Wildlife Management the Right Way
By Glen Wunderlich
When Michigan voters head to the polls this November, they’ll have an opportunity to vote for principle – and, principle only – as two particular referendums have already been rendered moot. The reason is that the Michigan House of Representatives passed the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act with a bipartisan vote of 65-43. This in turn means the seemingly endless wolf hunt controversy is settled and the Department of Natural Resources’ biologists will be able to establish hunting seasons based on science.
Looking back to year 1996, when Proposal G was overwhelmingly approved by a 70-percent margin, Michiganders actually believed science would dictate how we would manage wildlife. Proposal G was a referendum on Public Act 377 of 1996, which amended the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) to grant the Natural Resources Commission exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game in this state. The amendment also required the Commission, to the greatest extent practicable, to use principles of sound scientific management in making decisions regarding the taking of game.
Ah, but if enough emotion and money could be leveraged into the mix, anti-hunters found a way to override the intent of Proposal G through referendums designed to trump science in favor of hype. Not anymore!
Sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), a Washington, D.C.-based anti-hunting organization, the referendums aimed to repeal two bills that would have allowed a regulated hunting season for wolves in certain areas of the Upper Peninsula where wolves have killed pets and livestock. Because the initiative contains an appropriation ($1 million to protect fisheries from aquatic invasive species), it is not subject to a third referendum by HSUS or its front group, Keep Michigan Wolves Protected.
After the language was adopted, Michigan United Conservatin Clubs’ Drew YoungeDyke was asked if MUCC or Citizens for Professional Wildlife Management planned to campaign for a “yes” vote on the referendums.
“We’re not going to waste resources on it,” he said. “No matter what happens in November, there’s not going to be a 2014 wolf hunt because there isn’t time for the DNR to scientifically craft a season structure for it. And no matter what happens in November, there will be a hunting season in 2015, 2016 and every year thereafter as long as it continues to be supported by sound science.”
Jill Fritz, Michigan director for the Humane Society of the United States and director of Keep Michigan Wolves Protected, told reporters that they would campaign heavily for a “no” vote on Proposals 1 and 2, including television advertisements. The Humane Society’s Legislative Fund spent $750,000 on “media” for Keep Michigan Wolves Protected in late July, according to campaign finance reports.
She also told reporters that they planned to sue to block the Scientific Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, although it has not been made clear on what grounds.
Said Representative Jon Bumbstead (R-Newago), “This is about more than wolves. It’s about protecting the rights of our constituents to hunt and fish by managing our fish and wildlife with sound science.”
It’s also about keeping the noses of out-of-state extremists out of our business, just like we thought we were doing 18 years ago.
Copperbelly water snakes are harmless, non-poisonous, relatively large, semi-aquatic snakes that are often witnessed basking in the sun where they can effortlessly escape into water if bothered. They tend to live near shrub wetlands, wooded floodplains and slow-moving rivers. A hungry copperbelly will hunt a variety of prey, including tadpoles, frogs, salamanders, insect larvae and crayfish. Adults are dark black or brown on the top, with a vibrant orange-red underside. These snakes also have labial (lip) scales that are tinted slightly orange-red with darkened edges. In Michigan, northern water snakes, Kirtland’s snakes, queen snakes and northern red-bellied snakes look similar to, and might be mistaken for, the copperbelly water snake.
The outstanding trophy also marks a notable achievement for conservation professionals.
The Michigan Duck Stamp Program, established in 1976, has become an icon for waterfowl hunters and wetland conservation enthusiasts. During the past 38 years, the program has gained popularity with collectors and conservation groups throughout the United States.
You would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t agree with this point…Coyotes are plentiful and their numbers are up almost everywhere. Their boom in population east of the Mississippi in the last 40 years is very impressive. With everyone seeing more coyotes when they are outdoors, they catch the blame for a lot of issues facing small game, especially whitetail fawn recruitment. Like it or not the song dogs are here to stay. You can kill as many as possible on your piece of property and definitely “help the cause” when it comes to protecting fawns, but there will always be coyotes around. The argument has been made that you need a few around to keep the other small predators in check and there is some good research that supports this claim. However no one likes the idea of coyotes managing their deer herd for them. While coyotes may not have a major impact on the overall deer population of a given county or state, they can definitely effect small pockets and that might be your property. Let’s look at a few things that can be done to increase fawn survival rates. 
