Category Archives: adminstration

Mass. Court Upholds Priority Habitat

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BOX TURTLE 2A central Massachusetts land owner sued for the right to build on his property without restriction, despite the fact that the land was deemed “priority habitat” for the state endangered Eastern box turtle. The case was first heard in court in 2009.

Last week the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against landowner, upholding the concept of priority habitat in the state. The landowner, however, did not argue that his land was not actually habitat for the turtle (although that is implied in the newspaper articles about the case), but that the Department of Fish and Game’s use of a “priority habitat” designation and rules was not found in the state’s endangered species law.

Because the legal case splits the difference between state law and agency regulations, the local newspaper’s coverage dives right in to all the hairsplitting details. There are many lessons here for state wildlife agencies regarding habitat designations for endangered species, although the big lesson seems to be if a rich guy wants to build his retirement home on endangered species habitat, expect a stink.

The tone of the articles favors the landowner, and it appears that many readers missed the point that the landowner has always been allowed to build on the land, but there are conditions he objects to. It also appears that the land was known box turtle habitat before the landowner purchased it.

The Springfield Republican article announcing last week’s verdict.
A past article by the Republican on the case.

Photo: Box turtle, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Ducks Unlimited Likes New Farm Bill

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“The 2014 Farm Bill is arguably one of the best agriculture conservation bills for sportsmen and ducks that we’ve seen in a long time,” said Ducks Unlimited (DU) CEO Dale Hall in a press release distributed yesterday.

Ducks Unlimited likes that the bill re-couples conservation compliance to crop insurance and preserves at least part of the important Sodsaver program. Though DU advocated for a national Sodsaver program, the release says, the final bill includes a regional program that will affect the nation’s top duck producing states of Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Read the rest of the DU press release on the 2014 Farm Bill, here.
Read other news about the Farm Bill, here and here.

NY Halts Hunting of Free-Range Boar

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feral swine pigletIn an attempt to stop the spread of free-range Eurasian boar, the State of New York has proposed to ban the public from hunting or trapping them. Public comments are open until January 25, 2014.

The press release says: “Hunters pursuing wild boars in locations where baited traps have been established by DEC or USDA can also undermine these costly and labor-intensive capture efforts. Shooting may remove one or two animals but the rest of the sounder [pack] scatters and rarely comes back together as a group, thereby hampering eradication efforts.”

In the press release, NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joseph Martens is quoted as saying, “Many hunters have offered to assist our efforts by hunting for boars wherever they occur, but experience has shown this to be counter-productive,” Martens said. “As long as swine may be pursued by hunters, there is a potential conflict with our swine eradication efforts.

Read the NYS DEC press release, here.

Photo: A feral swine piglet. By Steve Hillebrand, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Illinois Names Seven State Scientists

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Seven scientists have been appointed to be spokespeople for their scientific disciplines through the University of Illinois Prairie Research Institute. The state had previously had a state entomologist, a state geologist and a state climatologist, but now those positions and four others have been officially recognized by the state legislature.

The State Biologist is Brian D. Anderson, director of Illinois Natural History Survey, the Daily Illini says.

The most detailed report of the new, official positions comes from the Daily Illini, the independent student newspaper of the University of Illinois.
You can read the shorter, less informative Associated Press story on the WICS television news site, here.

US Fish and Wildlife Service Gov’t Shutdown News

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Because the federal government shutdown has shutdown not only the USFWS website, but all the DOI websites, here is the USFWS press release announcing its operations or lack there of during the shutdown:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Suspends Operations Due to Federal Government Lapse in Appropriations

Because of the shutdown of the federal government caused by the lapse in appropriations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will suspend most programs and operations, including public access to all National Wildlife Refuges and all activities on refuge lands including hunting and fishing.

“Closing off public access to our national wildlife refuges and public lands is the last thing we want to do, but is consistent with operations called for during a government shutdown” said Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Dan Ashe. “This is difficult news for the families, birdwatchers, hunters and anglers, and recreationists who enjoy the great outdoors on the refuges – as well as for the many local businesses who depend on the tourism and outdoor recreation economy they generate. I think it’s most difficult for the thousands of furloughed Service employees who are impacted in carrying out their mission to protect our nation’s resources and providing for their families.”

Main impacts to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from the lapse in appropriated funding include:

• All 561 National wildlife refuges are closed to public access. Visitor centers and other buildings are closed.

• The National Wildlife Refuge System hosts more than 46.5 million people per year, and generates more than $342 million in local, county, state and federal tax income. Refuges also support more than 35,000 private-sector jobs.

• All activities on federal lands and in public buildings are canceled. This includes hunting and fishing activities on refuge lands.

• No permitting work or consultations will occur with respect to the Endangered Species Act, Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, the Lacey Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.

• The shutdown will affect more than 7,000 Service employees, who are furloughed until an appropriation is passed.

• Employees and others may not volunteer their services on behalf of Service functions or on federal lands.

Services and programs that will remain operational fall into the following exempted categories:

• Programs financed by sources other than annual appropriations.
• Activities expressly authorized by law.
• Activities necessary to protect life and property.
• Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration and Sport Fish Restoration.
• Natural Resource Damage Assessment Fund activities
• Refuge Law Enforcement emergency operations
• Firefighting emergency operations
• Care and feeding activities at hatcheries and captive breeding facilities.

Because the website will not be maintained, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website will be down for the duration of the shutdown. Additional information will be available at www.DOI.gov/shutdown as well as at OPM.gov, which will contain information about the government’s operating status on Tuesday, Oct.1, 2013, and the days following.

What is National Wildlife Day?

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Today, September 4, is National Wildlife Day. I had never heard of it before, but a Nature Conservancy newsletter that arrived today happened to mention it. It’s been around since 2006.

According to the National Wildlife Day website, the day is brought to us by the Animal Miracle Network. And if you have never heard of that either, that’s because it’s a pet rescue organization. (I could not find any media on any of this that was not a rehash of a press release, or just a press release.)

Again, according to the website, animal advocate Colleen Paige, founder of the Animal Miracle Network, created the day in 2006 to honor Animal Planet star Steve Irwin and the zoos and animal sanctuaries that preserve endangered wildlife and educate the public about their plight.

The website says that National Wildlife Day aims to focus attention on the endangered animals that need to be preserved and rescued. (I would just quote the sentence from the website, but the website denies that use without prior permission, even though it would be “fair use,” under copyright law.) So you can kind of see the train of thought here: rescuing cats and dogs, rescuing wildlife.

Don’t get me wrong, I love zoos, respect their work, and honor the way they allow people to connect with animals. But if this is the point, how about calling it National Zoo Day?

A day devoted to the idea that keeping endangered wildlife captive is a way to protect it is worrisome. This, of course, is just one tool, and a last-ditch one, in a very large toolbox. It feels like the guiding spirit here is the pet-ification of wildlife (my clues are the photos of the founder hugging a wolf and kissing a bear), although it may be simply retro, or even deliberately choosing to focus on this tiny piece of the conservation puzzle even though it’s not the dominant technique.

National Wildlife Day is doing its best to control the message that goes out under its name, which is really too bad. Who can argue against a day to recognize wildlife, except, as is the case, if it focuses on one tiny aspect of wildlife — endangered species — and just one of many techniques for helping those species. As far as I know, it’s not an official day, of the sort recognized by Congress or a state legislature.

In fact, National Wildlife Day didn’t make the “Days of the Year” website (which is just a random website, and is also not official), but the much more mainstream Endangered Species Day (May 16, 2014 — mark your calendars) did.

Read a press release about National Wildlife Day from Garold Wayne Interactive Zoological Park in Wynnewood, Oklahoma on the EIN News site, here.

The Nation’s Strangest Wildlife Laws

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In Georgia, you may not keep a garter snake as a pet, but you can own a rattlesnake, says Whit Gibbons, an ecologist and environmental educator with the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, in a column in the Aiken (Georgia) Standard.

The poisonous snake exception to Georgia’s law prohibiting the ownership of native snakes and reptiles is probably the weirdest law in Gibbons’ round-up, which includes the fact that frogs are regulated as fish in Alaska and that you may hunt frogs with a dog in Kansas. (Frogs, you know, are both funny and hard to legislate, so lots of frog laws make the list.)

I appreciate Gibbons’ list for its intelligence and wit, but I suspect that the regs he lists are not the nation’s weirdest wildlife laws. Does your state have a weird wildlife law? Do you know of one in another state? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Read the column here.

Whitney Named Georgia Wildlife Assistant Director

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MarkWhitney2013According to a Georgia Department of Natural Resources press release:

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division recently appointed Mark Whitney as Assistant Director. He assumes the position left vacant by Terry West, who recently was promoted to DNR Administrative Services Director.

Mark Whitney began working for the agency in 1997 as a wildlife biologist. He most recently held the position of chief of the Game Management Section. His work career included serving as a game management region supervisor in Northeast Georgia and program manager of the Private Lands Program. He has a master’s degree in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia. Whitney lives in Covington with his wife, Shawn.

More info on the position and on Whitney can be found in the press release, here.

Photo: Mark Whitney, courtesy Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division

Wisconsin Nongame Program Changes Name

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Wisc DNRAfter 40 years as the Wisconsin Bureau of Endangered Resources, the program charged with caring for that state’s endangered resources is now known as the Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation. The change took place on July 1.

“Our name has changed but our mission is the same,” says Erin Crain, who took over in October 2012 as bureau director, in a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources press release. However, the same press release mentions changes in organization and budget with the goal of filling long-standing vacancies in field positions.

Read the entire press release from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, here.

Round-up of New Hamphire Nongame Programs

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nh logoThe N.H. Fish and Game’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. From a department press release, here are some of the projects that the program is involved with:

“KIDS FOR KARNERS” started in 2000 as a way to engage area school children in the Karner blue butterfly and Concord Pine Barrens project. Every winter, biologists go into classrooms where they talk to kids from pre-K through high school about the project. The students then plant wild lupine seeds and take care of the plants until May when they come to the Concord Pine Barrens to plant their wild lupine plants. Learn more at http://www.wildnh.com/Wildlife/Nongame/projects/karner_project.html.

PROJECT OSPREY: Fish and Game’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program joined forces with Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) and New Hampshire Audubon to work toward a full recovery of the state-threatened bird of prey by the end of 2005. Learn more at http://www.wildnh.com/Wildlife/Nongame/project_osprey.htm.

NH DRAGONFLY SURVEY started in 2007 as a partnership of NH Audubon, NH Fish and Game, and University of New Hamphire Cooperative Extension. Its goal is to gain a better understanding of the distribution of dragonfly species of conservation concern in New Hampshire. In the first four years of the project, over 200 people attended workshops intended to train volunteers in dragonfly biology and data collection methods. Learn more at http://www.wildnh.com/Wildlife/Nongame/dragonflies.html.

REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN REPORTING PROGRAM (RAARP) encourages volunteers to report sightings of reptiles and amphibians from spring peepers to snapping turtles. These reports are extremely valuable to biologists. Observations are used to determine the distribution of reptiles and amphibians within New Hampshire. Verified reports of rare species locations are mapped and stored in a database used for land protection and conservation purposes. Learn more at http://www.wildnh.com/Wildlife/Nongame/reptiles_amphibians.htm.

TAKING ACTION FOR WILDLIFE is a collaboration between the NH Fish and Game Department and University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension to help communities, conservation groups and landowners conserve wildlife and habitats in New Hampshire. The website contains many resources that can help you get involved in efforts to protect, restore and learn about wildlife and habitats. Visit http://extension.unh.edu/fwt/tafw/index.htm.

See more projects at http://www.wildnh.com/nongame.
Read an article in NH Wildlife Journal about 25 years of nongame programs, here.