Wisconsin eagles have helped in
national recovery of the species
MADISON – With federal wildlife
officials announcing earlier this month that they are reviving
an effort to remove the bald eagle from the national endangered
and threatened species list, state residents can take some
satisfaction in knowing Wisconsin eagles have played a
significant role in helping the species recover nationwide.
Since 1975, Wisconsin has sent
215 baby eagles, called eaglets, to 10 other states to help
boost the national eagle population. Wisconsin eagles have been
released near the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. and in a
Hudson River valley park in New York City.
“Eagle chicks are only taken
from Wisconsin nests that produced two or more eaglets. At least
one healthy eaglet is always left in a nest for the parents to
raise,” says Pat Manthey, an avian ecologist with the Department
of Natural Resources Bureau of Endangered Resources.
Wisconsin has one of the
largest eagle populations in the continental United States, with
more than 1,000 pairs nesting in the state in 2005. In addition
to Washington D.C. and New York, Wisconsin eagles have been sent
to Tennessee, North Carolina, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Arkansas,
Kentucky, and Ohio, according to Randy Jurewicz, an endangered
resources biologist who has coordinated the eagle relocation
efforts.
In their new home, the eaglets
are generally raised in small tree-house-like dwellings called
hack boxes where they are isolated from human contact and are
fed through chutes so they do not associate food with people.
They are fed until they are old enough to fledge, or fly from
the nest.
Manthey says survival of the
transplanted eagles appears to be generally the same as it is
for eaglets left in nests.
Wisconsin and federal officials
worked with the Earth Conservation Corps of Washington D.C. on
efforts to re-establish nesting bald eagles near the nation’s
capital. The organization re-introduced 16 Wisconsin eaglets
over a four-year period to the Anacostia Islands Nature Preserve
on the Anacostia River, and a pair has now established a nesting
site in the preserve.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service announced Feb. 13 that it would revive efforts to remove
the bald eagle from the federal list of endangered and
threatened species. The number of breeding pairs nationwide is
currently estimated at 7,066, with the birds thriving in 49
states (bald eagles are not indigenous to Hawaii).
“The recovery of the bald
eagle, our national symbol, is also a great national success
story,” agency director H. Dale Hall said in a statement.
When the first Europeans
arrived in North America, an estimated 100,000 pairs of bald
eagles populated the area that is now the lower 48 states. Bald
eagles bred throughout Wisconsin until the 1800s, when their
population began to decline as the state was settled. By 1963
the number of eagles nationwide had dropped to 417 pairs, and
the number of bald eagles breeding in Wisconsin reached an all
time low of just 82 pairs in 1970.
The decline in eagle numbers
was the result of widespread use of the eggshell-thinning
insecticide DDT and development in bird breeding areas.
The bald eagle received federal
protection in 1967 under the federal law preceding the current
Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 1972, bald eagles were placed
on the Wisconsin Endangered Species List. The same year, the
federal government banned the use of DDT and other
organochlorine pesticides in the U.S. But eagle populations were
slow to recover.
In 1986, a DNR Bald Eagle
Recovery Plan was approved by the state Natural Resources Board,
with the objective of increasing the self-sustaining population
of bald eagles in Wisconsin to 360 breeding pairs by the year
2000.
The recovery goal was exceeded
in 1991, when 414 active pairs were located. The eagle’s state
status was upgraded to “threatened” in 1989, and in 1997 they
were removed from the state’s endangered and threatened list.
They remained listed as a threatened species in Wisconsin under
federal rules.
Bald eagle recovery efforts in
Wisconsin have been funded through programs such as the “Adopt
an Eagle Nest Program,” under which people, clubs or schools
can adopt an eagle nest in Wisconsin. They receive bald eagle
information along with an update on nesting success. Other
efforts to protect endangered, threatened and non-game species
are funded through the state
Endangered Resources Fund, which people can contribute to
through the checkoff on state income tax forms or through the
purchase of Endangered Resources license plates.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service is accepting comments on the proposal to remove the bald
eagle from the federal Endangered Species List through May 17,
2006. Information on submitting comments can be found on the
agency’s Web site at <http://www.fws.gov/
- Exit DNR>.
Even though bald eagles will
now be removed from both state and federal endangered and
threatened species lists, they will continue to be protected
under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the
Migratory Bird Treaty Act, both of which prohibit killing,
selling or otherwise harming eagles, their nests or eggs to
assure they remain a majestic addition to the national landscape
for generations to come.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Pat Manthey - (608) 789-5651 or Randy Jurewicz - (608) 267-7507
Hunting and fishing licenses
on sale March 10; Turkey permits on sale March 25
MADISON – Hunting, fishing,
trapping and other 2006 licenses and harvest permits for fish
and wildlife activities in Wisconsin will go on sale March 10.
Over-the-counter sales of spring turkey permits will start at
noon on Saturday, March 25.
In the past if the number of
spring turkey permits exceeded the number of applications for a
specific zone and time period, remaining permits were issued
through a preference drawing. This year, those permits will be
available for sale on a first-come, first served basis through
license sales outlets, over the Internet or by phone. Initially,
Department of Natural Resources officials had hoped to have the
turkey permits also go on sale March 10, but that date has been
moved back to march 25.
“We want -- and our customers
expect -- that this first ever first-come, first-served sale of
left-over spring turkey hunting permits will take place without
any hitches,” said Diane Brookbank, director of DNR Bureau of
Customer Service and Licensing.
“We know there is a lot of
anticipation out there with a lot of eager customers who are
hoping to get one of the remaining permits for this popular
sport,” said Brookbank. “Extra time is needed to be sure that
every license vendor is geared-up and ready for what we hear
could be a rush for the available permits. We want the terminal
at every vendor working perfectly so the playing field is
dead-level across the state,” she said. “Hunters we talked to
also wanted us to begin sales on a Saturday when most people
were off work.”
Opening sales on March 25
should still give hunters plenty of time to plan their outings,
since only two turkey management zones have any permits
available before the fourth hunting period, which opens May 3.
The spring hunting season will
run from April 12 through May 21. The season is divided into six
5-day (Wednesday through Sunday) time periods. A total of 46
zones, 12 state parks and Fort McCoy will be open for hunting.
Under the new system, hunters
will be able to purchase one turkey permit per day until each
zone and time period is sold out. Permits cost $10 for residents
and $15 for non residents in addition to an annual hunting
license and turkey stamp. All hunters must first purchase a
spring turkey license and stamp fee in order to purchase a bonus
permit, unless they are a 2006
Conservation Patron license holder. DNR encourages patron
license buyers to purchase their license prior to March 25 to
expedite buying additional spring turkey permits. Permits cannot
be purchased for another individual, with the exception that a
parent/guardian can purchase a permit for their minor child.
More than 40,250 permits across
almost all units in the May hunting periods are available. In
addition, a few permits are available in Unit 45 and Mirror Lake
State Park in late April. The number of permits in each unit is
limited and many are expected to sell out quickly. Hunters
interested in Disabled Hunt Units (5B. 10B, 11A, 12A, 15 B, 25A)
must visit a DNR service center to purchase their permit. A
complete list of
units with the number of permits is available on the DNR Web
site or contact at DNR service centers.
This is the first season the
Department of Natural Resources will have issued more than
200,000 permits to spring turkey hunters, and the first time the
entire state will be open for turkey hunting. As Wisconsin’s
turkey population continues to expand its size and range hunters
can expect that number to increase. There were 193,316 permits
issued for the 2005 spring season. Hunters harvested 46,159
turkeys for a success rate of about 24 percent.
Winter
wild turkey survival should be good this year, according to
Andrea Mezera, DNR upland wildlife ecologist.
Licenses will be available March 10 at
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sports Show
DNR will start selling 2006
hunting, fishing and trapping licenses March 10 as a convenience
to hunters and anglers and to visitors to the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel Sports Show. The DNR booth is a popular stop at the
show, with more than 3,500 people buying licenses at the show.
Hunting and fishing
licenses are available at 1,450 locations around the state
including many hardware and sporting goods stores, resorts, and
DNR service centers. In addition, licenses can be purchased
on line through the
DNR Web site or by phone at 1-877-945-4236.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: on
license sales contact the Bureau of Customer Service and
Licensing at - (608) 266-2621; on the spring turkey hunting
season contact Andrea Mezera - (608) 261-8458
2006 sturgeon spearing ends
after full 16-day season
OSHKOSH, Wis. -- The 2006
sturgeon season on Lake Winnebago closed Sunday, Feb. 26 after
running for the full 16-day season, with just 225 sturgeon taken
from the lake, well below the harvest caps put in place to
protect the unique population.
Season totals were 45
juvenile females, 104 adult females, and 76 males. Harvest caps
for 2006 were 500 juvenile females, 500 adult females and 2,000
males.
“All in all it was a nice
season,” said Ron Bruch, DNR sturgeon biologist out of Oshkosh.
“The spearers would have liked a little clearer water, but they
had a lot of time to get out on the lake, and the season turned
out safe in spite of earlier worries about ice conditions.
Anglers I talked to agreed it doesn’t hurt for the sturgeon
population to have a break now and then.”
Cloudy water limited visibility
to around 6 feet this year which hampered the ability of
sturgeon spearers to see the giant fish down their spearing
holes. This cloudy water slowed the daily harvest rate, but
providing for a long season.
Last year the sturgeon spearing
season closed after 12 days, with, 1,238 were taken from Lake
Winnebago and the Upriver lakes. The last time the season ran
the full 16 days was in 2002, when water clarity of 7 to 8 feet
resulted in a harvest of 847 fish.
“The harvest regulations we’ve
implemented over the last 15 years seem to be working quite
well. Our harvest rates are acceptable and we have been seeing
more large, older female sturgeon in the spawning stock the last
few years, which was one of our primary objectives,” Bruch said.
Extremely high harvests in the
early to mid 1990s had a negative impact on the Winnebago
sturgeon population. A series of new spearing regulations
implemented since then have reduced the harvest providing an
opportunity for the population to recover. Bruch plans to work
with the Winnebago Citizens Sturgeon Advisory Committee over the
next six months to review the results of this season and discuss
appropriate harvest caps for 2007. Harvest caps for 2007 will
not likely be set until late 2006 after biologists have been
able to interpret results of a new study of the age structure of
the system’s sturgeon population.
New rules in effect beginning in 2007
for sturgeon spearing on the upriver lakes
In 2007, sturgeon spearing will
be open on the Upriver Lakes of the Winnebago Pool – Lakes Butte
des Mort, Winneconne and Poygan – under a new rule that created
an annual lottery fishery on those waters. Beginning in 2007,
the department will issue tags for the Upriver Lakes to 500
spearers who apply for the special Upriver Lakes license through
a random drawing.
System-wide sturgeon harvest
caps will be set based on population estimates and acceptable
harvest levels. A portion of the system-wide harvest caps will
be allocated to the Upriver Lakes fishery. Each season will run
independent of the other with separate licenses, and harvest
caps that would trigger season closures. Both seasons would be
subject to a maximum length of 16 days or when the first harvest
cap for that area is reached, or when the system wide cap is
reached, whichever comes first. The number of Lake Winnebago
sturgeon spearing licenses sold will not be limited.
In the last Upriver Lakes
season held in 2005, license sales for Upriver Lakes tags were
not limited and 4,169 spearers took to the three lakes, which
caused concern about potential overharvest. Spearers have from
March 10 to August 1, 2006 to purchase their lottery application
for the 2007 season and will be notified by early October if
they are authorized to purchase an Upriver Lakes tag.
Applicants who do not receive
authorization to purchase an Upriver Lakes tag can then purchase
a Lake Winnebago tag for 2007. Lake Winnebago license sales will
not be limited. All license sales end Oct. 31, 2006 for the 2007
season.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ron Bruch (920) 424-3059
Wisconsin Lakes Conference
April 20-22 at Green Bay
Founder of Nobel-prize winning
organization featured speaker
MADISON – People concerned
about the complex issues facing Wisconsin lakes can gain
problem-solving insights from the leader of an international aid
organization during the Wisconsin Lakes Convention, April 20-22,
at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay.
Dr. Richard Heinzl, founder of
Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian
organization that provides emergency medical services to people
in danger, will speak about that charity’s work in Iraq and
non-conventional approaches to problem solving. Doctors Without
Borders won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 for its activities in
more than 70 nations suffering from war, famine, earthquakes and
other disasters.
“Many of the issues we face
today with natural resources are complex, require diverse
thinking and new ways for how we’re going to move ahead – we
think that Dr. Heinzl and David Zach, a renowned futurist and
another keynote speaker, will bring in some new ways of looking
at old problems,” says Bob Korth, with the College of Natural
Resources Lakes program at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens
Point.
UW-Extension is a conference
sponsor, along with the Department of Natural Resources and the
Wisconsin Association of Lakes. The event, held for the 28th
consecutive year, carries the theme, “Hands Across the Waters,”
and emphasizes how local citizens can work with other citizens,
environmental groups, legislators and agencies to protect
Wisconsin lakes.
“The convention is an excellent
way for people who live on lakes, who use lakes for recreation
and who rely on lakes for economic viability to network with
other people with similar problems and concerns,” says Peter
Murray, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of
Lakes. “It’s also an excellent way to gain a basic, but thorough
understanding of lake ecology, to talk with various businesses
and consultants who can help them, and to gain technical advice
from many lakes experts.”
The convention’s opening day,
April 20, offers participants the opportunity to tour Door
County shallow lakes or listen to a stellar lineup of speakers.
Stan Gruszynski, of the UW-Stevens Point’s Global Management
Education Center, will discuss “Shaping Public Policy”; Mike
Staggs, Wisconsin’s fisheries director, will talk about
Wisconsin fishing opportunities past and present and how to keep
angling opportunities alive for future generations; and Paul
Johnson, former chief of the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation
Service (NRCS) will discuss “The Role of the Citizen and
Landowner in Natural Resources Conservation.”
Workshops following those
sessions will explore topics including how to clean boats and
monitor for invasive species beyond boat landings; shoreland
buffers and restoring a lake lot to protect a lake; grant
writing; recreational carrying capacity of a lake; aquatic plant
management; the importance of aquatic plants in a healthy
system.
Following the Heinzl and Zach
keynote speeches on April 20, concurrent sessions will emphasize
partnerships in community planning; dairy operations that pursue
water quality improvements; water laws; the role of town
government in lake protection; citizen involvement for complex
management projects; local water management actions and
partnerships; invasive species and the future; and the impact of
groundwater pumping on lakes.
On April 22, sessions will
provide information about how to communicate concerns to local
legislators; control purple loosestrife; improve shoreline
aesthetics; and participate in natural resources policy making
with the Wisconsin Conservation Congress.
Information about the
convention and registration information and fees is available
from the Wisconsin Association of Lakes <http://www.wisconsinlakes.org/>
or from the University of Wisconsin Extension Service lakes
program <http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/uwexlakes/conventions/default.asp
- Exit DNR>.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mary Pardee or Kim Becken, UWSP (715) 346-2116
