Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Gov. Rick Snyder approves $24.7 million in outdoor recreation development,

LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder today signed legislation creating more outdoor recreation opportunities for local communities and authorizing nearly $24.7 million in Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) grants.

“Michigan is home to some of the most beautiful outdoor spaces in North America,” Snyder said. “These grants will help give local communities the ability to create more quality recreation opportunities that encourage people of all ages and abilities to get outdoors. Every year, these projects boost the quality of life for Michigan residents, enhance local economies and encourage tourism in our state.”

House Bill 4078, sponsored by state Rep. Jon Bumstead, approves funds for 69 recreation projects and land purchases recommended by the Trust Fund board last December.

It is now Public Act 7 of 2015.

This year, the Trust Fund board recommended $18.2 million for acquisition grants and $6.4 million for development grants. Sixteen acquisition grants were awarded to local units of government for a total of $8.9 million, while nine acquisition grants went to the Department of Natural Resources for projects totaling $9.3 million. Read more

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Jeff Crane Returns to Hearing Stand to Testify on the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015

March 17, 2015 (Washington, DC) – “Much like a successful hunt, when it comes to passing legislation, patience and persistence usually leads to success in the field,” said Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) President Jeff Crane after his testimony last week before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on S.556, the first half of the bifurcated sportsmen’s package titled, Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015 (S.405). This persistence continued today as Crane testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife on S.659, which contains the second half of S.405’s provisions.

 

The Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015 was introduced on February 5 by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Members Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), with the bipartisan Senate CSC leadership as original co-sponsors. Senate CSC leaders for the 114th Congress include: Co-Chairs Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Vice-Chairs Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). The package contains 14 provisions that would trigger regulatory reforms and improve habitat conservation, aimed at helping strengthen the sportsmen’s traditions across America. Read more

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Annual reports for seven Wetland Wonders available on DNR website

Annual reports for Michigan’s seven Wetland Wonders – detailing 2014-2015 hunting season results, habitat management activities and weekly waterfowl counts at each area, along with other information – are now available on the Department of Natural Resources website. To find the annual reports, visit www.michigan.gov/wetlandwonders and click on “The 7 Wonders” and then on “Updates & Counts.”

Michigan’s Wetland Wonders are the seven premier Managed Waterfowl Hunt Areas in the state: Fennville Farm Unit at the Allegan State Game Area (Allegan County), Fish Point State Wildlife Area (Tuscola County), St. Clair Flats State Wildlife Area on Harsens Island (St. Clair County), Muskegon County Wastewater Facility (Muskegon County), Nayanquing Point State Wildlife Area (Bay County), Pointe Mouillee State Game Area (Monroe and Wayne counties) and Shiawassee River State Game Area (Saginaw County).

These areas, scattered across the southern Lower Peninsula, were created in the 1960s to provide exceptional waterfowl hunting opportunities and are still managed today to provide waterfowl habitat for nesting and migration and for the benefit of other wetland-dependent wildlife. Since the beginning, these areas have been funded by hunting license fees and area use fees, but they are open for anyone to visit, use and enjoy most of the year. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Michigan DNR completes latest moose population survey

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced the results of its 2015 moose population survey in the western moose range of the Upper Peninsula, an important tool in managing the species.

The 2015 population estimate in the western U.P. is 323, compared to an estimate of 451 in 2013. From 1997 to 2007, surveys of prime moose habitat in Baraga, Iron and Marquette counties suggested the U.P.’s moose population was growing at a modest rate of about 10 percent per year. From 2009 to 2013, survey results showed an apparent change in that trend, with the growth rate slowing to about 2 percent per year.

“There is inherent uncertainty with any population survey, and due to the fact that the 2013 and 2015 estimates have some overlap in confidence intervals, the potential remains that the state’s moose population has remained steady rather than declining,” said Chad Stewart, deer, elk and moose management specialist for the DNR. “However, coupled with survey records that show a decrease in the number of moose calves seen with cows this year, it’s quite possible that we’re looking at a considerable drop in numbers.”

Future surveys will be needed to identify any long-term trend for Michigan’s moose population. Other states and provinces have reported declines in moose populations near the southern edge of North America’s moose range, yet other populations are holding steady or increasing. Researchers in Michigan have hypothesized several potential causes for a possible decline of moose numbers in Michigan. Among potential factors: Read more

Wildlife

Suspected Avian Cholera Outbreak Claims at Least 2,000 Migrating Snow Geese in Upper Snake Region


It is unknown at this time where the geese may have picked up the suspected bacteria.MUD LAKE – The Idaho Department of Fish & Game (IDFG) is reporting that during the past weekend staff and volunteers collected the carcasses of approximately 2,000 migrating snow geese that appeared to have succumbed to avian cholera and died while stopping at Mud Lake and Market Lake Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), on their way back north to their nesting grounds in Northern Alaska. The carcasses were collected and will be incinerated so that other predatory and scavenger birds do not ingest the deadly bacteria. Results are not yet back from the IDFG Wildlife Laboratory to definitively confirm avian cholera, but apparent symptoms seem to indicate the disease. According to the United States Geographical Survey Health Laboratory, humans are not at a high risk of infection from the bacteria causing avian cholera.

The carcasses of a small number of snow geese were first reported at Camas National Wildlife Refuge near Dubois, Idaho. Closer inspection on Friday found higher numbers of dead birds at the Mud Lake WMA Area near Terreton, Idaho and a lesser amount at Market Lake WMA near Roberts, Idaho. The migratory birds were on the return leg of their migration from the southwestern United States and Mexico to their breeding grounds on the northern coast of Alaska. It is unknown at this time where the geese may have picked up the suspected bacteria. “Outbreaks of avian cholera have occurred sporadically in the region over the past few decades, ” said Upper Snake Regional Supervisor Steve Schmidt.

Read more

Wildlife

Vote for Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park as ‘Best State Park’ in USA Today 10Best contest

  Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park currently holds 2nd place in the competition for the title of Best State Park in the nation in USA Today’s 10Best Travel Awards.
Visitors and fans of the park can vote daily through March 30 at 11:59 a.m. to help the Porkies win this national title, so vote and spread the word about this great opportunity for national recognition of Michigan’s woods and waters!
Individuals can vote every day, and from every internet-enabled device (tablet, phone, computer). The voting page, which includes the current rank, is available at http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-state-park/porcupine-mountains-wilderness-state-park-mich/. Read more

General, Wildlife

Birds Identified as Hosts of Lyme Disease

Today’s feature first appeared in this week’s edition of our companion service, The Birding Wire (www.birdingwire.com).

UC Berkeley researcher Erica Newman, pictured in front of chaparral, where she studies bird communities. Chaparral biodiversity, including bird communities, is largely understudied because of the difficulty of detecting wildlife in dense shrub habitats. Image Credit: David Hembry

Birds are more important than previously recognized as hosts for Lyme disease-causing bacteria, according to a recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE. The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is responsible for Lyme disease, was known to be carried by white-footed mice, wood rats, western gray squirrels, and other small mammals, but fewer studies have looked at the role of birds as reservoirs.

“The role of birds in the maintenance of Lyme disease bacteria in California is poorly understood,” said lead author Erica Newman, a UC Berkeley PhD student. “This is the most extensive study of the role of birds in Lyme disease ecology in the western United States, and the first to consider the diversity of bird species, their behaviors, and their habitats in identifying which birds are truly the most important as carriers.”

Moreover, the birds in the study that were found to be important hosts of Lyme disease bacteria — such as American robins, dark-eyed juncos and golden-crowned sparrows — are coincidentally ones that are commonly found in suburban environments.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported tick-borne illness in the United States. There are approximately 300,000 cases each year, with the large majority occurring in the eastern United States. Read more

Wildlife

Idaho Eolf Control Completed in Lolo Zone

IDAHO FISH AND GAME
Headquarters NEWS RELEASE
 Boise, ID

Date:
March 9, 2015
USDA Wildlife Services specialists killed 19 wolves through aerial control in February. During the last five years, six other agency control actions in Lolo zone removed an additional 48 wolves.

Idaho Fish and Game has completed a wolf control action in northern Idaho’s Lolo elk zone near the Idaho/Montana border to improve poor elk survival in the area.

The Lolo elk population has declined from 16,000 elk in 1989 to roughly 2,100 elk in 2010, and possibly fewer than 1,000 this year, with predation and habitat changes among the chief causes of the decline. Fish and Game is focusing on habitat improvement operations, regulations on elk hunting, liberal seasons and bag limits on black bears, mountain lions, and wolves, and wolf control actions to improve elk populations.

In February, Idaho Fish and Game requested USDA Wildlife Services conduct a control action consistent with Idaho’s predation management plan for the Lolo elk zone, where predation by several species is the major reason elk population numbers are considerably below management objectives. Ongoing wolf and elk research has shown that wolves have become the primary predator impacting calf and cow elk survival in the Lolo, contributing to a continual decline in total elk population.

The Lolo predation management plan is posted on the Fish and Game website: http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/wildlife/?getPage=325
USDA Wildlife Services specialists killed 19 wolves through aerial control in February. During the last five years, six other agency control actions in Lolo zone removed an additional 48 wolves.

This winter, helicopter crews captured and placed radio collars on additional elk and wolves in the Lolo zone and surrounding area to continue monitoring to see whether prey populations increase in response to regulated wolf hunting, trapping and control actions.

Read more

Wildlife

Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015

CSF’s President, Jeff Crane Testifies Before Congress  

March 12, 2015: Bill numbers change but the mission of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and its valued conservation partners does not. S.405, titled The Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2015, was introduced on February 5, by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Members Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), with the bipartisan Senate CSC leadership as original co-sponsors. Senate CSC leaders for the 114th Congress include: Co-Chairs Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Vice-Chairs Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND).

 

“The Bipartisan Sportsman’s Act is not only an access bill, but also a way to promote economic growth in our country. Sportsmen and women across the country spend billions of dollars each year on outdoor activities. In Alaska alone there are more than 125,000 individuals who engage in hunting each year. This economic activity not only helps local communities but aids conservation efforts as well,” said Senator Murkowski (R-AK). “This commonsense, bipartisan legislation supports conservation efforts while also improving access to recreational hunting and fishing on federal lands.”

 

“This widely supported, bipartisan bill will open more areas to hunting and fishing and grow America’s thriving outdoor recreation economy,” said Senator Heinrich (D-NM). “This is what brings us together. This is the one thing that is still bipartisan, the love of passing these traditions on from generation to generation. We need to make this sportsmen’s package happen. We need to do it in this Congress. We need to show people across the country that Washington can do the right thing [for sportsmen and women].” Read more

Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Elk, Deer Research Honored by Boone and Crockett Club

MISSOULA, Mont. – A big-game research program in northeast Oregon is the recipient of the Boone and Crockett Club’s inaugural Conservation and Stewardship Award.

 

The Starkey Project, established in 1989 by the U.S. Forest Service, is one of the most comprehensive field research programs in history. Research trials in an enclosed 25,000-acre working landscape measure the effects of timber management, livestock grazing and recreation on elk and deer populations. Results help guide resource-management decisions across the West.

 

Boone and Crockett’s new award recognizes Starkey’s development of  “applied science” for effective, science-informed management.

 

“There is a significant difference between basic research and the applied research conducted at Starkey,” explained Tom Price, chairman of the Club’s Stewardship and Multiple Use Sharing Committee, which administers the award. “Most public and private lands are not like national parks. They are working landscapes where people and wildlife must co-exist. We need sound, applied science that tells us what is best for wildlife, people and the land under shared conditions, and that’s what the Starkey Project has been supplying for the past 25 years.” Read more

Wildlife
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