Outdoor commentary and legislative issues.
Gypsy moth infestation, age and drought have contributed to trees’ deterioration
To stimulate new forest growth and remove stressed and dying trees, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is preparing to harvest oak trees on nearly 2,000 acres of state-managed land in the southeast portion of Kalkaska County. These trees have suffered from two years of a gypsy moth infestation, drought and old age.
The DNR conducts yearly flights to monitor forest disturbances and has documented two subsequent years of severe defoliation (leaves being chewed off the tree) on many of the affected stands.
“A healthy tree can usually withstand one defoliation, but two in a row, combined with a couple of very dry summers, was just too stressful for the older, less vigorous trees to handle,” said Kelly Standerfer, a forester who works out of the Kalkaska DNR field office.
Many of these older oak-dominated stands are the result of wide-scale timbering and the uncontrolled wildfires that raged through the sandy landscape in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Oak was one of a few tree species that benefited from the fires and was able to sprout where other trees and plants once had grown. These oak stands now are susceptible to disease outbreaks like gypsy moth and two-lined chestnut borer because of their age and stand uniformity.
“We need to remove the current trees in order to stimulate new growth and remove highly hazardous trees that are susceptible to disease and windfall – making them a risk to those who are out enjoying our natural resources,” said Bill Sterrett, DNR district forest supervisor. “The DNR also wants to move quickly to salvage the wood while it is still economically valuable. We feel a closely supervised timber harvest is the best way to accomplish that. Read more
Note: The Carry Comp barrel upgrade is also available on any 4″ barreled 9mm or .45ACP Wilson Combat pistol. Read more
Port Clinton, OH – An effective decoy spread has many elements that combine to make it that way. Decoys need to be placed in an overall configuration that appears natural to passing waterfowl, and in an appealing location as well. Read more
CEDAR RAPIDS — Iowa’s State Forest Nursery is in need of walnuts to propagate walnut seedlings this coming year, and is offering $2.50 per bushel.
A Cedar Rapids area buying station is set up temporarily to accommodate residents in east-central Iowa. Residents have two options. Beginning Sept. 28, baskets will be available at Squaw Creek Park to donate walnuts during park hours. For those who would like to be paid, a nursery employee will be on site each Wednesday (Sept 28, Oct 5, Oct 12) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to pay for the nuts. Squaw Creek Park is located at the intersections of Highway 100 and Highway 13. The drop-off site will be at the maintenance shop located at 4351 Squaw Lane in Marion. Read more
Popular CMP Games events being featured during the Western Games include the Garand, Springfield, Vintage Military, Modern Military, Rimfire Sporter, Carbine and Vintage Sniper matches. A CMP Games Match Clinic will also be held to give competitors a more in-depth look at these challenging events. Read more
GW: Nothing new here…
The Humane Society of the United States isn’t affiliated with local humane societies, doesn’t run any pet shelters, and only gives 1% of the money it raises to local pet shelters to help them care for animals, according to its tax returns. We’ve seen many local humane societies try to clear up this confusion—but they don’t have a marketing budget of $50 million like HSUS, so it’s a tall task. Just look at one incident in Oklahoma last week—a state where the attorney general has clashed with HSUS.
According to Fox25, solicitors were going door to door raising money under false pretenses, a situation that prompted the Central Oklahoma Humane Society to speak out:
There’s a warning about door-to-door solicitors. A person or people claiming to be with the Humane Society are collecting money under false pretenses, the Central Oklahoma Humane Society told FOX 25. […]
Solicitors said they were collecting money for a behavioral program to help make dogs and cats more adoptable.
A number of concerned citizens called the Central Oklahoma Humane Society—which is no surprise, since many people assume that it would be related to HSUS. It isn’t, but HSUS is happy to collect money from an unknowing public.
At the time of the original report, HSUS denied involvement. But its tune changed in a follow-up story, and a spokeswoman tried to blame improper training of the solicitors.
What’s troubling is that—once again—HSUS goes to the well by raising money with cats and dogs, even though HSUS is ultimately more concerned with a PETA-like agenda to stop the use of animals for food. It’s unclear what “behavioral program” the HSUS solicitors were claiming the money would support; HSUS doesn’t run a single pet shelter. We suspect a lot of money collected would simply go to paying the solicitors.
An increased amount of training won’t change the underlying problems with HSUS: Deceptive fundraising that preys on name confusion between HSUS and local humane societies that do good work.