Business & Economy

Wildlife researchers unsure about drones

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By MARIE ORTTENBURGER
Capital News Service
LANSING — Perhaps drones could track feral swine to help oust the invasive critter from Michigan. But local researchers hesitate to employ the technology for wildlife management. “There’s a lot of potential for uneasiness,” said Stephen Beyer, who manages wildlife research for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). He cited public fears of surveillance and intrusion on privacy. “We’re a state agency,” Beyer said.

Environment

Beware the new invaders – New Zealand mud snails

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By SIERRA RESOVSKY
Capital News Service
LANSING – New Zealand mud snails were found in the Pere Marquette River and are invading the Great Lakes region, according to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Now outdoor groups are taking steps to prevent their spread to other bodies of water across the state. The agencies announced in September that the invasive New Zealand mud snails
had been found near Baldwin in Lake County. Measuring only 1/8 of an inch long, it’s easier for them than for larger native snails to “hitchhike” on waders and fishing gear, the departments said. And although they live in streams primarily in the western United States, they’re now on the move.

Environment

Collared feral hogs turn traitor to their herds

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan’s feral swine problem just got a biblical solution. Over the past year, a number of feral swine have been collared with radio trackers and released back into the wild for research, said Dwayne Etter, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife specialist spearheading the eradication efforts. But in winter 2016 these swine will unknowingly lead armed parties to their herd’s position, earning them the title of “Judas hogs,” Etter said. While the hogs won’t earn 30 pieces of silver, they will be left alive for research until the following spring, he said. Until then, research efforts include recruiting more hogs via collaring and examining the behavior of several preliminary Judas hogs after their herds are killed off and they’re left alone, he said.

Agriculture

Grants boost hunter access in northern Lower Peninsula

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By MICHAEL KRANSZ
Capital News Service
LANSING — In portions of the northern Lower Peninsula next year, farmers in need of relief from hungry deer and hunters in search of turf might mutually benefit from an expanded state land-access initiative. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) initiative, called the Hunting Access Program, would open more private land to hunters in the northern Lower Peninsula with a new federal grant of nearly $1 million. Among the counties included are Alcona, Montmorency, Emmet, Cheboygan, Antrim, Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Manistee, Mason, Lake and Wexford. Currently, only landowners in Southern Michigan, mid-Michigan and the eastern Upper Peninsula who want to be paid to open their property for hunting are eligible, said Mike Parker, the DNR biologist spearheading the program. Landowners set restrictions on the type of hunting and can earn up to $25 per acre, depending on the type of hunting allowed and habitat quality, according to DNR.

Agriculture

Land cap not a problem for DNR

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By STEPHANIE HERNANDEZ McGAVIN
Capital News Service
LANSING — The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reports no negative outcomes from the initial cap on its land ownership of 4.626 million acres statewide, which was implemented by state law in 2012. While some feared that the initial land caps would hurt the DNR’s ability to maintain its lands and achieve its environmental goals, Sen. Tom Casperson, an Escanaba Republican, said that the caps were never meant to harass or limit the department, but simply give it guidelines. “It has been irrelevant because we had put some grace that allowed the department to keep buying. The intent was to not cut them off but set up a parameter,” said Casperson. “Right now, there’s 20,000 acres still left and the cap hasn’t held anything up — it’s just more that it’s there.“

DNR public information officer Ed Golder said that although the initial land cap has yet to hurt the department, it continues to work with the Legislature to avoid being limited in future land management.

Environment

Salmon face spawning season challenges

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By AMELIA HAVANEC
Capital News Service
LANSING – Every fall, thousands of chinook and coho salmon return to northern Michigan rivers to spawn, counted at state collection sites in Manistee County and Traverse City. But this year’s fishing season has its own set of challenges – a balancing act between weather and food supply has gone off-kilter – with fewer salmon as a consequence. “From what we’re seeing, it’s looking like a pretty low year,” said Edward Eisch, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) acting fish production manager. Salmon fishing has been part of a 50-year saga since Pacific salmon were introduced to Lake Michigan in the mid-1960s. To alleviate the environmental impacts of exotic and invasive fish in the Great Lakes, fisheries increased the number of Pacific salmon that would feed on rainbow smelt and alewives, according to Randy Claramunt, a DNR fisheries research biologist based in Charlevoix.

Environment

State fights illegal trafficking in bear parts

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By COURTNEY BOURGOIN
Capital News Service
LANSING — Government agencies and advocacy organizations are working to make sure the sun sets on Michigan bear poaching. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) arrested four people in early August for illegally purchasing and selling black bear parts. And the House Natural Resources Committee has passed a set of bills that call for stricter poaching penalties. The measures already won Senate approval and await action by the full House. Overseas demand for organs motivates poachers to kill the animals through unlawful methods, whether by hunting off-season or exceeding legal limits, DNR officials said.

Environment

Lawmakers mull tougher poaching penalties

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By BROOKE KANSIER
Capital News Service
LANSING – Poaching can mean serious problems for wildlife management – especially for Michigan’s struggling and carefully managed populations like moose and elk, according to the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC). And state officials are working to curb it. A bill package going through the Legislature would increase penalties for poaching in the form of a steep hike in restitution that poachers must pay to the state. The legislation would also lengthen hunting license suspensions for some violations – poaching a moose or elk, for example, would get a 15-year suspension for a first-time offense and a lifetime ban for repeat offenses, up from a flat three years per violation. “So when poachers do get caught, it really hits them in the wallet,” said Sen. Phil Pavlov, R-St.

Business & Economy

New grants to promote more snowmobile trails

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By SIERRA RESOVSKY
Capital News Service
LANSING – Expansion of snowmobile trails could boost local economies, but may lead to conflicts about crossing private land as well, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said. In a move to head off such conflicts, a new state grant program will allow local governments and organizations to purchase permanent easements for snowmobile trails that cross private property. According to DNR recreation specialist Ron Yesney, half of Michigan’s snowmobile trails are on privately owned land. And although easements are necessary to use those trails, that use is at the discretion of the landowner. Twenty-five percent of the trail system is on state forest lands that are open to snowmobiling.