Spring turkey hunters register
record turkey harvest
Fall season permit applications due
August 1
MADISON – Preliminary figures
show that hunters set a new harvest record, registering 51,306
turkeys during Wisconsin’s 2007 spring wild turkey season. This is
a 9 percent increase from the 2006 spring harvest of 46,662 birds.
The statewide hunter success rate for all hunting periods was 25
percent, compared to 23 percent in 2006.
The increase in harvest is likely
due to several factors, says Scott Hull, Department of Natural
Resources upland ecologist.
“This spring’s season was kind of
a perfect storm,” says Hull. “The combination of an expanding
turkey population, an increased number of permits and hunters, and
good weather except for the first few days of the first period,
allowed a lot of hunters to get within shooting range of a tom.”
A total of 205,306 permits were
issued for the spring hunt according to licensing officials. Over
the counter sales amounted to 42,251 of the total.
As in past years, success rates
were highest during the early and middle hunting periods.
“Despite a late spring snowstorm
across the southern part of the state on the opening of the first
period, hunters recorded a 34 percent success rate during the
first period,” Hull says. “Success then dropped to 29 and 24
percent for the second and third periods, still pretty decent
hunting for the most part.”
The preliminary counts showed
that adult toms were 75 percent of the total harvest, which is
pretty close to the long term average of 72 percent. In 2005,
adult toms made up 87 percent of the harvest, which was high due
to a poor production year in 2004 -- meaning there were fewer
jakes in the spring 2005 population.
Zones 22 and 23 once again appear
to have produced the highest overall turkey harvests at 5,664 and
2,715 respectively. The best hunter success rate in units
recording more than 100 turkeys appears to be in unit 34 with a
preliminary success rate of 34 percent followed by several units
(33, 34, 19) at 33 percent success.
The fall 2007 wild turkey season
will run from Sept. 15 through Nov. 15. The deadline for applying
for a fall permit through the lottery process is August 1.
Regulations for the 2007 fall turkey season will be available
online beginning June 12 and will be available in hard copy at
license vendors and DNR Service Centers shortly.
Applications cost $3 and are can
be purchased: through the DNR Web site, at any DNR Service Center,
and at authorized sales locations.
New Zones for 2008
Turkey hunters are reminded that
beginning with the fall 2008 season, the number of turkey hunting
zones will be reduced to seven large zones instead of the more
than 50 small zones currently in place.
There will still be the same
number of time periods, same amount of total turkey hunting area
and the permit process will remain the same, according to wildlife
managers. Each of the new zones combine a number of the current
smaller zones and will allow hunters more flexibility to move
about in search of game within a larger zone. The new zones were
established based on habitat characteristics, harvest success
rates and hunter interference rates.
“The concept of a smaller number
of larger zones has worked well in other states similar to
Wisconsin,” said Hull. “Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Iowa all
manage turkeys and turkey hunting with fewer zones. I think once
hunters get used to the new structure, they’ll like the new
ability to move around more within their chosen zone. In addition
to a larger potential hunting area, there will be fewer zone
boundaries to deal with.”
More information can be found on
the
wild turkey page of the DNR Web site.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Scott Hull (608) 267-7861
Grouse population estimates
improve for second year running
New season dates for 2007 in effect
MADISON – Wisconsin’s ruffed
grouse population appears to be on the upswing for the second year
in a row, according to preliminary data state wildlife managers
collected during the 2007 spring drumming counts. The central and
southeastern grouse management regions showed the greatest
increases over 2006.
Hunters anticipating grouse
hunting should note that new in 2007, there will only be two
grouse hunting zones instead of three. However, the season dates,
and the boundaries of the zone that makes up Southeast Wisconsin
have not changed. The rest of the state has been combined into new
Zone A, and the season will run Sept. 15 until Jan. 31 in the
entire zone. For hunters in the northern portions of the new Zone
A, that means an extra month of hunting.
2007 Season dates:
- Zone (A): Sept. 15-Jan. 31,
2008
- Zone (B): Oct. 20- Dec. 8,
2007
- Bag limits are five birds per
day in Zone A and two birds per day in Zone B. Possession limits
are twice the daily bag limit
Annual Survey
Each spring, Department of
Natural Resources biologists, wardens, and foresters, along with
members of the Ruffed Grouse Society and other volunteers travel
survey routes recording the drumming activity they hear. Drumming
is the sound produced by a male grouse during the spring breeding
season. The male will display on a drumming log then rapidly beat
his wings producing a drumming sound with the intention of
attracting a female.
For reasons not well understood
by biologists, grouse populations cycle up and down over an eight-
to10-year period. The previous high population point was in 1999.
“Overall, drumming counts
increased by 14 percent over the last year, on top of a 27 percent
increase recorded between 2005 and 2006,” said Scott Hull, DNR
upland game ecologist. “It’s a welcome indication that populations
appear to be growing. We won’t have actual brood data until later
in the summer, after eggs are hatched and the young birds make it
through the critical first month or so. Brood success depends a
lot on the weather between now and late July.”
The statewide average was 0.87
drums per stop along the survey routes in 2007, said Hull.
Overall, surveyors rated survey conditions as excellent on 51
percent of the survey routes.
Population estimates for ruffed
grouse are divided into four regions around the state. A map of
the regions can viewed on the
ruffed grouse page of the DNR Web site.
“The central and southeast
regions showed the greatest increase in drumming activity over
last year with 23 percent and 25 percent increases, respectively,”
says Hull. “The northern region showed an increase of 17 percent
and the southwest region showed a small decline with 11 percent
fewer drums than in 2006, which is a small swing in an otherwise
strong upward population growth trend.
“These are great survey results
and I’m very optimistic that we’ll have a great grouse season in
2007,” said Hull.
More birds generally lead to more
hunting days in the field and higher success rates, say wildlife
managers. During the 2006-07 grouse season, about 99,000 hunters
reported spending 756,000 days in the field hunting grouse.
“Hunters reported harvesting
roughly 384,000 grouse in 2006,” said Hull. “At the time of the
last population peak, back in 1999, they reported taking about
768,000.”
Ruffed grouse drumming surveys
have been used since 1964 as an indicator of ruffed grouse
population trends. Beginning 30 minutes before sunrise, the
surveys are conducted by driving established survey routes and
stopping at 10 points lying approximately 1 to 2 miles apart,
listening for four minutes, and recording the drumming activity.
“Ruffed grouse drumming surveys
are helpful in tracking statewide population changes over the long
term,” says Hull, “however they are not good predictors of local
harvest or hunting opportunities. The most successful hunters
usually are those who spend the most time in the field and cover
the most ground.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Scott Hull (608) 267-7861
Beach monitoring season begins
at Great Lakes beaches
New effort to help identify potential
sources of pollutants
MADISON – Beach monitoring is in
full swing on Wisconsin’s public coastal beaches and work is
expected to begin soon on an effort aimed at improving water
quality for swimmers and other beachgoers.
This is the fifth summer that
public beaches along Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coast are
participating in a uniform program to regularly test for bacteria
and inform swimmers about water quality conditions. The program,
administered by the Department of Natural Resources and carried
out by local governments, aims to reduce the public’s risk of
exposure to water-borne illnesses. People can go online to [www.wibeaches.us]
to learn the latest beach conditions at the Lake Superior and Lake
Michigan sites and find maps showing which beaches are open.
New this year, DNR has received
extra funding from the federal government to conduct sanitary
surveys to identify potential sources of pollution on 17 public
beaches participating in the uniform monitoring program. The
program is administered by DNR and the testing and posting carried
out by local goverf
“One of the things our local
partners have been saying over the years was, “we want to take a
look at sources of beach water quality problems,” says Nicole
Richmond, the DNR water quality specialist woring on the surveys.
“This funding enables us to help
local governments identify and address problems at specific
beaches, and some of the data may be used to begin developing
models for the beach to help predict when conditions might be good
or poor.”
DNR
is working closely with the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and
the City of Racine Health Department to conduct sanitary surveys
developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess
all potential sources of pollution at the beaches. The 17 beaches
selected along Lake Superior and Lake Michigan include those that
have had poor water quality over the past four years of the
monitoring program and some that have undergone changes that may
affect water quality.
“Our hope is that this first year
of sanitary surveys will prove to be successful so that we can
continue to receive additional funding next year to address other
beaches with E. coli problems,” Richmond says.
Started in 2003, the
Wisconsin
Beach Monitoring and Notification Program’s primary goal has
been to reduce beach visitors’ risk of exposure to disease-causing
micro-organisms in water, according to Toni Glymph, the DNR
environmental toxicologist who coordinates the beach monitoring
program.
E.coli
bacteria indicate the possible presence of bacteria and viruses
that might sicken people. Potential sources of E.coli
contamination at Wisconsin beaches include agricultural runoff,
urban storm water and sewage overflows. In addition, wildlife and
waterfowl feces contribute to high levels of E.coli in both beach
sand and water.
Under the uniform beach
monitoring program, counties test beaches up to four times a week
and post an advisory sign warning swimmers that there’s “an
increased risk of illness” whenever the water quality criterion of
235 colony forming units (CFU) for E. coli is exceeded. A red STOP
sign that closes the beach is posted when E. coli levels exceed
1,000 CFU, indicating a “serious risk” of illness, or whenever
local health officials think it’s warranted due to sewer
overflows, heavy rainfalls, or other triggers, Glymph says.
She says that it’s hard to
predict what 2007 will hold for beachgoers, given that the past
four years of monitoring haven’t shown whether beach water quality
is improving or getting worse, but often reflects weather
conditions, primarily rain that washes pollutants on streets, farm
fields, construction sites and other surfaces into the water.
Dry years, like 2005 and 2003,
have had fewer water quality problems than 2004, a year with 50
more days of rain. Summer 2006 had fewer closures and advisories
than in 2004, but more than in 2005, according to DNR’s
2006 Annual Report to EPA.
Wisconsin in 2003 became the
first to fully implement a beach monitoring program in accordance
with federal program criteria and has been held up by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency as a model for other states. The
2007 program will be funded primarily from a $225,270 federal
grant DNR has secured from EPA for the purpose, most of which is
passed through to local governments. Under state law, local
governments are responsible for testing their local beaches unless
they are on state properties or owned by tribal governments.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Toni Glymph (608) 264-8954; Nicole Richmond (608) 266-0152
Wisconsin communities prepare
for emerald ash borer
MADISON -- Wisconsin communities
have a new resource to assist in their preparation for the
possible arrival of the invasive forest best, the
emerald ash
borer. The Emerald
Ash Borer Toolkit for Wisconsin Communities is designed for
municipal tree managers and urban forestry consultants and
contains more than 100 documents covering pre-planning, public
awareness, first response, control measures, long-term management
and much more. The toolkit is designed for maximum flexibility to
accommodate the needs of various users.
“There are more than 5 million
ash trees in Wisconsin communities that are at risk from EAB,”
says Dick Rideout, state urban forestry coordinator for the
Department of Natural Resources. “This toolkit will help
communities create plans and muster the resources that will be
needed when this insect comes to town. We have it posted on the
Web so we can rapidly update it as information and recommendations
change.’
The toolkit was initially rolled
out in February as a three-ring notebook, but it has now been
updated and is available electronically on the Internet. It comes
in three formats: a three-ring binder, a CD and as downloadable
files. Municipal tree managers and consultants that advise them
can contact their DNR regional urban forestry coordinator for a
hard copy of the toolkit. Communities that received a toolkit in
February can download the updated files. All others can order the
CD or download the files from the Web site.
The emerald ash borer is a small
but destructive insect which appears as a bright green half-inch
long beetle during May through August. Native to eastern Asia and
China, EAB was first discovered in Michigan in 2002 and is thought
to have arrived in the United States via wooden cargo packing
materials. During mid-to-late summer, adult beetles lay small eggs
in the crevices of ash bark. These eggs hatch and develop into
wormlike larvae which tunnel under bark to feed and grow until
they emerge as adult beetles the following spring. This feeding,
under the bark, eventually girdles the tree resulting in decline
and eventual death of the tree. Damage from EAB is difficult to
spot and often does not appear until a tree has been infested for
two to three years.
Symptoms of an EAB infestation
include:
- Dying ash with sprouts on the
trunk or at the base of the tree.
- 1/8th-inch D-shaped exit holes
in the bark.
- Winding, S-shaped tunnels
underneath the bark.
- Bullet-shaped, iridescent
green beetles from May to August.
- Increased woodpecker activity
on ash trees.
Do not move firewood
To help prevent the spread of
emerald ash borer people are being asked to
not move firewood.
This insect moves very slowly on its own but may be transported
long distances in infested firewood, logs and nursery stock.
Quarantines and restrictions on the movement of nursery stock and
wood products are in place in infested states. The movement of
firewood by individuals—knowingly or otherwise—is the cause of
most new infestations. EAB is just one of many foreign insect and
disease pests transported on firewood.
Wisconsin stands to lose an
estimated 727 million ash trees to emerald ash borer. An estimated
20 percent of Wisconsin’s street and park trees are ash.
Municipalities face especially heavy losses. Replacement could
cost Wisconsin municipalities as much as $2.4 billion
The toolkit was compiled by the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry
Urban Forestry program with assistance from the Department of
Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), University of
Wisconsin Extension (UW-WEX), the USDA Forest Service and the
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois urban forestry programs.
For additional information on
emerald ash borer visit the State of Wisconsin emerald ash borer
Web site [emeraldashborer.wi.gov]
(exit DNR).
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dick Rideout (608) 267-0843 or Don Kissinger (715) 359-5793
State forest hosts art exhibit
‘with a different point of view’
Opening ceremony and celebrations of
the exhibit June 16 and 17
MADISON – A popular nature trail
in Wisconsin’s largest state forest is being transformed this
summer into an outdoor art gallery that will feature ecological,
social and artistic perspectives on native and invasive elements
and impacts on Wisconsin’s forests.
The exhibit, “Native/Invasive,”
is part of a project called Forest Art Wisconsin. It will include
work by artists from the United States, Europe, and South America.
It is being installed at the Raven Nature Trail on the
Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest located just
east of Woodruff in Oneida County.
The opening of the exhibit
coincides with
Invasive Species Awareness Month (exit DNR) in Wisconsin. The
month-long observance provides an opportunity to recognize the
danger invasives present to the state’s forest resource and to
focus on ways to keep these areas free of invasives.
The exhibit taps into a
cutting-edge trend in the art community. Not only is the forest a
source of artistic inspiration, a trail area also functions as the
gallery, a display area for works of art that normally would not
be found there.
Forest Art Wisconsin is a
cooperative effort of a number of organizations, including the
Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division and the
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The public is invited to the
opening ceremony and celebrations of the exhibit on June 16 and
17. DNR Regional Forestry Leader Mike Luedeke will welcome
visitors to the forest art exhibit as part of the opening ceremony
at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 16 at the Raven Trailhead. Artists
will be available from 3:30 to 6 p.m. on June 16. The opening day
will end with a 7 p.m. community dance near the exhibit at the
Clear Lake Campground. Celebrations continue on Sunday, June 17
with various events, performances and tours from noon to 5 p.m.
There is no charge to view the
exhibit at the Raven Nature Trail, located 3.5 miles southeast of
Woodruff on Woodruff Road just off Wisconsin Highway 47. The
starting point of the exhibit site is the parking lot at the Raven
trailhead.
The exhibit is the brainchild of
Ute Ritschel, an artist-in residence at University of Wisconsin
who is curator of the unique display. Under Ritschel’s guidance,
the artists will display mixed-media works that range from
photographs to sculptures along the 1.5-mile trail.
“Nature is so close to everybody
in Wisconsin,” Ritschel said. “People like to be outdoors, and I
want them to see nature with a different point of view.”
The origin of the exhibit dates
to 1995, when Ritschel was curator of art exhibits in private
gardens in her hometown of Darmstadt, Germany. That evolved into
the International Forest Art Path symposium, which gave artists
from various cultural backgrounds a chance to create art in the
Darmstadt forest. One of the artists participating in Ritschel’s
first symposium in 2002 was Laurie Beth Clark, a UW-Madison art
professor and associate vice chancellor for faculty and staff
programs. It was Clark’s enthusiasm that resulted in Ritschel
coming to Wisconsin.
Clark and Ritschel approached the
Division of Forestry regarding a state forest site that could host
a Forest Art exhibit in Wisconsin. Ritschel looked at a number of
sites but was taken with the beauty of the Raven Nature Trail and
its location, according to Steve Petersen superintendent of the
Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest. The trail also
lent itself to the kind of art exhibit envisioned by Ritschel,
Petersen said.
“If a single characteristic is
shared by the various works of art on exhibit, it’s that their
presence in the forest is unexpected, they do no harm to the area,
and they can be viewed as a kind of “invasive” that guides
observers to a greater understanding of forests as a resource that
needs to be cared for and appreciated,” Petersen said
The exhibit will remain in place
through the summer. Guided tours are available daily through June
15 and then on Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 30, and special
arrangements can be made to accommodate large groups by contacting
Megan Lotts at mclotts@wisc.edu.
Information is also available by calling (715) 385-2727.
Details about the exhibit,
including a complete list of the artists, activities and tour
schedule, and directions to the site, can be found at the Forest
Art Wisconsin Web page: [www.forestartwisconsin.com]
(exit DNR).
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Steve Petersen, (715) 358-9225 or Kirsten Held, (608) 264-6036
