On-the-Ground volunteer efforts are making a big difference in habitat improvement

GW:  All I can think of when I see those logs is firewood.  And, I don’t care what kind of wood it is.

Rabbits and other small creatures will have some new homes at Fulton State Game Area now that a handful of volunteers – working on a Michigan-On-the-Ground program – spent a Saturday building brush piles at the Kalamazoo County site. The Michigan DNR and Michigan United Conservation Clubs have partnered to create Michigan On-the-Ground volunteer opportunities where people can work The program, a partnership between Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the Department of Natural Resources, recruits volunteers to help the DNR improve fish and wildlife habitat across the state. On-the-Ground has attracted the attention of sportsmen and others who want to help increase the productivity of state game areas, rivers and lakes.
Last Saturday, volunteers felled pre-selected trees to build lattices, which could be piled high with brush to provide nesting and escape cover for small game – like rabbits – and other critters. By noon, the crew had built 10 brush piles along the edge of an agriculture field on the area. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

Charity Navigator Downgrades HSUS

This from www.HumaneWatch.org

Whenever we point out that the independent watchdog CharityWatch gives the Humane Society of the United States a C-minus grade, HSUS usually retorts that it gets four stars (out of four) from Charity Navigator, a different evaluator. No more.

Today we learned Charity Navigator has downgraded HSUS from four stars to three. The reason? After we filed an IRS complaint against HSUS last fall, alleging that HSUS had improperly inflated its revenue for several years, HSUS filed amended tax returns. (Independent experts, such as CharityWatch and a Minnesota tax attorney, also thought HSUS was in the wrong.) Based on this amended data, Charity Navigator has revised its rating of HSUS and downgraded the group. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

NSSF Issues Statement on Facebook Firearms Policy

Facebook today acted to provide clarification to its policies on postings concerning firearms and agreed to provide educational messaging on its platform. We are in agreement that all applicable laws should be observed in the private transfer of firearms. We would have welcomed the opportunity to provide our industry’s perspective, however, and regret that we were not consulted. Facebook’s clarification will not affect the lawful commerce in firearm and ammunition products for NSSF members and their customers.

Ammunition, Firearms, Hunting, Self Defense

PETA Chastises Scout Leader over Game Cooking

The troop leader of the Navarra Boy Scout Troop located in Florida has come under scrutiny from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) after demonstrating how to clean and cook two rabbits during a 36-hour wilderness survival training lesson. James Gary received a letter from PETA expressing their disapproval after he posted a photo of his scouts holding a dead rabbit on his Facebook page. Read more

Animal Rights

Great Lakes Wolf Management in Judge’s Hands

Because there is no dispute that the wolf populations in the Great Lake states have met and exceeded all recovery goals, HSUS has advanced baseless legal theories that, if accepted, would make it extremely difficult to ever take any species off the lists of endangered or threatened species.

Over the last six months, the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF) has been hard at work defending against a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) seeking to return the recovered wolf population in the Great Lakes states to the Endangered Species List (ESA).  Just last week, USSAF submitted its last brief in the case and is now awaiting the judge’s decision. Read more

Animal Rights, Hunting, Wildlife

Save the Date – 2014 Demonstration Days for Mentored Youth Hunters

The Department of Natural Resources will once again offer Demonstration Days for mentored youth hunters at its shooting ranges in July and August. This fun event gives young hunters – and would-be hunters – an opportunity to shoot various firearms, crossbows and archery equipment. If you have children under 10, this is a great opportunity to familiarize them with firearms that are just their size.

The Demo Days events will be held: Read more

Firearms, Hunting

Michigan-caught Great Lakes muskellunge part of ‘best catches’ contest

The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) has compiled a list of what it considers to be the “best” record catches of the past year, which includes a World-record Great Lakes muskellunge from October 2012world-record Great Lakes muskellunge caught in Michigan.

The muskie is part of the IGFA’s 10 of the Best Catches of 2013 effort, which is now asking anglers to vote for their favorites. The voting contest launched on March 1 at www.igfa.org/contests/AnglersChoice. The catch that receives the most votes will receive the Angler’s Choice Award at the IGFA’s World Record Achievement Award ceremony in April. Read more

Wildlife

Idaho Completes Wolf Control with Helicopter

Fish and Game prefers to manage wolf populations using hunters and trappers and only authorizes control actions where harvest has been insufficient to meet management goals.

Idaho Fish and Game, in cooperation with the USDA Wildlife Services, has completed another wolf control action in northern Idaho’s Lolo elk zone near the Idaho/Montana border to improve poor elk survival in the area.

In February, Wildlife Services agents killed 23 wolves from a helicopter.  The action is consistent with Idaho’s predation management plan for the Lolo elk zone, where predation is the major reason elk population numbers are considerably below management objectives. Read more

Animal Rights, Wildlife
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