The Department of Natural Resources and many others will celebrate a conservation success story at the 2015 Kirtland’s Warbler Festival in Roscommon next weekend.

The Kirtland’s warbler is an excellent example of the power of partnerships and the Threatened and Endangered Species Act in action. The festival kicks off on Friday, June 5 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Ralph A MacMullan Conference Center on Higgins Lake and continues through to Saturday, June 6 in downtown Roscommon from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For full details, please visit the Huron Pines website or call 989-448-2293, ext 21.

GW:  Here we go again!

The Michigan departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today confirmed that a free-ranging deer in Meridian Township (Ingham County) has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD), a fatal neurological disease that affects white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and moose. This is the first time the disease has been found in Michigan’s free-ranging deer population. In 2008 a white-tailed deer from a privately owned cervid (POC) facility in Kent County tested positive for CWD.

The animal was observed last month wandering around a Meridian Township residence and showing signs of illness. The homeowner contacted the Meridian Township Police Department, who then sent an officer to euthanize the animal. The deer was collected by a DNR wildlife biologist and delivered for initial testing to the DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory at the Michigan State University Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health in Lansing, Michigan. After initial tests were positive, samples were forwarded to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, for final confirmation. The Michigan DNR received that positive confirmation last week.

To date, there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease presents any risk to non-cervids, including humans, either through contact with an infected animal or from handling contaminated venison. However, as a precaution, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recommend that infected animals not be consumed as food by either humans or domestic animals.

“This is the first case of chronic wasting disease to be confirmed in a free-ranging Michigan white-tailed deer,” said DNR Director Keith Creagh.

“While it is a disappointing day for Michigan, the good news is that we are armed with a thoughtfully crafted response plan,” Creagh said. “We are working with other wildlife experts at the local, regional, state and federal level, using every available resource, to determine the extent of this disease, respond appropriately to limit further transmission, and ultimately eradicate the disease in Michigan if possible.”

The confirmed positive finding triggers several actions in the state’s surveillance and response plan for chronic wasting disease. The plan was developed in 2002 through cooperation between the DNR and MDARD, and was updated in 2012. Actions the DNR will take include: Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Senate Appropriations Committee yesterday released their top-line funding levels for each of twelve federal appropriations bills, cutting conservation funding to $160 million below the already spartan House allocation unveiled earlier this month.

Known as the 302 (b) allocations, the document released today divides the $1.016 trillion in federal discretionary spending for fiscal year 2016 amongst various departments and agencies. With less money allocated to conservation, the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee will be forced to cut back on services and capital investments at our national parks, refuges, battlefields, and forests.

The Senate’s allocation will result in a $2-billion cut relative to 2010 funding levels. With the return of sequestration in fiscal year 2016, conservation groups are calling for a budget deal that can serve as a successor to the Murray-Ryan Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 to give the Appropriations Committee suitable resources for preserving America’s iconic landscapes and natural treasures for the next generation. Read more

Frequent visitors this spring…

Baltimore Oriole at Jelly Feeder

But if delisting is the hallmark of conservation success, then permanent listings are the hallmark of conservation failure.

MISSOULA, Mont. – The Boone and Crockett Club acknowledges Endangered Species Day, Friday, May 15, 2015, with both celebration and concern.

Endangered Species Day recognizes our nation’s efforts to protect critically rare species and their habitats. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Federation and others are observing the day. As America’s first wildlife conservation and hunting organization, Boone and Crockett also enthusiastically holds up the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as a significant piece of conservation legislation.

The ESA was signed by President Nixon in 1973. The plain intent of the law was to halt and reverse the trend toward species extinction, whatever the cost.

Achievements include the bald eagle, gray wolf, whooping crane, black-footed ferret and several other species whose populations benefited under the additional protections afforded by the ESA.

“We join in America’s applause of those hard-fought successes,” said Morrie Stevens, Boone and Crockett Club president.

Stevens added, “It’s also well to point out that the whitetail deer, elk, wild turkey, wood duck, bison, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and many other species also were once on the brink of extinction-but fully recovered thanks to voluntary conservation efforts and funding from hunters, long before there was an ESA.” Read more