April 11, 2008 - TOP STORIES
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Wetland restoration program supported
Judge says Minnesota must act to stop accidental lynx trapping
Early Canada-Minn. lake sturgeon harvest season opens April 24
Minnesota Senate seeking to ban lead shot
GF&P Commission decides against longer pheasant season
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Wetland restoration program supported
60 Senators sign on to letter for North American Wetlands Conservation Act
“NAWCA is a very successful public-private partnership that has produced visible results in Minnesota and across the country. While we need to tighten our budgets in Washington, the cost of inaction when it comes to conserving our wetlands is enormous. This program, which leverages significant private funding, is a very good value. Sportsmen, conservationists and the entire public benefit, and it is important that we maintain this valuable program.”
- Norm Coleman, United States Senator, Minnesota
DU Reports
WASHINGTON – Despite a tight fiscal climate that led to proposed budget cuts in many areas, a bipartisan majority of the Senate and nearly a third of the House of Representatives signed on to letters supporting funding for the North American Wetlands Conservation Act.
“It is a tough year for appropriations, and people everywhere are looking to trim the budget, so it is fantastic to see wetlands conservation is a priority,” said Bernie Marczyk, Governmental Affairs Representative for Ducks Unlimited. “Conservation funding is still critical to every state.”
“Ducks Unlimited is grateful for Congress’ continued support for this valuable conservation program,” Marczyk continued.
The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) is one of the most cost-effective conservation programs ever. Each dollar in federal grants must be matched by at least one dollar from non-federal partners – however, most grants are matched by two, three, even four dollars for each dollar in program grants. Since its inception in 1989, NAWCA projects have conserved over 23 million acres across North America.
Members of Congress were urged to sign on to a letter to the House and Senate Interior Appropriations subcommittees, who will determine what the funding level will be for the upcoming fiscal year. Last year NAWCA was funded at the full request of $42.6 million, equal to the President’s request for fiscal year 2009.
This year, the letter to the Senate Interior Appropriators was sponsored by Senator Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) and Sen. Mike Crapo (ID) and was signed by 58 other Senators from both parties representing 42 states. The House letter, sponsored by Congressman John D. Dingell (Mich.) and Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (Md.), attracted 140 additional signers, again with a mix from both parties, and representing 46 states. Senator Lincoln and Congressmen Dingell and Gilchrest serve on the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission along with Sen. Thad Cochran (Miss.). That Commission ultimately determines which proposed projects are funded through NAWCA grants.
For more info on Ducks Unlimited visit www.ducks.org
Judge says Minnesota must act to stop accidental lynx trapping
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources must take swift action to stop the accidental killing of Canada lynx by trappers pursuing other animals, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Michael Davis ordered the state to “promptly take all action necessary to insure no further taking of threatened Canada lynx by trapping or snaring activity within the core” lynx range in northeastern Minnesota.
In his order, released March 31, Davis ordered the state to submit a plan to him by April 30 on how it will work to end accidental lynx killings by trappers. The judge said the DNR so far has issued only unenforceable recommendations to trappers instead of issuing new regulations.
Davis also gave the DNR until the end of April to apply for a special federal permit under the Endangered Species Act that deals with the incidental taking of species covered by the act. Until the permit is in hand, which could take a year or more even if it’s approved, the state must act to “restrict, modify or eliminate” accidental lynx takings in Minnesota.
At least 13 lynx were injured or killed by trappers in Minnesota from 2002-2005, Davis noted in his order, mostly by traps and snares set for other species such as bobcat or fox. While no takings were reported for the winter of 2006, there’s no data for this winter, and Davis said he was not persuaded that the risk has disappeared.
Lynx were added to the federal threatened species list in 2000 in Minnesota, Maine and several Rocky Mountain states. The elusive cats were common in northern Minnesota until the 1980s, when their numbers began to crash. The state banned trapping of lynx in 1984 but their numbers continued to plummet, and state officials said lynx essentially were gone from the state by 2000.
Since then, however, lynx have staged a limited comeback. Some estimates are that about 200 of them now roam the northeastern counties of the state.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the DNR will have to restrict certain kinds of trapping within the home range of the lynx. A similar decision in Maine led to tight restrictions on certain types of traps and an outright ban of others.
“If they (the DNR) can’t demonstrate another way to avoid trapping lynx, it (the judge’s decision) could prohibit all trapping in the lynx range. We’d be very much in favor of that,” said Nicole Paquette, attorney for the California-based Animal Protection Institute, which filed the suit against the DNR along with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Phil Delphey, endangered species biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in St. Paul, said the DNR already has talked to his agency about applying for the incidental lynx-taking permit. Delphey said the state first must develop a plan to avoid accidental lynx taking, and then show how the state will mitigate or offset any lynx killed. The state hasn’t formally applied for the permit yet, Delphey said.
In January, the Humane Society of the United States dropped a similar lawsuit against Minnesota in exchange for a promise that the state would work to limit lynx killed in traps.
In February, the federal government announced a revised plan to greatly increase the amount of Minnesota forest declared critical habitat for lynx across Koochiching, St. Louis, Lake and Cook counties. It’s part of a broader plan that would designate 42,753 square miles in six states – including Minnesota – as critical lynx habitat. That’s more than 20 times the 1,841 square miles the agency designated in 2006 for parts of three states, including Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota.
Early Canada-Minn. lake sturgeon harvest season opens April 24
DNR News
With spring lake sturgeon season almost here, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds sturgeon anglers to purchase a lake sturgeon tag. The $5 harvest tags, which can be purchased at any DNR Electronic Licensing System agent, are used to collect information on the statewide lake sturgeon harvest, which runs April 24 to May 7. Anglers who practice catch-and-release do not need a tag.
The following requirements apply to lake sturgeon angling in 2008:
• the possession limit is one sturgeon per license year
• fish must be between 45-50 inches long, or more than 75 inches long
• lake sturgeon may not be kept or transported without a tag
• anglers must validate and attach the tag immediately upon possessing the fish
• tags must be attached to the narrow portion of the body in front of the tail fin
• tags must be attached so they cannot be easily removed
• tags are not transferable and no duplicate tags will be issued
• registration cards, which are provided when a harvest tag is purchased, must be completed and mailed within 48 hours after harvesting a fish
• lake sturgeon must be transported intact (gills and internal organs may be removed)
• members of a fishing party may not take sturgeon for other anglers’ limits.
Visit www.mndnr.gov to learn more about lake sturgeon or to download a copy of 2008 Minnesota Fishing Regulations.
Minnesota Senate seeking to ban lead shot
Introduced by State Senator Satveer Chaudhary (DFL-50), the Senate Omnibus Game and Fish Bill, Senate File 3385, contains a harmful provision that would ban the use of lead shot for hunting small game on public lands in Minnesota. Lead alternatives are extremely expensive and have reduced capabilities, which would only increase wounding rates of game animals. There has been no science-based evidence that lead shot has been a problem in Minnesota.
Please call members of the Senate Finance Committee and urge them to oppose banning lead shot and strike Article 3, Section59 from SF3385 before it’s too late.
As Senate File 3385 will be heard any day on the Senate floor, it is important that our opposition to this anti-hunting measure be known. Please contact State Senator Chaudhary, the bill sponsor, at (651) 296-4334 or email him at sen.satveer.chaudhary@senate.mn and respectfully urge him to make the necessary changes and remove the lead ban from Senate File 3385.
GF&P Commission decides against longer pheasant season
BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) – The Game, Fish & Parks Commission decided on Friday, April 4 not to lengthen the state’s pheasant hunting season by three weeks.
The 6-1 vote means the 2007 season will run Oct. 18-Jan. 4, 2009.
State wildlife officials told the commission that the state’s estimated pheasant population in 2007 was 11.9 million birds, the largest since 1945.
“Frankly, that’s phenomenal,” said George Vandel, assistant director of the wildlife division within GF&P.
It’s the first time since 1963 that the estimated population exceeded 10 million birds.
The commission received some 200 public comments on the longer-season issue and heard from 15 people at a public hearing Thursday. Its vote Friday came after about 30 minutes of discussion.
“I think overall they recognized it wasn’t a biological issue, but a social issue,” said Vandel.
A number of sportsmen’s clubs and landowners were opposed to the longer season, he said.
The number of hunters in 2007 was 181,110, up from 178,165 in 2006. Nonresident hunters outnumbered resident hunters for the sixth straight year.
Compared to 2006, the number of South Dakota hunters in 2007 dropped by 2.6 percent to 77,879, while the number of nonresident hunters increased by 5 percent to 103,231.
The 2007 pheasant harvest was estimated at 2.1 million birds, a little better than 11 roosters per hunter, and up from the 2006 harvest of 1.8 million birds.
The pheasant population came through winter in good shape, Vandel said.
“We’re now entering probably the most critical time period for pheasants and that is the reproductive period,” he said. “We talked (to the commission) about the necessity of having a combination of habitat and good weather for good reproduction.”
Moisture will promote spring vegetation, which supplies cover for nesting and insects for food. Once the chicks start hatching in June, warm and dry weather means a better survival rate, Vandel said.
© 2008 Outdoors Weekly (PK Outdoors, Inc.)