Partners celebrate successful recovery of beloved songbird


Beloved songbird no longer needs Endangered Species Act protection

Partners celebrate successful recovery of beloved songbird

Bird enthusiasts from around the world travel to northern Michigan in hopes of catching sight of a Kirtland’s warbler, a small songbird once poised on the brink of extinction. Now the species is thriving thanks to decades of effort by a diverse group of dedicated partners. Due to the species’ remarkable recovery, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced that it no longer warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“The effort to recover the Kirtland’s warbler is a shining example of what it takes to save imperiled species,” said Margaret Everson, Principal Deputy Director of the Service. “Truly dedicated partners have worked together for decades to recover this songbird. I thank them for their efforts and applaud this historic conservation success.”

“The Kirtland’s warbler was one of the first species in the United States to be put on the federal list of endangered and threatened species, and today’s action by the U.S. Department of the Interior marks the latest chapter in a remarkable wildlife success story,” said Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Eichinger. “The bird’s recovery provides dramatic testimony to what conservation organizations, governments and businesses can accomplish when they come together for the good of the resource. We are grateful for the partnership of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service in this effort. I sincerely believe conservation is a team sport, and today’s announcement is a big win for natural resources in Michigan and for all those involved.” Read more

Wildlife

“Wild Boar Fever X presented by Aimpoint” Now Available on Sportsman Channel

DENVER (October 8, 2019) – Last year, Outdoor Channel introduced North American audiences to one of the world’s most popular and exciting hunting methods – driven hunting – with Wild Boar Fever 9. Now, Wild Boar Fever X presented by Aimpoint, the most-celebrated driven boar hunting series ever produced, is available on Sportsman Channel on Sundays at 5 p.m. ET. Additionally, catch up on seasons 1-9 of Wild Boar Fever all on MyOutdoorTV.In the last several decades, mild winters accompanied with changing agricultural practices have created a scenario in which the wild boar population in Europe, has exploded. Wild boar cause billions of dollars of damage to agriculture and resources each year. Controlling the population of wild boar in Europe is a practice steeped in the centuries’ old tradition of driven hunting.

Although still relatively new to U.S. audiences, wild boar hunting in Europe involves more than a bolt-action rifle and steady nerves. A driven hunt pushes boar towards hunters from their daytime cover using specially-trained dogs and a team of fearless beaters. Wild boar are smart, sit tight and often double back behind the beating line making the hunt a complicated exercise. The hunters identify the correct animal to cull and shoot with single shots as they run through the gun line. This style of hunting is the most popular method in Europe because – not only is it a highly-effective means of managing a growing population of wild boar – it is a fast-paced, challenging and thrilling method of shooting game on the run.

The stories of Wild Boar Fever X presented by Aimpoint will, once again, be told through the lens of conservationist, popular host and charismatic marksman Franz Albrecht Oettingen-Spielberg. Driven hunts result in a substantial meat harvest of the destructive wild boar and conclude in a deeply traditional ceremony. The harvested game is gathered together and laid out in a tableau, then honored by horn-blowing and speeches. These traditions date back hundreds of years and were first introduced to North American viewers last year.

Oettingen-Spielberg will not only reintroduce U.S. audiences to the exhilarating, driven hunting style, but also welcome American sportsman and television executive Mitch Petrie to the team for his first experience in the traditional European hunt. Together, Oettingen-Spielberg, Petrie and others will educate viewers about the ethics and intricacies of this form of hunting, the difficulty involved, and safety needed in shooting a running boar, as well as provide viewers with an understanding of the conservation, meat harvesting, land and animal management issues involved in this process. Also joining the pack are hunters from Germany, Sweden and France. Read more

Hunting

Michigan: Facebook Live Wednesday at Oden fish hatchery

It’s the next best thing to being there! Check in with the Michigan DNR Facebook page starting around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, when fisheries staff at the Oden State Fish Hatchery will showcase the work done during the facility’s annual brown trout egg-take efforts. Viewers will get to see department fisheries staff spawn the fish and take fluid samples for fish-health testing and, possibly, what’s involved with egg rinsing and disinfection.The hatchery, in the northern Lower Peninsula’s Emmet County, is crucial to the state’s stocking and management plans.

“We typically spawn 3 1/2 million brown trout eggs per year. Some of those will be the fish reared and stocked from the Oden and Harrietta state fish hatcheries, and some are future broodstock – the mature fish we use for breeding,” said Elyse Walter, a communications specialist with the DNR Fisheries Division, who will participate in the Facebook Live from Oden. Read more

Fishing

FLIR Introduces M300 Series Marine Cameras

ARLINGTON, Va – FLIR Systems (Nasdaq: FLIR) Monday announced the FLIR M300 Series, a new generation of maritime thermal cameras delivering advanced awareness-enhancing technologies, safer navigation, and seamless integration with onboard boat systems. FLIR M300 Series cameras are designed for the most demanding professional mariners and first responders who operate in the harshest marine environments.

The successor to FLIR’s industry-leading M-Series of maritime cameras, the next generation M300 Series consists of five models featuring rugged and robust new pan and tilt housings – four models with the FLIR BosonTM 640 or 320 resolution thermal camera cores and various fixed field of view (FoV) lenses, plus a visible-only model, the M300C, featuring a high-definition, color, low-light camera with 30X zoom. Read more

Fishing

Buckeye Firearms Association: Gov. DeWine Rejects “Red Flag”

Protecting the Rights of 4 Million Ohio Gun OwnersContact: Dean Rieck

drieck@buckeyefirearms.org

614-882-8823

Gov. DeWine Rejects “Red Flag,” Introduces Plan Focused on Mental Health

Buckeye Firearms Association has consistently opposed “red flag” laws. Current law, when properly enforced provides the tools needed to deal with dangerous people.

Since early August, when Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced a 17-point plan to address violence, administration officials said they would research the issue and sought to do something different.

Based on comments made by the Governor and Lt. Governor at a press conference today, it appears the administration has rejected “red flag” and opted to focus on providing medical assistance for those suspected of being a danger to themselves or others.

“We have said for years that we need to focus on mental health and enforce current law,” said Dean Rieck, Executive Director of Buckeye Firearms Association. Read more

Gun Control

Michigan: plenty of October options for hunting upland game birds

Michigan is rich with opportunities to hunt a variety of upland game birds this month, with several seasons already open and other openers on the way.Currently open are ruffed grouse and woodcock hunting. Ruffed grouse season runs through Nov. 14 and then reopens Dec. 1-Jan. 1, while woodcock season is open through Nov. 4.

Other key seasons include:

  • Zone 1 (Upper Peninsula) pheasant hunting is open Oct. 10-31 in all of Menominee County and portions of Delta, Dickinson, Iron and Marquette counties.
  • Pheasant hunting in zones 2 and 3 (Lower Peninsula) runs Oct. 20-Nov. 14.
  • Sharp-tailed grouse hunting is open Oct. 10-31 in the eastern portions of Chippewa and Mackinac counties.

Upland game bird hunters will need a Michigan base license. Additionally, anyone hunting pheasant or sharp-tailed grouse will need a free pheasant/sharp-tailed grouse endorsement on their hunting license, except for those hunting pheasant only on hunting preserves. Woodcock hunters need a free woodcock stamp, which includes the federal HIP endorsement. Read more

Hunting

Baby Sturgeon to Be Released into Tennessee River

About 500 baby Lake Sturgeon raised at the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute this year will be returned to their ancestral waters. Since 2000, the Aquarium and its conservation partners have collaboratively raised and reintroduced more than 220,000 of these “living fossils” into the waters from which they had all but disappeared by the 1970s due to human activity. Counting this event, Aquarium staff will have released about 1,700 Lake Sturgeon in 2019.During the event, members of the public and the media will be invited to personally release some of the sturgeon. Each fish released will contribute to long-term conservation efforts for this species, which can reach lengths of eight feet and boast lifespans of more than 150 years.

“I am excited to get the public involved and raise awareness about Lake Sturgeon recovery,” says Tennessee Aquarium Reintroduction Biologist Meredith Harris. “Hopefully, this hands-on experience with such a cool and important fish will foster an interest in native fish conservation in our youth a well.”

Each of the fish has been gently marked with a tiny coded wire tag that will assist researchers in monitoring the movement and robustness of the species as it navigates the river system.

When / Where: Saturday, Oct. 12, at noon on the Ladd Park boat ramp — 1470 N. Kentucky Street, Kingston, TN 37763.

Fishing

Supreme Court Denies New York’s “Mootness” Claim, Will Hear Gun Case Brought by NYSRPA

SAF HAILS HIGH COURT’S DECISION TO MOVE N.Y. GUN LAW CHALLENGE FORWARD

Contact: Alan Gottlieb (425) 454-7012

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today cheered the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to move forward with a case that challenges a New York City gun law that was so restrictive the city amended it, and then tried to get the high court to dismiss the case.

“We’re delighted that the Supreme Court will move this important case forward,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “The Second Amendment Foundation has filed an amicus brief in support of overturning this egregious attempt to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms. We are confident that the high court will ultimately rule in favor of Second Amendment rights.”

The city scrambled to change the law once the court decided to accept the case for review earlier this year. The challenge is brought by the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.

“It’s outrageous that the city has furiously tried to derail this case by changing the law,” Gottlieb stated. “That says volumes not only about the city’s fear of having to defend their restrictive gun control law before the court, but it also suggests to us that the city knew all along their law would not pass the constitutional smell test under any level of scrutiny, and they panicked.

“New York, and other state and local governments, have been getting away with adopting ridiculously oppressive gun regulations because lower courts have thumbed their noses at previous Supreme Court rulings in favor of the Second Amendment,” he added.

“Equally outrageous, if not more so,” Gottlieb observed, “was the attempt by Capitol Hill Democrats led by Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse to bully the high court by filing a brief to dismiss the case or face the possibility that Democrats would pack the court. How dare Whitehouse and his associates attempt such coercion. We’re proud of the Supreme Court justices for ignoring this threat to their independence as a separate branch of government.

“The Democrats’ political demagoguery obviously backfired, and rightly so,” he said. “It just might cost them in November 2020.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

Gun Control

Michigan: Conservation Officers Catch Swan Poachers

A complaint called in to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Report All Poaching hotline resulted in two brothers being ticketed for illegally killing a pair of trumpeter swans on Sept. 28 – the opening day of waterfowl hunting season in the Upper Peninsula.Trumpeter swans are state and federally protected waterfowl, meaning they are illegal to hunt.

Conservation Officer Cody Smith, who patrols Baraga County, was on waterfowl patrol when the tip was called in to the RAP hotline.

“I received a complaint that someone had shot multiple swans in the Sturgeon River sloughs,” Smith said.

Smith contacted his partner, Conservation Officer Doug Hermanson, who patrols Houghton County, to assist. The two conservation officers met at the Sturgeon River Sloughs Wildlife Area, located south of Chassell along U.S. 41.

Several groups of waterfowl hunters were in the area. Smith and Hermanson surveyed the area and identified the suspects reported to the RAP dispatcher – two brothers in their late 20s, from Houghton.

Smith and Hermanson conducted a routine waterfowl check and found one of the hunters in possession of lead shot. Lead shot is toxic when ingested and is illegal to use for hunting waterfowl.

“We asked the hunters if they had seen any geese, which they said they had not,” Smith said. “We spoke to them for a little bit and told them about the RAP complaint.”

Upon asking the hunters where the swans were, the brothers confessed they killed two trumpeter swans and stashed the birds where they dropped. Smith and Hermanson retrieved the swans and issued the poachers tickets for killing two trumpeter swans and possession of lead shot while waterfowl hunting. Read more

Poachers

Primary Arms “Glocktober” EDC Giveaway

First of Four-Week Glocktober EventEDC Build Valued at over $2000 in Parts and Upgrades

Exclusive Strike Industries Glock 17/19 Compensator Released

New Giveaways and Sales Announced Weekly

HOUSTON, TEXAS – Primary Arms has kicked off their Glocktober Seasonal Event with two major announcements. First, this October will feature 4 pistol giveaways inspired by the venerable Glock platform, beginning with a Polymer 80 EDC build. New giveaways will be announced each week, and each pistol will be specialized for a different application. Second, Primary Arms and Strike Industries have partnered for an exclusive Glock compensator that features a unique counterweight design.

The first of four pistol giveaways, the EDC Pistol giveaway centers around a compact, 9mm handgun built from a PFC9 serialized frame and Patriot Ordinance Factory Gen 3 milled slide. With high quality components from CMC Triggers, Tango Down, and Overwatch Precision, this carry-sized pistol makes few compromises. This pistol comes equipped with a Trijicon RM06 reflex already mounted and ready, bringing the total package value above $2000. Like other Primary Arms giveaways, entry is totally free, and no purchase is necessary. To enter, just visit the Giveaway Landing Page. Read more

Firearms
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