Echo

Farmers defend Great Lakes crops from deer

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By Sarah Coefield
Coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 23, 2009

Countless deer descend on crops in the Great Lakes region, leaving in their wake torn corn silks, leafless soybeans, devastated orchards and millions of dollars in damage.  It’s a drop in the bucket for the agriculturally rich region but nonetheless painful for individual farmers. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s a minor amount, but it can be your entire crop,” said Paul Zimmerman, the public affairs executive director for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. While damage may be little noticed on large farms, it can be devastating for small operations where deer can quickly wipe out a field of young soybeans. “Welcome to raising crops in Mother Nature,” Zimmerman said.

Echo

Presidential politics prompt soaring gun sales, help Great Lakes’ wildlife

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By Sarah Coefield
coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 15, 2009

A run on guns and ammo in the wake of President Barack Obama’s election last year may be a boon to Great Lakes wildlife. A federal tax on the manufacture and import of firearms, ammunition, bows and arrows is distributed to states for wildlife conservation and hunter education programs.

And those tax collections are climbing fast. Background checks for gun purchases hit record levels in November and corresponded with significant gun and ammunition sales. Gun enthusiasts say they’re stocking up because they fear interference in gun rights by the Obama administration.

Echo

Registration for proposed managed archery hunt at For-Mar

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(MI) Flint Journal – The Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission has not yet determined whether a managed archery hunt will be used to control the wild deer population causing habitat damage at For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum in Burton. However, potential participants will be prequalified and selected through a special testing program and lottery drawing, in order to be prepared for this fall’s hunting season should the commissioners vote to move ahead with the plan. More

Echo

Cash leaves Mich. on dove wings

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(MI) The Detroit News – Nationwide, 1 million dove hunters will spend more than $1 billion on lodging, licenses and supplies. None of it will be spent in Michigan. Forty states allow dove hunting. And while Texans are the most fanatical, the dove season is a much anticipated gateway to fall hunting in many other places.  More

Wildlife

Special report: The alewife question

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Alewives are a Great Lakes invasive fish that baffle native fish reproduction but give imported Pacific salmon — the target of a profitable fishery — something to eat. What’s a Great Lakes fishery manager to do? Sept. 2, 2009
Alewives: Should Great Lakes managers kill ‘em or keep ‘em? Fishery managers have made little progress in restoring lake trout, the Great Lakes’ dominant predator until the species collapsed in the 1940s and 1950s.

Wildlife

Beware! Food will attract yearling cubs

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(MI) Detroit Free Press – The state Department of Natural Resources last week reminded northern Michigan residents that yearling bear cubs are on the loose — and that means extra precautions. This is the time of year mother bears leave their cubs in preparation for the breeding season. The young bears are attracted to food sources in yards. More

Echo

Lovebird Peregrine falcons found nesting on Durant Hotel downtown Flint and chick Maize is born

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(MI) The Flint Journal – The under-construction former Durant Hotel may not seem like the most romantic rendezvous spot — but that’s where peregrine falcons Barry and Majestic were found nesting a few weeks ago. And their chick, who was born on the downtown landmark’s ledge, has kind of become a University of Michigan-Flint mascot. She was aptly named Maize. More

Echo

New York ballast decision may help control invasive species throughout the Great Lakes

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By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
June 2, 2009

Environmental groups praise a New York Supreme Court justice’s recent decision to uphold that state’s new ballast water treatment requirements, and the shippers say that the standard is just too high. But they both agree on one thing: There should be some federal action taken to regulate ballast water. Ballast water is carried in ships to provide stability. It is taken on when a ship unloads cargo and is discharged when it is loaded up again. It has been blamed for carrying from foreign ports many of the invasive plants and animals altering the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Wildlife

Great Lakes bats threatened by mysterious disease

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By Jeff Gillies, gilliesj@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
June 1, 2009

A mysterious ailment that’s already wiped out more than a million North American bats is headed to critical Great Lakes hibernation sites. White-nose Syndrome, named for the tufts of fungus growing on the faces and wings of afflicted bats, was first spotted in New York in February 2006. The disease has since spread through New England, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Conservationists worry it could spread as far as Mexico. “As quick as it has spread, it’s most likely going to hit the Great Lakes region within one to two years, potentially wiping out 90 percent of bats that hibernate in the region,” said Rob Mies, director of the Michigan-based Organization for Bat Conservation.

Echo

Volunteers documenting ephemeral ponds in eastern Wisconsin

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(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Jody Barbeau wades into a shallow pond in woods less than a mile from shoppers at Mayfair Mall and commuters on congested U.S. Highway 45 – to glimpse a bustling community of other creatures. Two mallard ducks cautiously paddle away from Barbeau, but there is no indication of aquatic life until he lifts a net out of the water. Reddish dots on the fabric are water mites, he said. More