Pennsylvania trout club project ‘starting to make real difference’ https://ift.tt/2zJjC4J

New Florence, Pa. — The Tubmill Trout Club recently completed yet another habitat project in their namesake watershed.

According to club President Lin Gamble, the project involved the construction of 16 habitat devices – improving approximately 1,000 feet of Tubmill Creek.

Tubmill Creek is a Westmoreland County trout stream that flows into the Conemaugh River. It is stocked by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission as well as the Tubmill Trout Club. The stream is also home to endangered hellbenders, smallmouth bass and some wild brown trout.

The club was formed in 1998, with the goal of repairing the Tubmill Creek watershed that had suffered from years of abuse. This year’s boots-on-the-ground habitat work moves them closer to that goal.

The members’ summer 2018 project on Tubmill Creek included the construction of three modified mudsills, seven framed log deflectors, bank stabilization, the placement of random boulders and building four log cross vanes.

The in-stream work was a joint operation by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission habitat crew and the Tubmill club, which contributed more than 130 man-hours of volunteer labor. The project took five days to complete.

“This is our eighth project on this stream and our club’s 16th project in this watershed, since we began our work in 2008,” Gamble said. “So far these habitat endeavors have improved over 10,000 feet of stream in the watershed benefiting all aquatic life.”

Greg Schaetzle, a watershed manager with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, noted that this and previous Tubmill Creek watershed projects have protected the stream banks and will prevent tons of sediment from entering the stream.

The increased water velocity created by the devices will flush out sediment already present and improve the habitat for fish and other aquatic life. Recent heavy rain and subsequent high water have created deep pools near many of the devices.

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy takes pre- and post-project samples of the watershed’s macro-invertebrates. Their samples of mayflies, stoneflies, caddisflies and other aquatic organisms are used to measure the improvement of stream habitat.

Partners for the project include the Dominion Energy Foundation, Laurel Highlands Mini Grant Program, Robindale Energy Co., the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission, Pennsylvania Growing Greener, and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds.

With favorable weather, the $36,500 project took five days to complete.

Many more people fish these stream sections as compared to just a few years ago, Gamble noted, crediting the improved habitat.

“Our projects have been good for the stream, anglers, the watershed and the economy of the region,” Gamble said.

The stream habitat work will continue through at least 2021, according to Gamble. With funding, next year’s project will improve another 1,500 feet of Hendricks Creek, a tributary to Tubmill Creek.

“With multiple back-to-back projects, we are now getting long lengths of stream that are good to fish,” he said.

“Instead of two spots for fishermen, we now have many good places for people to fish,” said Gamble. “Our work is starting to make a real difference.”

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Minnesota DNR survey sheds new light on spruce grouse population https://ift.tt/2y3KQkn

Grand Rapids, Minn. — The first year of Minnesota DNR’s new spruce grouse survey shed new light on these northern birds that sometimes show up in the bags of ruffed grouse hunters.

A partnership of volunteers, as well as DNR, National Forest Service and tribal staff combined to map out a range for the birds as winter gave way to spring, culminating in Minnesota DNR publishing the results in a 17-page report earlier this month.

“We had no population information,” said Charlotte Roy, Minnesota DNR’s grouse project leader. “When we started, we weren’t quite sure of where the limits of distribution were.”

The survey broke the spruce grouse range down into three regions: a northwest region, or the northern Minnesota and Ontario Peatlands, a northeastern region composed of the Northern Superior Uplands, and a south-central region called the Northern Minnesota Drift and Lake Plains, which doesn’t extend much farther south than Lake Superior.

There were 40 volunteers that contributed, Roy said, noting that it was easier to find volunteers near cities such as Duluth and Two Harbors than in areas such as Red Lake Wildlife Management Area because of the distance volunteers would have to travel for the three-year commitment.

Still, Roy said she was probably most surprised by the level of interest in this lesser-known grouse species.

“There was such keen interest in them,” she said. “They are not a bird that many folks have at the forefront of their hunting or birding goals. I was surprised at the diversity of reasons that people were interested in them, from birders to naturalists to hunters. There were a lot of different types of people that came forward and were willing to dedicate time in participating in the survey.”

Volunteers were trained to conduct a survey on a route, looking for both spruce and ruffed grouse droppings, as well as taking observations regarding tree and cover types. The volunteers made a commitment that they would conduct the survey for three years. That means getting out on a predetermined spot, using a GPS unit, and walking a 100-meter perimeter around it at roughly the time when snow has begun to melt but is still present, making it easier to spot the droppings.

A pilot study determined that surveying grouse droppings was likely the best way to go about conducting the work and trying to build a population estimate and range of the birds. Previously, Wisconsin had used sound call survey, Roy said.

“The birds will respond to that in the spring,” she said. “We tried that but ultimately decided we weren’t getting enough detection to determine population trends.”

Of the three Upper Great Lakes States, only Minnesota has a hunting season for the birds, and as recently as 11 years ago, hunters killed an estimated 27,000 spruce grouse.

But Roy said harvest numbers are not a good way of determining a population estimate because those figures are more driven by the number of ruffed grouse hunters that may be in the woods on a given year.

And because spruce grouse are a northern bird, at the southern extreme of their range in Minnesota, scientists are predicting that the birds will altogether disappear from the Gopher State at some point, as the need for cover and for food shift into Canada.

“I would expect that the temperature would also play a role because of the thermal benefits of snow for roosting and things like that,” Roy said.

Nothing is imminent, but Roy said future decisions regarding the species could be made, but should be made using better science than is currently available.

“We want to make sure that we have good information so that we can manage in a sound way that will allow us to produce good decisions,” she said. “We want to make sure we have this type of information that, if and when the time comes that we have to make changes, we have the best information to do that,” she said.

The initial survey found spruce grouse at 88 sites, which represented 32 percent of the sites surveyed. More sign was found in the northwest portion of the survey region, followed by the northeast region. The survey will be conducted annually. Roy said that the major effort training the volunteers won’t be duplicated again this year, but that if there are people interested in volunteering, they could reach out to their area DNR wildlife office.

There is still work to be done on determining the extent of their range, Roy said.

“We occasionally get reports of birds much farther south than where we are surveying,” she said.

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Hunting, fishing expanded in Ohio wildlife areas https://ift.tt/2zIHLrQ

Oak Harbor, Ohio — For the first time in its history, Ohioans will be able to hunt whitetails at Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge.

At the same time, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Ohio will see expansion of gamebird hunting, small mammals, furbearers, migratory gamebird, and big game hunting, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the two refuges.

The added hunting opportunities in Ohio are part of U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s plan to open more than 251,000 acres to new or expanded hunting and fishing opportunities at 30 national wildlife refuges across the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuge System. This will now bring the number of units where the public may hunt to 377, and the number where fishing is permitted to 312.

This will open more new acres to hunting and fishing than in the past and takes steps to simplify regulations to more closely match state hunting and fishing regulations. The final rule also outlines expanded hunting and fishing opportunities at 136 national wildlife refuges. The changes will be implemented in time for the upcoming 2018-2019 hunting seasons, according to the USFWS.

“American sportsmen and women contribute over a billion dollars a year to fund conservation. Without hunters and anglers, we wouldn’t be able to conserve wildlife and habitat. And, without access to our public lands like National Wildlife Refuges, many hunters would have nowhere to go,” Zinke said in a news release. “The last thing I want to see is hunting to become an elite sport, rather than a tradition passed on from generation to generation. Today’s announcement protects critical conservation funding, and ensures sportsmen have access to public lands for generations to come.”

Hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities contributed more than $156 billion in economic activity in communities across the United States in 2016, according to the USFWS National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, published every five years. More than 101 million Americans – 40 percent of the U.S. population 16 and older – pursue wildlife-related recreation – hunting, fishing, and birding, among others.

“Hunting and fishing are family activities that pass down from generation to generation. National wildlife refuges provide all Americans with places to hunt, fish, observe the natural world firsthand, and experience the great outdoors,” said Cynthia Martinez, chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System. “We are pleased to be able to offer hunting and fishing opportunities and other recreational activities where they are compatible with national wildlife refuge management goals.”

The USFWS manages hunting and fishing programs to ensure sustainable wildlife populations while also offering other wildlife-dependent recreation on public lands, such as wildlife watching and photography. The refuge system is an unparalleled network of 566 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts. There is a national wildlife refuge within an hour’s drive of most major metropolitan areas.

More than 53 million Americans visit refuges every year. National wildlife refuges provide vital habitat for thousands of species and access to world-class recreation, from fishing, hunting, and boating to nature watching, photography, and environmental education. In doing so, they support regional economies to the tune of $2.4 billion per year and support more than 35,000 jobs.

Under the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, the USFWS permits hunting and fishing along with four other types of wildlife-dependent recreation, including wildlife photography, environmental education, and wildlife observation and interpretation, when they are compatible with an individual refuge’s purpose and mission. Hunting, within specified limits, is currently permitted on 340 wildlife refuges and 37 wetland management districts. Fishing is currently permitted on 278 wildlife refuges and 34 wetland management districts, according to the USFWS.

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Two invasive species identified as new threats to Michigan https://ift.tt/2y42WCS

Lansing — Spotted lanternfly, a leaf-hopper native to China and India, and Japanese chaff flower, a plant from East Asia, have been added to the state’s invasive species watch list due to the threats they pose to agriculture and the environment.

Already found in Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Virginia, spotted lanternfly is spreading through eastern Pennsylvania. Nymphs (immature insects) and adults suck sap from stems and leaves of more than 70 plants and crops including grapes, apples, hops, walnuts and other hardwood trees.

Japanese chaff flower displaces native plants by forming large, dense stands in floodplains, forested wetlands and disturbed habitat. It currently is found along the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers, reaching counties in nine states including Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

Spotted lanternfly nymphs are wingless and beetle-like, with black and white spots, developing red patches as they mature. Adults are roughly 1 inch long. Their folded wings are gray to brown with black spots. Open wings reveal a yellow and black abdomen and hind wings that are bright red with black spots transitioning to black and white bands at the edge.

Though spotted lanternflies cannot fly long distances, they lay eggs on nearly any smooth surface, including cars, trailers and outdoor furniture. Freshly laid eggs have a gray, waxy, putty-like coating, while hatched eggs look like rows of brownish, seed-like deposits.

“If you’re visiting areas known to be infested with spotted lanternfly, just be sure to thoroughly inspect vehicles or anything left outside before returning to Michigan,” said Joanne Foreman, invasive species communications coordinator with the DNR.

Japanese chaff flower grows up to 6 feet tall, with opposite, simple leaves and a bottle brush-shaped green flower with no petals. Deer heavily browse this plant, and seeds spread by attaching to animals and clothing.

“Spotted lanternfly and Japanese chaff flower aren’t known to be in Michigan, but because they’re confirmed in nearby states and because of the potential damage they can cause, early detection is vital,” Foreman said.

For more information or to report sightings of spotted lanternfly or Japanese chaff flower, visit michigan.gov/invasives or contact Joanne Foreman, (517) 284-5814.

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