Wild cougar traveled east 1,500 miles, tests find

From The Wildlife Society NewsBrief

The New York Times    Share   
A mountain lion in Connecticut was found to have made its way east from the Black Hills of South Dakota. That means that the animal traveled more than 1,500 miles, more than twice as far as the longest dispersal pattern ever recorded for a mountain lion. The news stunned researchers trying to make sense of the first confirmed presence of the species in Connecticut in more than a century. More

DOI and Wyoming Close to Agreement on Wolf Delisting

From The Wildlife Society Policy News:

Discussion is underway between Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the Governor of Wyoming, Matt Mead (R), concerning the delisting of the gray wolf. The management plan for Wyoming will ensure a population of 100 wolves with 10 breeding pairs, and will protect wolves in a zone surrounding Yellowstone where they will be considered trophy game and only be hunted by licensed hunters, although it would allow a reduction of the state’s wolf population by as much as two-thirds.

 

Source: E&E Publishing, LLC (E&E News PM).

Fish, wildlife groups criticize proposed budget cuts

From The Wildlife Society news updates:

The Salt Lake Tribune    Share   
A Republican budget proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives that would eliminate or drastically reduce several major fish and wildlife programs has conservation organizations from around the country fighting mad. The proposal in HR1 would affect the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grant Program, the State and Tribal Wildlife Grant Program, agricultural conservation programs and portions of the Clean Water Act. More

Agreement Reached to Delist Gray Wolf in MT and ID

From The Wildlife Society Policy News:

On 18 March 2011, the Department of Interior (DOI) announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with environmental groups that, if approved by the court, would pave a path to return state management of recovered gray wolf populations in Montana and Idaho while the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) considers the full delisting of gray wolves in the Rocky Mountain region. The agreement comes after 10 plaintiffs sued FWS regarding the 2010 reinstatement of Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. The 2010 restoration of ESA protections was a decision made by a Federal District Court judge who ruled that the species could not be state managed in Montana and Idaho but under federal protection in Wyoming, following a 2009 delisting of the species in the northern Rocky Mountains.

Tracy Brooks/USFWS

The settlement requires that the DOI review the status of the gray wolf within four years via an independent scientific assessment and address future delisting of wolves in the region as a distinct population segment, not on a state-by-state basis. The plaintiffs have requested that the 2009 delisting be reinstated in the two states on an interim basis and agree not to challenge a regional delisting plan for five years, as long as populations are managed sustainably under approved state management plans. Federal protection would remain in Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, and negotiations will continue between FWS and Wyoming until an agreement is made on a management plan that provides sufficient protections to wolves, should they be delisted within the state. Four plaintiff groups did not agree to the settlement and are therefore not subject to litigation constraints. The judge is expected to make a decision about the agreement soon.
Sources: E&E Publishing, LLC (Greenwire, E&E News PM), Department of Interior.

The Wildlife Society weighs in on wildlife giveaway in VT

The following is from The Wildlife Society on the violation of the state's role as trustee of Vermont's wildlife. They urge everyone to write to their legislature and ask for a repeal of Sec. E.702.1 TRANSFER OF REGULATORY OVERSIGHT AND SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FACILITY AND HERD MANAGEMENT in the 2010 Appropriations bill.  Find contact information for your senators and representative here. http://www.leg.state.vt.us/legdir/legdir2.htm

For immediate release: June 02, 2010
TWS Contact: Jenna Jadin (301) 897‐9770 x 309; jenna@wildlife.org

The Wildlife Society Sends Letter to Vermont Legislature Concerns Regarding Recent Bill Transferring Wildlife to Private Owner Statement recommends repeal of bill and return of wildlife to people of Vermont

The Wildlife Society (TWS) recently wrote to Vermont State Legislators in opposition to language in the state’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 appropriations bill (H.789). The problematic language allows for the transfer of publicly‐owned wildlife to the possession of a private businessman. The letter calls for a repeal of the section of the bill containing this language and the restoration of Vermont’s wildlife to its rightful owners, the public.
In the recently‐completed FY 2011 appropriations bill, legislators quietly included language which transfers ownership of illegally‐captured wild deer and moose to a private individual, Mr. Doug Nelson, and gives the Secretary of Agriculture, Food, and Markets sole authority over hunting within his 700 acre enclosure. On the surface, the language sets forth some regulations to protect native deer and moose populations from diseases carried by elk by creating a “special purpose herd,” however, this is hardly the underlying function of the language.
The language is a problem for multiple reasons, first of which is that taking wildlife out of the public domain and allowing it to be privately owned violates all precedent for wildlife management in the United States. As it is, this language amounts to little more than a license for Mr. Nelson to profit from Vermont’s publicly‐owned wildlife. Also a problem is that the language was quietly added without the benefit of a public hearing, opportunity for expert testimony, or engagement of the Fish and Wildlife Department or any conservation or sportsmen groups.
Michael Hutchins, Executive Director and CEO of The Wildlife Society said that "Wildlife is held in trust for all Americans; any legislation which threatens this long‐held tradition must be opposed, as it harkens back to the European aristocracy and is an anathema to the egalitarian ideals on which our country was founded."
TWS opposes private ownership of native wildlife because of the harm it causes to wildlife resources and long‐standing public values. All of the public should have an opportunity to access these resources for purposes such as fishing, hunting, trapping, and wildlife photography and observation, not just a wealthy, privileged few. These recent actions by the Vermont legislature will serve to undermine the foundation of wildlife management in North America by giving the public’s wildlife resources to an individual for his personal private gain. TWS urges people to write to their legislators to repeal this language and ensure that publicly‐owned natural resources are never used for personal gain.
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Founded in 1937, The Wildlife Society (TWS) is an international non‐profit association made up of more than 9,000 professionals dedicated to excellence in wildlife stewardship through science and education. The mission of TWS is to represent and serve the professional community of scientists, managers,educators, technicians, planners, and others who work to study, manage, and conserve wildlife and their habitats worldwide.

Call to Reform of Wildlife Conservation

 The following is from The Wildlife Society Blog  Making Tracks  John Organ is a board member of Orion. I am on the steering committee for The Vermont Wildlife Partnership, a coalition of hunting, conservation, environmental and business groups is working for broad based, adequate and sustainable funding for the VT Fish and Wildlife Dept.

 

A Call for Reform

February 24th, 2010

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Writing in The Journal of Wildlife Management this month, Cynthia Jacobson, John Organ, Dan Decker, and other leaders in the wildlife field argue that,”The wildlife conservation institution needs to reform to maintain legitimacy and relevancy in the 21st century.”
To be sure, times have changed since the tenets of wildlife conservation were established in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, hunters and anglers–upon whom state wildlife agencies depend for financing–aren’t as numerous. Other stakeholder groups have legitimate interests in managing and maintaining wildlife populations. Wildlife habitat is giving way to development. Myriad federal and state laws and policies now regulate how we study, manage, and conserve animals and populations.
Because of these and other changes, the authors suggest four considerations for reform:

1) funding should be broad-based (not relying primarily on proceeds from hunting license and gun sales),

2) agencies should be governed by trustees (rather than depend on a revolving door of directors),
3) science should provide the basis for professional recommendations (politics should not), and
4) a wide range of stakeholders and partners should play a role in the institution (not just those interested in consumptive use of wildlife).
Read the article to learn more about the authors’ views. Do you think wildlife conservation needs to undergo reform? If so, how should we proceed?

Obama Administration Links Hunting and Conservation

From Making Tracks, The Wildlife Society Blog:

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack have announced the creation of a special advisory committee, the Wildife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council. Secretary Salazar stated: “Theodore Roosevelt understood the vital role that hunting plays in American life, as well as the importance of protecting lands and wildlife to sustain that tradition…The early efforts of America’s hunters and anglers to preserve our nation’s wildlife heritage fueled the modern conservation movement and left us the natural bounty we are now entrusted with protecting.”

Having been to two direct meetings with Secretary Salazar in the past few weeks, I believe that he is sincere in his support of wildlife and habitat conservation, and in his dedication to and support of America’s sportsmen and women. It is clear that he believes that conservation should be a non-partisan issue that appeals to politicians on both sides of the aisle. In that, he is very much in line with TWS’ core policies and beliefs. TWS is currently working on technical reports on the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and the Public Trust Doctrine and is also planning on developing a supplemental issue of The Wildife Professional focused on the role of hunting in wildlife and habitat conservation.

TWS has also, in the best Leopoldian tradition, challenged some aspects of modern hunting, based on science, including some aspects of baiting and feeding, and the use of lead ammunition. It is currently working on a technical report on predator control to artificially augment ungulate populations.

Strengthening North America’s proud hunting heritage will not only involve promotion of the rich tradition, but also its ethics and conservation role. Modern hunting practices should be compatible with conservation, animal welfare, ecological principles, and ethics of fair chase. However, hunting has become critical in controlling numbers of some over-abundant species, such as deer and snow geese and destructive invasive species, such as nutria and feral pigs. Perhaps most important is its role as a source of essential funding to support conservation of both game and non-game species, especially at the state and provincial level.

And the Oscar goes to…..Aldo Leopold?!?

From the Wildife Society Blog

And the Oscar goes to…..Aldo Leopold?!?
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Yesterday at 11:41am

The Guardian describes China’s chic approach to make wildlife conservation more appealing. The lavish ceremony, complete with Chinese celebrities, prizes and Oscar-style glitz, was held again this year to honor wildlife heroes by escalating them to celebrity status. Although China has more nature reserves than any other country, they can’t compete with the ever-rising markets for endangered species. The goal of The Second China Border Wildlife Conservation Awards Ceremony was to highlight the federal employees such as the border patrol and customs police who risk their lives tracking down armed smugglers and confiscating contraband animal products. In America, we might not need to concentrate as much on tackling wildlife smugglers, but we still need to fight for publicity for the thousands of endangered species, of which only a small fraction are protected under the Endangered Species Act. I’m not sure if China’s celebrity approach will, in fact, reach a wider audience and consequently transform people’s actions but I can guarantee it’s a better strategy than posing nude (for animal rights…so they say) and becoming spokesmen for environmental issues, which they have no credibility or knowledge of, as American celebrities tend to do.

Read full story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/26/china-endangered-species-oscars

Aiming for Future Growth for Hunters and Conservation

Published in The Wildlife Society Professional, Summer 2009 edition

Aiming for Future Growth – By Eric C. Nuse

The Future of Hunting and the Shooting Sports: Research-Based Recruitment and Retention Strategies, Responsive Management and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, 2008. 261 pages

At last under one cover are the results of most of the recent scientific studies and surveys looking at recruitment and retention of hunters and shooters in the U.S. Studies included range from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Census National Survey of Fish, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation to Responsive Management’s Attitudes Toward and Participation in Youth Hunting Weekends in Vermont. It also includes the results of two series of nationwide focus groups and two major scientific telephone surveys.
Lead researcher Mark Damian Duda states, “The purpose of this project is to better understand the factors related to hunting and sport shooting participation, identify strategies to better meet the needs of current and potential participants, and more effectively communicate to the public about these activities.” The book is organized into 9 chapters covering the following broad topics: participation, demographic trends, initiation and recruitment, motivations and satisfactions, target markets, recruitment programs, public opinion, and implications and action items.
As president of Orion-The Hunter’s Institute and actively involved in hunter recruitment and retention efforts, I found this book’s primary strength comes from putting the results from hundreds of studies and surveys under one cover. Beyond this convenience, the synthesizing of the results by topic area followed by comprehensive list of action items makes this book an essential desk reference for everyone concerned about the future of hunting and shooting sports. The study falls short in identifying top priority actions but it anticipates this failing by suggesting the formation of a national “umbrella” group to “coordinate programs, minimize duplication and ensure that gaps are not left unaddressed.” The authors also advocate for national and state-specific strategic plans.
As a participant in numerous Governors’ Symposiums on the Future of Hunting and similar events, I have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of connectivity between recruitment programs. It seemed to me that government and NGOs all had their pet projects but they were more like mazes with lots of dead ends than a path to help people become life-long hunters. This report’s suggestion for an umbrella group would be a great step forward to leverage the investments in current programs and straighten out the current maze. I think there is a good reason that it historically “Takes a hunter to make a hunter.” Hunters are the only ones who can figure out the system and provide the support needed to guide a new recruit through! In my experience in hunter education at the state and national level, improvements have been made in building awareness and interest in hunting, but coordinated follow though is lacking.
The Final action item 196 is worth noting. “Put these actions into place as soon as possible. While proper planning is essential, plans cannot be left in the planning stage without follow-through. Action now will ensure the continuation of the hunting and shooting heritage in the U.S. in the future.”
I decided to test the value of the book with a real issue being debated in my home state of Vermont. A bill has been introduced to allow interested people to try hunting before committing to hunter education or buying a hunting license. I wanted to see what the research says.
Using a word search in the PDF version that is available online at the Responsive Management web site, I found that “mentor” was mentioned 36 times. To make the material easier to work with I cut and pasted all relevant sections together, cut out the duplications and created my own 8-page mini-report. It was a simple matter to then glean the data I needed to put my report together. Here is a short summary of what I found:
• Mentoring plays an important role in hunting initiation (and in this context, mentoring primarily refers to informal mentoring—such as a parent taking a child).
• Mandatory hunter education itself does not appear to be a constraint to hunting participation. However, some researchers have suggested that the timing of the education—requiring a person to go through the entire education course before being able to even try hunting with a mentor—may have some constraining effect.
• Hunters following that route of initiation—starting young and being mentored by others, particularly family—typically show greater subsequent avidity for hunting.
• Follow-up programs after initiation, particularly within a short time after a hunter’s first experience, are critical.
• Encouraging continued participation with family members, and developing programs and services with families in. This ensures the hunter or shooter has the social support necessary to sustain interest and participation.
In a short time I found everything I needed to prepare my testimony for the legislative committee. Unfortunately the paper version of this book does not have an index allowing for this type of word search, but the PDF version worked great.
The book also points out some myths; such as that single mom households are contributing disproportionately to the decline in hunter numbers. The data presented is clear that this is not the case and programs that focus on this issue are not the best use of time and money. The book also points out the importance of family, but does not go into mentoring programs like the New York regional pilot that was not successful in part because they focused on the individual youth and not the family.
The Future of Hunting and the Shooting Sports was produced under a Multi-State Conservation Grant CT-M-6-0. Primary authors are: Mark Damian Duda, Martin Jones, Andrea Criscione, (all of Responsive Management), and Frank Briganti of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. They state, “This report presents the findings of one of the largest and most comprehensive studies ever conducted on the factors related to hunting and sport shooting participation.” It was a 3-year project involving wildlife professionals, outdoor recreation professionals, academics, sportsmen and conservation organization personnel.
This study will be of particular value to outreach directors, hunter education coordinators, NGOs involved in recruitment and retention projects, legislators and regulatory boards.
Overall this is a great start, and as the researchers repeatedly state there is a lot more work to be done. The National Shooting Sports Foundation hosted the 2008 Shooting Sports Summit where the results of this book were presented, and a group called Task Force 20/20 was formed (http://www.taskforce2020.org/). This group has identified five key areas of concentration from the 196 action items listed in the book. For each key area they list best practices to accomplish the objective. A follow up Summit is scheduled for 2009 with the goal of increasing participation in hunting and the shooting sports by 20 percent in 5 years. Also the Wildlife Management Institute has put together a comprehensive database of over 400 recruitment and retention programs being run by government entities and NGO’s. It is available at http://huntingheritage.org
The Future of Hunting and The Shooting Sports should be within arm’s reach of all professionals concerned with the future of hunting and the shooting sports.

North American Model of Wildife Conservation

From The Wildlife Society Journal

GUEST EDITORIAL
Promoting the North American Model
by Jeff Crane

The United States and its neighbors in North America have an abundance of fish and wildlife
for all citizens to enjoy. Our system of conserving that wildlife is the most successful in history,
envied throughout much of the world. Known as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, this system provides conservation funding for wildlife and fisheries to ensure a diversity and abundance of species. Hunters and anglers contribute the majority of funds through their purchase of licenses and equipment related to hunting and fishing. Their contri-
butions lie at the core of the North American Model’s system of conservation funding, and allow state fish and wildlife agencies to hire professional managers who make scientifically sound decisions that benefit wildlife and habitats.
...to promote the Model and develop new strategies to reach the millions of citizens who also have a stake in its survival. We also need to ensure that the American public shares more of the cost of natural resource conservation so that the burden doesn’t continue to rest largely on the traditional hunting and fishing communities. This can perhaps be accomplished by encouraging new funding from broad-ranging energy and climate legislation.
One challenge we face is that most Americans do not claim a direct interest in hunting, fishing, or similar outdoor activities. Urbanization is partly to blame: Approximately 85 percent of our citizens now re- side in metropolitan areas, where there is often little... read more in the summer edition of The Wildlife Society Journal - online for members only


Jeff Crane is
President of the
Congressional
Sportsmen’s
Foundation.
Courtesy of Jeff Crane

Gayle is a founding board member of Orion- The Hunter's Institute. This article is from the Woman's Outdoor Wire:

First Lady of Montana Wildlife Management - Gayle Joslin

Gayle Joslin, of Helena, Montana, became a wildlife biologist in the early '70s when women were uncommon in the wildlife management field.

By Tammy Sapp

Hunting, fishing and camping all came natural to Gayle Joslin, who grew up in an outdoorsy family around Helena, Montana. As a young woman, she added a new dimension to her outdoor experiences by becoming a cook at an outfitters camp where her father guided in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

"That allowed me to experience backcountry camps with the horses and wall tents," Gayle reminisced. "It was a precious, special time."

While Gayle said she was content being camp cook, her parents encouraged her to go to college.

"I flipped through the university catalog and found biology, ornithology, and all the other "ologies" listed. I signed up to study fish and wildlife and was the one and only girl coming into the curriculum.

"Some professors didn't think it was appropriate for women to be in this field. They wanted me to find a more appropriate curriculum."

While it wasn't always easy, Gayle did find the experience to be a bit of an adventure. The following year, two other women opted to study fish and wildlife and the threesome became a source of support for each other.

"All the women stuck with the curriculum," Gayle recalled. "The dropout rate was high. It was a boot camp washout program. The professors really gave a discouraging picture of what the opportunities would be. So many dropped out. However, the women were an independent sort and stuck with it."

Gayle graduated from college and immediately began working on a grizzly bear project for the University of Montana. For the next two years, she worked on evaluating grizzly habitat and population dynamics.

In 1977, Gayle accepted a job with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and became the first female in a biologist position at that department.

"I was happy to get the position. I was hired by the ecological services division to do baseline research on the effects of dams, mining, and oil and gas exploration and development."

Her specific research focus was evaluating the effects of oil and gas exploration on mountain goats. Ultimately she was absorbed from the mountain goat project into the wildlife division, a part of the agency Gayle described as a "very staid, traditional boy's club." The project she was assigned to was studying the effects of energy development on the Rocky Mountain front along the Continental Divide.

"They needed the experience I had gained through my work on mining and dam development related to mountain goats, mountain lions and osprey."

Gayle's work moved her around western Montana before settling in the Helena area as a regional wildlife biologist. Beyond breaking the glass ceiling for women wanting to pursue a career in fish and wildlife, Gayle achieved many other milestones.

She produced a document outlining guidelines for mountain lion management along the Rocky Mountain front that was adopted in several US Forest Service plans. In addition, she worked with The Wildlife Society coordinating the efforts of 35 other biologists to look at the effects of recreation on Rocky Mountain wildlife.

"I coordinated all the biologists to put together benchmark information for wildlife regarding the impacts from recreation during a time when the use of off-road vehicles was exploding. This information was used by a variety of agencies and elevated the concerns and issues and connected people to data so they could understand the problems and develop solutions."

The resulting report, "Effects of Recreation on Rocky Mountain Wildlife: A Review for Montana" which Gayle co-authored with Heidi Youmans, earned the Montana Chapter's Wildlife Society Communications Award in 2000. The effort also won the prestigious Touchstone Award presented by the Wildlife Management Institute in recognition of advanced sound science for wildlife management in North America.

During her career, Joslin also fought hard for elk regulations that allocated branch-antlered bulls and a quota of cows on a permit basis while allowing any hunter to harvest an un-branched spike bull. As is the case with nearly any hunting regulation, a storm of controversy broke out with some outfitters claiming the uncertainty of drawing branch-antlered bull permits would ruin their business. Gayle stuck to her guns, though, and ultimately prevailed.

"It was always an uphill push but I'm stubborn," Gayle said. "It was important to me to do something for wildlife on my watch. It allowed elk to achieve a natural population diversity which they don't otherwise do in a hunted population. And this regulation meant that nobody got an unfair advantage."

Retired from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Gayle is now using her experience and go get 'em attitude as a board member for Orion-The Hunter's Institute. Gayle was actually a founding board member for Orion, which was established in 1993, to sustain hunting by developing programs that address the hunter's tradition as conservationist, hunter ethics, and the preservation of resources essential to an ethical hunting environment.

"One of the things I'm invested in now is having the public - both hunter and non hunter - understand the North American model. The foundation and history of wildlife conservation comes from the concept that wildlife belongs to the people. A lot of folks are lined up to get privileges or fringe benefits. However, wildlife is to be shared by all and has needs that we should all work together to assure."

Gayle is also working to protect a linkage corridor used by wolverines, wolves and grizzly bears on the crest of the Continental Divide. The Army National Guard has proposed converting this area into a training facility complete with roads, parking lots and other developments. Gayle and Orion firmly believe a better spot should be found.

"One of the things I feel strongly about is if we don't have wild lands, we will all suffer. Montana hasn't had a new designation for wilderness in 24 years. We need to take steps to assure designation of roadless lands. If we don't keep the status quo, tomorrow you could have a ski development there.

"The process is as onerous as it can be, but it's a privilege to be involved, and we have an obligation to participate. The North American model is something we've been building on for decades. It's our turn to step up to that evolutionary history and do something proactive to benefit the landscape."

To learn more about Gayle's work with Orion, visit http://www.huntright.org/