Category: Wildlife

Goldfinch

Michigan: help create CWD education and outreach plan for Ionia and Montcalm counties

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State University Extension and the National Charrette Institute will host two CWD Community Education and Outreach Planning Days in late April. Participants will work together to create an education and outreach plan.

The CWD planning days are:

  • Saturday, April 23 – Montcalm County: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (drop-in open house) at the Montcalm County Fairgrounds, Ash Building West, 8784 Peck Road, Greenville, MI 48838.
  • Thursday, April 28 – Ionia County: 6 to 9 p.m. at the Sidney Township Hall, 3019 S. Grow Road, Sidney, MI 48885.

People are welcome to attend both sessions or drop in for just one session. No RSVP is needed. Refreshments will be provided both days. Read more

Wildlife

Meet the Arnold Palmer of Duck Habitats

As commodity prices go, few have been tracking mallard dividends as closely as Steve Farris. After a stellar career as a Grammy-nominated guitarist and one of the cofounders of the 80’s band Mr. Mister, Farris has turned his creative energies and life-long passion for duck and goose hunting into another art form—buying, transforming, and selling some of the best waterfowling properties west of the Mississippi. The fact that Mr. Mister’s two Grammy nominations came for hits, Broken Wings and Healing Waters, might have foreshadowed his calling to the world of duck hunting real estate.

For those who follow the recreational real estate market and the extensive habitat improvements that Farris has made to some of them, he could be known as the Arnold Palmer of duck hunting courses. “Every blind is a different hole,” muses Farris. Like any great artist, he sees land the way a painter sees canvas—an opportunity to manifest a vision of something perfect. In his case, it’s land and water that is irresistible to ducks and geese and, ultimately, to those who love to hunt them. That’s a unique talent and skill set that Alex Maher recognized shortly after meeting Farris a few years ago. Maher is the founder of Live Water Properties, a Jackson, Wyoming-based ranch and recreational real estate brokerage firm specializing in some of the best hunting and angling properties across the country.

To read the rest of the column, click here

Hunting, Wildlife

Warrantless Search and Surveillance Practice Overruled in Tennessee

A warrantless search and surveillance practice used by wildlife agencies to investigate hunting and fishing violations was ruled unconstitutional last week by a Tennessee circuit court; paving the way for property owners in several other states to challenge criminal charges resulting from such techniques.

The case has garnered the attention of private property rights advocates, poachers, wildlife law enforcement officials and outdoor enthusiasts who support the investigative methods for wildlife protection.

In 2018 Benton County landowners Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth sued the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) after they discovered a video camera with a 24/7 live feed installed on a tree on Hollingsworth’s property, which was marked with no trespassing signs. Rainwaters claims the agency also engaged in warrantless searches on his property. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan: plan now for spring treatment of hemlock woolly adelgid

If hemlock trees on your property show signs of hemlock woolly adelgid infestation, now is a good time to plan for spring treatment of this invasive species. Hemlock woolly adelgid, native to Asia, is known to be present in areas of Allegan, Mason, Muskegon, Oceana and Ottawa counties in Michigan. These small insects suck sap from hemlock needles and ultimately can cause tree death.

Insecticides are available to control the insect, and in many cases, landowners easily can apply them by carefully following label instructions and application rate guidance. In Michigan, the label is the law. Due to certain restrictions on the use of these insecticides, you may need the services of a licensed pesticide application business. Read more

Wildlife

Michigan: updated state forest road maps available online Friday

Thrilling ORV rides, outdoor exploring and forest adventures are waiting down one of Michigan’s thousands of miles of state forest roads. Every year, the DNR updates maps of these roads to improve accuracy and protect the environment, and then notifies the public of any changes. New maps go up at Michigan.gov/ForestRoads Friday, April 1, in an interactive web format and as printable PDF maps.

Map changes are based on considerations that include changing road conditions, data cleanup and input received from residents around the state. Maps show where state forest roads are open or closed to off-road vehicle use and which roads are only open to conventional vehicles. It’s important to stay on these roads when using motor vehicles to reduce erosion and damage to wildlife habitat.

The following mileages will be open to ORVs starting April 1: Read more

Wildlife

Mossy Oak Doubles-Down on Conservation Commitment with Inaugural Wild Turkey Stamp

WEST POINT, MS – Mossy Oak, The Official Camo of Conservation and the Official Camo of the NWTF, is taking its focus and efforts to a new level with a brand new Wild Turkey Conservation Stamp project that will donate 100% of all money raised (including expenses incurred) directly to wild turkey conservation efforts. Mossy Oak is honored to unveil its inaugural wild turkey stamp as part of what will be an annual limited edition offering to support the wild turkey; the species that led to the “fistful of dirt”, and the conception of the outdoor lifestyle brand.

Mossy Oak’s Limited Edition 2022 Wild Turkey Conservation Stamp will be a 1.5” x 2” stamp titled “A Mossy Oak Moment”, created by artist Dan Moreton, originally painted for Mossy Oak in 1996. The stamp is available now at store.mossyoak.com. Every last penny raised in the sales of the Mossy Oak Wild Turkey Stamp will be entirely invested into wild turkey research projects reviewed and approved by an advisory board including the likes of Dr. Mike Chamberlain and Dr. Marcus Lashley, among other devout GameKeepers.

Mossy Oak’s founder and CEO, Toxey Haas wrote the following letter that will be sent with each stamp order:

My dad taught me a lot of things growing up in the woods with him. Two of the ones he instilled from an early age that lasted a lifetime were to always leave my piece of dirt better than I found it, and to love and respect all critters we hunted, but especially wild turkeys. Later in life we started calling that being a gamekeeper.

The wild turkey hasn’t always been here. In West Point where I was born and where Mossy Oak remains, we didn’t even have wild turkeys when I was born. I had to drive down to Choctaw Bluff in south Alabama to hunt them. I can’t imagine a spring morning spent without the chance to hear one of the sweetest sounds in all of nature – a wild turkey gobble. And we dang sure want to do everything we can to ensure our kids and grandkids don’t have to wonder what that sounds like. No disrespect to so many other animals we love, but the wild turkey is the grandest of birds.

Without wild turkeys there would be no Mossy Oak. And it’s our responsibility to do everything we can with the time we have on earth to ensure the turkey hunting community leaves the wild turkey better off than we found them. Turkeys are a precious resource. And they’re more vulnerable than most of the animals we hunt.

We’ve always helped look after them, but we’re really proud to create our first wild turkey conservation stamp. Every cent we raise from this stamp will go directly toward conservation research and projects with nothing left over. If we can do what we can with the dirt we’ve been given and everyone reading this does the same, we’ll have left it better than we’ve found it. And we look forward to helping fund some of the projects being pursued right now by some great gamekeepers around the country. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

First Case of COVID-19 in Mule Deer Confirmed in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — While COVID-19 was confirmed in white-tailed deer in parts of the U.S. last year, the virus was recently confirmed in Utah mule deer for the first time after the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources submitted samples taken from deer during winter health assessments.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has been collaborating on a research study to test various wildlife species for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). As part of the study, DWR biologists collected nasal swab samples and blood samples from deer during the annual helicopter captures where biologists perform a health check and place GPS collars on the animals. From November to December, samples were taken from roughly 280 deer statewide and were sent to two USDA labs in other states for testing.

On March 22, the APHIS’ National Veterinary Services Lab in Ames, Iowa confirmed a case of the SARS-CoV-2 delta variant in one of the samples submitted from a female mule deer in Morgan County. Only one deer tested positive for the virus from the nasal samples, but several other Utah deer had the antibodies in their blood samples, indicating the virus had been in the deer population prior to the capture. Read more

Wildlife

SCI Sends Letter to Interior Over Gray Wolf Battle

Today, Safari Club International (SCI) joined 23 other hunting and conservation organizations, representing millions of sportsmen and women across the country, in a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. These organizations “respectfully request that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) appeal the February 10, 2022, decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California vacating the 2020 rule removing the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) lists of endangered and threatened species.”

In early 2020, the Service removed gray wolves in the lower 48 U.S. States from the ESA lists. Of course, anti-hunting groups immediately sued to put wolves back under the ESA. Although these groups acknowledged that some populations of gray wolves have recovered, they sought to force the Service to restore wolves everywhere—from Maine to Washington State. SCI, along with the National Rifle Association (NRA), intervened in these suits to defend the Service’s science-based delisting rule. Unfortunately, a federal court in the Northern District of California largely ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor. It is now up to the Service to appeal this decision.

Gray Wolf populations have been increasing the last 20 years and demonstrate an Endangered Species Act success story. Now that the gray wolf is in no way endangered, it is time for the Service to allocate funding to other much more vulnerable species.

The best available science supports the delisting of the gray wolf, and the decision in California prevents species from being delisted even when they have fully recovered. Additionally, removal from the Endangered Species List simply means that federal resources are not used for conservation, and that management is returned to state agencies – which they are fully capable of in the case of the gray wolf.

The Department of the Interior and Secretary Haaland have a responsibility to stand on the side of science, management, and proven conservation strategies. They should not listen to misguided animal rights groups, which aim to have the gray wolf “endangered” in perpetuity. We look forward to Secretary Haaland’s response and will continue to stand on the side of science, conservation, and hunters.

Animal Rights, Wildlife

2,000-Mile Wild Turkey Journey

 This conservation feature was submitted to us by the National Wild Turkey Federation. 

(Photo Credit Brittany Peterson)

Wild turkeys are known to fly from time to time, mainly to and from the roost, but on occasion, a wild turkey will take a longer flight, to escape a precarious situation, for instance. The recent journey of 15 birds from Buckport, Maine, to Angelina County, Texas, however, entails a bit of a longer flight.

These cold-hardy birds from the Northeast were transported to Texas as part of the acclaimed East Texas Super Stocking project, an ongoing project, since 2014, to restore the Eastern Wild Turkey population to its historic range in east Texas.

(Photo Credit: Brittany Peterson)

Capturing these particular birds and relocating them to east Texas is a collaborative effort between the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the NWTF. Numerous other state agencies have supplied birds to the Texas project in recent years. Read more

Wildlife
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