Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

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.

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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

Bushnell Trophy Cam™ Aggressor HD in Realtree Xtra®

COLUMBUS, Georgia – The new 14MP Bushnell® Trophy Cam Aggressor HD, available in Realtree Xtra®, provides the reliability and ruggedness you want and need in a game camera. The super-fast 0.2-second trigger speed, extended nighttime photo range and 1-year battery life ensure you won’t miss that critical photo revealing the buck of a lifetime. Add in 14MP high-definition images and 1080p HD video with audio, and the Aggressor HD provides maximum clarity.

The Aggressor HD is available in two Low-Glow IR models and two No-Glow models with Black LEDs that are invisible to game and other hunters.

Features & Benefits

  • 0.2 second trigger speed to capture moving game
  • < 1 second recovery so you don’t miss the next shot
  • Improved nighttime images
  • Eight AA battery case provides up to one year of operation
  • 1080p HD video with sound
  • 14MP images
Hunting, Wildlife

SCI Provides Winning Arguments Against Constitutional Challenge to Three Antelope Rule

Posted by firstforwildlife on March 6, 2015 · Leave a Comment

3 antelope ruling dama gazelleSafari Club International played a pivotal role in a federal district court’s ruling that dismissed a constitutional challenge to the law that exempts the hunting of U.S. captive members of three exotic antelope species from permit and other Endangered Species Act requirements.  Based in great part on SCI’s arguments that the anti-hunting plaintiffs lacked standing to raise their constitutional claims, the D.C. federal district court dismissed the case on March 4, 2015.

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Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

Winning bid for Montana moose license is three times the last record

HELENA, Mont. – A rare Shiras moose hunting license brought in a record $60,000 at a Ducks Unlimited auction last weekend by the Helena DU chapter during its annual dinner. Past moose licenses sold at auction for $15,000 to $20,000. Proceeds from the license sale will go to the moose conservation initiatives of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“We are blown away by the success of this auction for Montana habitat work. It was basically over in three minutes,” said Steve Christian, an organizer of the event and member of Montana DU state councils. “Our thanks go out to the people who participated in this auction and to our buyer, who is making a major contribution to Montana wildlife.”

DU won the right to auction off the license from MFWP. The license is good for the 2015 season anywhere in the state where people can legally hunt moose. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

PA Game Commission Releases Deer Harvest Estimates

Harvests decreased statewide in 2014-15, report shows.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission yesterday reported that, in the state’s 2014-15 seasons, hunters harvested an estimated 303,973 deer – a decrease of about 14 percent compared to the 2013-14 harvest of 352,920.

Hunters took 119,260 antlered deer in the 2014-15 seasons – a decrease of about 11 percent compared to the previous license year, when an estimated 134,280 bucks were taken. Also, hunters harvested an estimated 184,713 antlerless deer in 2014-15, which represents an about 16 percent decrease compared to the 218,640 antlerless deer taken in 2013-14.

“We put these numbers out each year and, whether there’s an increase or decrease in the harvest, people want to know why,” said Game Commission Executive Director R. Matthew Hough. “While it’s impossible to provide explanations with certainty, there were a couple of factors over the 2014-15 deer seasons that seem to have contributed to a decreased harvest.” Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Bird Conservation Group Calls for Changes in Data Collection at Wind Developments

Washington — American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to institute a new system of pre-construction risk assessment and bird and bat mortality data collection in connection with hundreds of thousands of bird (and bat) deaths being caused by wind turbines and the likelihood that that number could substantially exceed one million deaths when the industry reaches its full build out capacity by 2030 or before.

The ABC proposal was made in a letter to Department of Interior and FWS pursuant to their request for comments on information collection in connection with their land-based wind energy guidelines. It follows the entering of a guilty plea on January 6 from PacifiCorp that will require the company to pay $2.5 million in fines, restitution and community service for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act by killing 38 Golden Eagles and 336 other birds at two Wyoming wind farms.

ABC is asking FWS to institute a pre-construction risk assessment and bird mortality data collection that are based on:

  • studies conducted by independent, qualified expertsselected by the FWS or a trusted consulting company hired by FWS;
  • costs being borne by wind energy companies;
  • all reports sent directly to the FWS, and not through the wind energy company, which would then have no opportunity to edit or alter the reports to their advantage;
  • reports being made available to the public to add an additional layer of scrutiny; and
  • mandatory requirement to conduct independent Environmental Assessments (EA) and obtain incidental take permits under the Endangered Species Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act when protected species are present. Read more
Wildlife

Washington Wolf Population Grew 30% Last Year

OLYMPIA – Washington state’s wolf population grew by more than 30 percent and formed four new packs last year, according to an annual survey conducted by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).

The survey shows the presence of at least 68 gray wolves in the state through Dec. 31, 2014, up from a minimum of 52 wolves counted in 2013. It also documents 16 wolf packs and at least five successful breeding pairs last year. Read more

Wildlife

Coast Guard Rescues Man Walking on Frozen St. Clair Lake

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Neah Bay, home-ported in Cleveland, rescued a 25-year-old man attempting to walk across Lake St. Clair, March 5, 2015. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Lt. Josh Zike)

CLEVELAND — The Coast Guard rescued a man attempting to walk across Lake St. Clair Thursday morning and transported him to Algonac, Michigan.

The man rescued is a 25-year-old American citizen, who stated he was attempting to walk from Detroit to Toronto.

At about 9:30 a.m., the lookout assigned to , a 140-foot ice-breaking tug home-ported in Cleveland, spotted a man walking in the middle of frozen Lake St. Clair, about one and a half miles from Seaway Island. The ice-rescue team aboard the cutter deployed on foot to check on the man. Upon reaching the man, the rescue team questioned the individual, treated the man for symptoms of hypothermia, and assisted him aboard the cutter.

The man was taken to the municipal pier in Algonac, where he was met by emergency medical service personnel and transferred to their care. Read more

Wildlife
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