that migrate south!

Because of this tremendous journey, monarchs have need for a variety of habitats. In the early summer these butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed because that is the only plant their caterpillars will eat. Monarchs also need habitat to overwinter in, not to mention habitat where they can stop and refuel along the way. They are very active insects and require a wide variety of flowering plants to provide the food they need to survive and make their long journey.

Unfortunately, this remarkable insect has had a 90-percent decrease in its eastern population over the last 20 years. Read more

Wildlife

Court Ruling Reopens Comment Period on North American Wolverine Proposed Listing Rule

Ø The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is reopening the public comment period on a proposed rule to list the North American wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Ø The Service had proposed to list the North American wolverine, which is a Distinct Population Segment of wolverines found in the lower 48 states, but withdrew its proposal in 2014 after concluding that the factors affecting it were not as significant as were once thought.

Ø However, the District Court for the District of Montana overturned the Service’s withdrawal, effectively returning the wolverine population to the point at which it was proposed for listing as threatened. Read more

Wildlife

Endangered Whooping Cranes to Move Through OK

Each year, sportsmen, bird-watchers and other wildlife enthusiasts can join forces with the Wildlife Department to track federally-endangered whooping cranes as the birds migrate south.

“We rely on the public to help us monitor this rare bird’s path through Oklahoma,” said Matt Fullerton, endangered species biologist for the Wildlife Department. Outdoor enthusiasts can report the location of migrating whooping cranes, along with information about the sighting, at wildlifedepartment.com. Read more

Wildlife

New agreement will provide $550,000 for Michigan pheasant habitat restoration

A male, in the background, and female ring-necked pheasant are shown. The species was introduced to the United States from Asia in the late 1800s.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is partnering with Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. and Pheasants Forever in an agreement that will see Enbridge provide half a million dollars for pheasant habitat restoration in Michigan.

Improvement projects are scheduled to take place over the next three years in various areas in Michigan, focused on Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative priority landscapes and oak savanna restoration.

“This partnership allows the parties involved to work together cooperatively, producing significant habitat improvements for wildlife and the betterment of upland game hunting opportunities,” said DNR Director Keith Creagh.

In 2013, Enbridge replaced a 30-inch pipeline, which runs for about two miles across the Crane Pond State Game Area in Cass County. As a result of the permitting process, the DNR and Enbridge worked together to improve the pipeline infrastructure and restore and improve habitat impacted during construction. Read more

Wildlife

Wild bull elk has made mid-Michigan its temporary home

Occasionally wildlife travel to areas where they are not typically found. A young bull elk recently has been spotted in several locations in mid-Michigan that are outside its home range.

“We first started receiving reports of a bull elk in Ogemaw County, and then Gladwin County and most recently near Beal City and the Herrick area in Isabella County,” said Michigan Department of Natural Resources elk specialist Chad Stewart. “We were able to confirm the locations and also that it does appear to be a wild elk.”

Michigan’s wild elk population is found in the northeast Lower Peninsula, the vast majority in the Pigeon River Country State Forest east of Vanderbilt. Michigan also has privately owned elk, within high-fence facilities located across the state. When a species like an elk is reported so far from its typical range like this, the first steps are to ensure it is not an escaped private animal. Read more

Wildlife

Conservation Community Calls for Congress to Pass Sportsmen’s Provisions

On October 5, thirty-four of the nation’s leading hunting, angling and conservation organizations sent a letter to Senate and House Energy bill (S. 2012) conferees in strong support of including important provisions from the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act (S. 405) and Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) Act (H.R. 2406) in final conferenced energy legislation. The 47 bipartisan conferees from the Senate and House include 34 members of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC).

S. 405, introduced by CSC Members Senators Lisa Murkowski (AK), Martin Heinrich (NM), and Senate CSC leadership, expands access to and opportunities for hunting and angling and promotes wildlife and habitat conservation. On April 20, the Senate adopted many of the provisions within the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act with a vote of 97 – 0 under the Natural Resources Title of the Energy Policy Modernization Act (S. 2012). The House followed suit by adding its version of comprehensive sportsmen’s legislation, H.R. 2406, to S. 2012.

The SHARE Act, introduced by the bipartisan House CSC leadership, includes provisions such as the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage Opportunities Act; the Hunting, Fishing, and Recreational Shooting Protection Act; Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act; the Farmer and Hunter Protection Act; the permanent creation of the Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council Advisory Committee; and the Preserving Public Access to Public Water Act, among others.

The inclusion of these provisions in the final conferenced energy legislation between the House and Senate Committees, and ultimately signing them into law, is crucial to the traditions of sportsmen and women across the country as well as fish and wildlife conservation for the future.

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

The wood duck: September’s Migratory Bird Treaty Centennial featured bird


male and female wood ducksWith their exquisite, bright coloration, male wood ducks are considered one of the most beautiful birds in the world. In fact, their scientific name, Aix sponsa, is Latin for “promised bride,” alluding to the fact that the drakes look dressed to attend a wedding.

Wood ducks are medium-sized ducks that frequent wooded ponds, streams and marshes. Both hens and drakes have colorful wings accented with blue, maroon and silver. The hens are much more plainly colored, with grey-brown upperparts, mottled brown and white breasts, white bellies, and a white teardrop-shaped eye patch.

Wood duck pairs nest in tree cavities that are 15 to 30 feet above the ground or in man-made wood duck nest boxes. The hens lay nine to14 eggs at a time. Wood duck hens sometimes lay their eggs in the nests of other wood duck hens – this leaves one hen with more than her share of ducklings to raise. Nests have been documented with up to 40 eggs in them! Read more

Wildlife

Regenerating state forests takes planning, patience

You’re driving on your favorite stretch of Michigan road. The sun is shining, the windows are rolled down, and you’re singing along to that catchy song drifting out of the speakers. As you round a familiar curve in the road, you know you’re approaching a special place, near the campground your family used to frequent when you were a kid.

You turn your gaze to the left to take in the sight of that beloved stand of trees you’ve admired for years. When you see it, your eyes go wide and your foot jerks away from the gas pedal to the brakes.

The space where your cherished gentle giants once stood is now bare. Branches, logs and other debris are strewn around an opening where aspen once grew tall. A few individual trees remain, looking small and sad amid the ruin.

Your treasured forest land has been clear-cut.

OK, maybe this is a slightly dramatic example, but if you ask Bill O’Neill – Michigan’s state forester – about clear-cuts, the first thing he’ll tell you is this: “They’re ugly.”

Read more

Wildlife
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