Michigan: Conversations & Coffee with DNR fisheries staff scheduled throughout state

Those interested in discussing local and statewide fisheries management activities with Michigan Department of Natural Resources staff are encouraged to stop by one of several upcoming “Conversations & Coffee” events taking place around the state this spring.

The DNR Fisheries Division has hosted “Conversations & Coffee” the past few years to give people an opportunity to meet with managers and biologists, discuss local issues and management activities, and get specific questions answered. These meetings are extremely informal; at many of the meetings no formal presentations will be made.

Information on local and statewide regulation changes affecting anglers also will be made available at these meetings. Refreshments will be provided.

Meeting dates, times and locations include: Read more

Fishing

Zinke Announces More than $1.1 Billion for Sportsmen and Conservation

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

This year marks $20 billion in hunter and angler conservation funding

HORICON, WI – Yesterday U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke traveled to Horicon, Wisconsin, where he announced more than $1.1 billion in annual national funding for state wildlife agencies from revenues generated by the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration and Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration (PRDJ) acts. The Secretary presented a ceremonial check to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for $34,966,603 while visiting the Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area. State-by-state listings of the final Fiscal Year 2018 apportionments of Wildlife Restoration Program fund can be found here and the Sport Fish Restoration Program fund here. Allocations of the funds are authorized by Congress. To date, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has distributed more than $20.2 billion in apportionments for state conservation and recreation projects.

“American sportsmen and women are some of our best conservationists and they contribute billions of dollars toward wildlife conservation and sportsmen access every year through the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson Acts,” said Secretary Zinke. “For nearly eighty years, states have been able to fund important conservation initiatives thanks to the more than $20 billion that has generated nationwide. Every time a firearm, fishing pole, hook, bullet, motor boat or boat fuel is sold, part of that cost goes to fund conservation. The best way to increase funding for conservation and sportsmen access is to increase the number of hunters and anglers in our woods and waters. The American conservation model has been replicated all over the world because it works.” Read more

Fishing, Hunting

Meopta USA Introduces the TGA 75 Collapsible Spotting Scope

TAMPA, FL – Meopta USA introduces the TGA 75 collapsible spotting scope.  Engineered for hunters, the classic draw-tube design of this rugged spotting scope allows the length to be shorten from 14.8 inches when fully extended to 9.8 inches when collapsed, making it easier to carry.  Featuring a 75mm objective lens, the fully-multi coated, premium-grade optics ensure superior light transmission and edge-to-edge clarity across the entire field of view while Meopta’s proprietary MeoShieldTM coating protects external lens surfaces from abrasions and scratches.

The TGA 75 has a fully-rubber-armored, lightweight aluminum body built to withstand use in the toughest terrain and is available with three interchangeable eyepieces: 30x WA-R (wide angle ranging), 30x WA (wide angle) or 20-60x zoom. Read more

Optics

eKrest Electronic Muffs from Birchwood Casey

The new eKrest™ Electronic Muffs from Birchwood Casey® provide outstanding hearing protection for shooters, while allowing them to hear and even amplify sounds around them.

Birchwood Casey’s eKrest Electronic Muffs attenuate all sounds above 85dB and have an ANSI Noise Reduction Rating of 26dB. They come with an on/off switch with volume control for easy sound amplification and have an LED power indicator light. Two omni-directional microphones ensure users hear everything that is going on around them.

The eKrest Electronic Muffs feature an adjustable padded headband, auxiliary input jack with cord and use two AAA batteries (included). The muffs come in both carbon fiber and desert tan finishes and sell for a retail price of $64.50. Read more

Firearms

Carefully monitored burns will improve wildlife habitat

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today will conduct two prescribed burns totaling 68 acres in Allegan County (Clyde Township). The burns will restore cool-season grasses for birds, reduce thatch and make the ground more fertile for planting food plots in spring.

Prescribed burns are one way the DNR keeps lands and forests healthy. The burns are planned to achieve specific objectives – oftentimes simulating the benefits of natural fires. The burns are conducted by highly trained DNR personnel in designated state-managed areas during appropriate weather conditions and in cooperation with the proper authorities and local units of government. Public safety is a top priority during all prescribed burns.

In addition to enhancing wildlife habitat, prescribed burns are used to:

    • Help with forest regeneration.
    • Restore and maintain native plant life.
    • Control invasive plant species.
    • Reduce the risk of wildfires.

Read more

Wildlife

Researchers to Deploy Wall of Sound to Battle Invasive Fish

Three-year study aims to slow movement of Asian carp

 FRANKFORT, KY  — Researchers will experiment with a riverbed bubbler and sound system as part of the ongoing effort to slow the spread of Asian carp throughout the Mississippi River basin.

European technology originally designed to steer migrating salmon back into main river channels will be tested below Barkley Dam in western Kentucky as an environmentally friendly way to block passage of Asian carp upstream.

The Bio-Acoustic Fish Fence (BAFF) creates a curtain of bubbles, and in conjunction with a powerful sound signal, produces an underwater “wall of sound” designed to deter the passage of fish.

Fish Guidance Systems, LTD, a company based in the United Kingdom, invented the device to herd migrating fish around water intakes and dams in Europe. The company describes the fence as a behavioral barrier that requires less maintenance than a physical barrier, such as a screen or an electrical barrier. Read more

Fishing

Michigan: DNR awards $515,000 in local funding for projects along Iron Belle Trail

Nearly 30 projects spread across 18 different counties will share $515,000 in local funding to push forward trail enhancement projects and connections along Michigan’s Iron Belle Trail.

In an effort to leverage funding to advance progress toward completion of this statewide trail, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has awarded $515,000 in local funding to 28 communities to help develop and enhance it.

Funded projects were eligible to receive up to $30,000 for trail enhancement projects including feasibility studies, preliminary construction, engineering of new trail segments, signage for trail segments and trailheads, environmental impact studies and other uses. For this round of funding, the DNR received 56 applications. Read more

Wildlife

Kent Cartridge Adds New Elite Bio-Fiber Loads

Due to the increasing demand from consumers for fiber wad loads, Kent® Cartridge has added a new line of products to their extensive lineup with the addition of three new Elite Bio-Fiber™ shotshell offerings.

Elite Bio-Fiber shotshells are available for both target and hunting applications. Twelve and 20 gauge loads are available using proprietary Diamond Shot® technology. There are two loads in 12 gauge with Bismuth shot for waterfowl hunters, or anywhere non-toxic shot is required. Bio-Fiber™ lead and Bismuth shells use a biodegradable powder cap and fiber driving wad below the shot charge. Read more

Ammunition

SAF: Seattle Gun Tax Revenue Falls, Fails

BELLEVUE, WA. – Seattle’s “gun violence tax” revenue has once again failed to meet predictions, demonstrating once again that this was really a thinly disguised gun control scheme that was sold to the public as an effort to reduce so-called “gun violence,” the Second Amendment Foundation said today.
Figures released by the city under a Public Records Act request by the senior editor of SAF’s monthly magazine TheGunMag.com show the city collected $93,220.74 last year, a decline of nearly $10,000 from the amount collected in 2016 and far below the $300,000 to $500,000 revenue originally predicted by its proponents on the Seattle City Council when the tax was hastily passed almost three years ago.
“Once again,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “Seattle’s pie-in-the-sky gun tax revenue forecast has been proven to be a complete failure, essentially like other gun control fantasies. The revenue data only reinforces our claim in a lawsuit against the tax that this was a gun control scheme to drive firearm sales and gun stores out of the city, which it obviously did.

Read more

Gun Control
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