Thousands of Birds Dead After Suspected Avian Botulism Outbreak; What Waterfowl Hunters Should Know

After a recent suspected avian botulism outbreak killed thousands of birds in northern Utah, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is providing some safety reminders for waterfowl hunters this fall.

DWR biologists first discovered dead and sick birds in mid-September in the Willard Spur and Harold Crane waterfowl management areas. Many birds have been collected and submitted for disease testing. The birds tested negative for highly pathogenic avian influenza. (Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza have decreased in Utah this year.) While final test results are still pending, biologists suspect the birds died of avian botulism.

Avian botulism is a paralytic, often fatal, disease of birds that results from the ingestion of a toxin produced by a bacteria, Clostridium botulinum. The toxin is produced under certain environmental conditions in the summer and fall when there are low oxygen levels and warm water temperatures. Botulism mainly occurs in stagnant pools where there is no water flowing, and sick and dead birds are most often found along the shoreline.

Waterfowl, gulls and shorebirds are the bird species most often affected by avian botulism. Signs of avian botulism include the inability for a bird to hold its head up and a bird flapping its wings, but not having the strength to take off.

Avian botulism occurs almost yearly in Utah — typically between July and September — particularly during periods when the weather is really hot and after periods of rainfall. Those conditions often create stagnant pools of water that hold and grow the anaerobic bacteria that causes avian botulism. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife

USDA Forest Service Christmas Tree Permits Available Online through Recreation.gov

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is selling Christmas Tree permits through Recreation.gov, which makes it more convenient for visitors to find and purchase permits to cut holiday trees from their favorite national forest. Permits will be available beginning on October 12, and sale dates may vary by national forest.

“Venturing into a local national forest to find that special tree is an experience that creates treasured family memories and stories,” said USDA Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “It is through these experiences that people establish important connections to the forest that can lead to a lifetime of adventures and instill a commitment to stewardship.”

Marcina B. expressed their gratitude when visiting the Tahoe National Forest in California: “Our family loves getting Christmas tree permits and cutting down our own tree. Thank you for making this possible and allowing me and my family some unforgettable memories.” Read more

Wildlife

CCRKBA Files Amicus In SCOTUS Gun Rights Case

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Prof. William English, Ph.D., have submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in a Texas case challenging a federal law which denies Second Amendment rights to all people who may be subject to domestic violence restraining orders.

English is a political economist and assistant professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. He has held teaching and research positions at Brown University and Harvard University before joining the faculty of Georgetown. In 2021, English conducted the largest-ever nationally representative survey of firearms owners, which estimated how frequently firearms are used for self-defense. The National Firearms Survey was the subject of an amicus brief submitted in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen.

CCRKBA is not a party to the case, known as United States v. Rahimi. The amicus brief was submitted by attorneys Craig L. Uhrich and Serge Krimnus at Bochner PLLC in New York.

As noted in the brief, Domestic Violence Restraining Orders (“DVROs”), such as the one at issue in this case, are a relatively recent addition to the American legal landscape. The standards for obtaining DVROs vary by jurisdiction, and multiple studies have shown that such orders are widely abused, often in an effort by a party to obtain a tactical advantage during divorce and child custody cases. Though DVROs are often part of the legal process in such cases, the empirical evidence that restrictions on firearms ownership accompanying such orders are effective at preventing domestic violence is weak. The federal statute is known as § 922(g)(8). Read more

Gun Control

EGLE Extension Granted to DNR to Develop Safe Drinking Water Source in Ontonagon County’s Greenland Township

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy has granted a 1-year extension to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to comply with terms of a violation notice issued late last year.

“This will allow the Department of Natural Resources to work with the availability of the well driller and to account for the upcoming snow and frost seasons that will soon set in,” said Eric J. Oswald, director of EGLE’s Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division in a Sept. 25 letter to the DNR. “…EGLE will continue to work with the DNR and Greenland Township to ensure this process moves forward and residents of the area are provided with a safe new water source.”

At issue is an informal drinking spigot located along the Bill Nichols Rail-Trail that has been used for decades for drinking water and other uses by locals and passersby.

Last year, EGLE said the water could not be considered safe unless the source of the water could be located and inspected. There is a sign posted at the spigot warning the public not to drink the water. Read more

General

POMA Announces New Executive Director

GW: Welcome aboard, sir. Sure can’t hold it against you for being a Buckeye
.
The Professional Outdoor Media Association is thrilled to announce its new Executive Director, Robert Sexton! He began October 1, 2023.

“Members of the Outdoor Media are the essential ambassadors of our great outdoor heritage, fostering interest in hunting, fishing and the shooting sports, while providing a window to our way of life to the general public. I’m proud to serve them in building a strong POMA to support their important work,” said Rob Sexton.

Rob is one of the most seasoned non-profit consultants and issues management professionals in the country. Following early training working for the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives and a key committee chairman, Rob joined the staff of the Sportsmen’s Alliance in 1995. Over the next 17 years he rose through the ranks to Senior Vice President, responsible for federal and state legislation, litigation and ballot issues as well as forging strategic partnerships for the organization.

In 2012 Rob launched RTS Strategies, and works as a consultant for non-profit organizations, with a specific focus on executive management and public policy on behalf of organizations related to hunting, fishing, firearms, and the shooting sports. Clients of RTS Strategies have included the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Sportsmen’s Alliance, Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, American Kennel Club, and more.

Rob is a 1990 graduate of The Ohio State University. He and his wife Beth have been married for 30 years and have four grown children and two grandchildren. An avid hunter and angler, Rob enjoys fishing on Lake Erie and hunting wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, pheasant, quail and doves, along with shooting sporting clays when time permits.

Ammunition, Archery, Cutlery, Firearms, Fishing, Hunting, Wildlife

Michigan DNR Asks Anglers to Report Marked Splake

Many anglers say fall fishing for splake on Lake Superior is an experience unparalleled anywhere else in Michigan. When temperatures begin to drop and leaves start to turn, the splake bite picks up as the fish move nearshore.

Splake – a hybrid cross between lake trout and brook trout – have been stocked in Lake Superior most years since 1971, with annual stocking since 1990.

Marked splake have been central to that stocking effort since 2021, as part of an evaluation study. At the Marquette State Fish Hatchery in Michigan’s central Upper Peninsula, staff from the DNR’s Lake Superior and Northern Lake Michigan management units, as well as field staff from across the state, put in long hours carefully marking the splake by hand.

These fish are then stocked in the spring at three Lake Superior ports: Copper Harbor, Keweenaw Bay and Munising. Splake stocked at each port are given a unique mark or fin clip consisting of a single fin or a paired clip, which has two fins. The goal is to create nearshore fishing opportunities in the smaller bays of Lake Superior, where some fisheries are available year-round. Read more

Fishing

SAF Submits SCOTUS Amicus Brief in Texas Gun Rights Case

The Second Amendment Foundation has submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in a complicated case known as United States v. Rahimi challenging a civil restraining order disarmament provision. The brief relies on last year’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen to argue that the total disarmament is not analogous to the Founding era regulations, calling into question the constitutionality of such provisions.

SAF’s interest in this case is based on the fact that many firearms owners in this country suddenly find themselves subject to civil restraining orders, which deny them their fundamental constitutional right to keep and bear arms in a manner that does not comport with the Second Amendment’s text, as informed by history.

“As our brief explains,” noted SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut, “laws mandating total disarmament, in the relevant historical period, were related to disarming loyalists to preserve the integrity of our newly-formed government. The current federal law governing how gun owners’ rights are treated in relation to civil restraining orders lacks any well-established historical analogue.” Read more

Gun Control

NSSF-Adjusted NICS Background Checks for September 2023

The September 2023 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 1,141,847 is a decrease of 8.2 percent compared to the September 2022 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,243,687.

For comparison, the unadjusted September 2023 FBI NICS figure 2,035,410 reflects a -16.5% percent decrease from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,437,563 in September 2022. September 2023 marks the 50th month in a row that has exceeded 1 million adjusted background checks in a single month. Read more

Firearms

Women’s Duck Hunt in Central Michigan

Saturday, Oct. 28

6-11 a.m.

Near Flint

The Safari Club International Flint Chapter will present this event, for women only.

The hunt will be within approximately a one-hour drive of Flint, with the location announced the week of the event. Phone number for communication is required for registration.

Cost is $200. Hunters need to bring their own guns and shells and have proper hunting licenses and gear prior to arriving at the event.

For questions, contact Karly B. at 810-869-9412 or safariclub.flint@gmail.com.

Register for Women’s Duck Hunt.

Hunting
1 … 402 403 404 405 406 … 2,056