U.P. Habitat Workgroup reconvenes with renewed focus on improving deer winter range

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has announced that the Upper Peninsula

Habitat Workgroup has reconvened with new members and a renewed mission focused on improving and conserving critical U.P. winter deer habitat.
The workgroup, comprised of natural resource professionals, private landowners and sportsmen’s groups, is led by Natural Resources Commission member J.R. Richardson of Ontonagon and Jim Hammill of Crystal Falls, a wildlife management consultant who is also a retired DNR biologist.
“The group was reassembled and new members recruited to address the negative impacts of recent back-to-back severe winters on the U.P.’s deer population,” said Richardson. “With an eye on rigorous deer habitat management, our goal will be to develop deer winter range improvement strategies across all land ownerships in the U.P.”
The workgroup’s new mission is to develop comprehensive habitat strategies for identified U.P. deer yards, focusing primarily on lands not managed by the DNR. Private landowners will be offered technical assistance and other incentives to encourage support for maintenance and enhancement of winter deer habitat on their property, such as wildlife habitat and forest stewardship grants.
“The majority of winter deer habitat in the U.P., an estimated 80 percent, is managed by entities other than the DNR,” said Hammill. “The workgroup’s purpose will be to identify these landowners – whether they are paper companies, commercial forest landowners, the federal government or others – and work cooperatively with them to improve critical deer winter range through the use of professional forestry and habitat management practices.”
Members of the U.P. Habitat Workgroup are:

• J. R. Richardson, Michigan Natural Resources Commission
• Warren Suchovsky, DNR Forest Management Advisory Committee
• Bernie Hubbard, Society of American Foresters
• Jeff Joseph, Plum Creek Timber Company
• George Lindquist, Regional Vice President, Michigan United Conservation Clubs
• Randy Charles, U.S. Forest Service, Ottawa National Forest
• Terry DeBruyn, U.S. Forest Service, Hiawatha National Forest
• Terry Minzey, DNR U.P. Wildlife Supervisor
• Dennis Nezich, DNR Forest Resources Division Field Coordinator
• Tony Demboski, Upper Peninsula Sportsmen’s Alliance
• Eric Steir, American Forest Management, Inc.
• Jim Hammill, Iron Range Consulting & Services, Inc.
• Matt Watkeys, Marquette County Conservation District

The workgroup’s next meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 3; meeting time and location will be announced at a later date and posted to the DNR’s online calendar atwww.michigan.gov/dnrcalendar.
For more information about the workgroup, contact DNR U.P. Wildlife Supervisor Terry Minzey at906-485-1031, ext. 311.

MDC reports two new cases of CWD found in Adair and Macon counties

New cases bring statewide total of deer testing positive for Chronic Wasting Disease to 26.Testing by Conservation Department continues.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) reports that two new cases of chronic wasting disease (CWD) have recently been found in north-central Missouri. One was found in an adult buck harvested by a hunter in Macon County and the other in an adult doe harvested by a hunter in Adair County. These two new cases bring the total of Missouri free-ranging deer that have tested positive for CWD to five for this hunting season and 15 overall. The total cases of CWD in Missouri captive and free-ranging deer now stands at 26.

CWD was first discovered in Missouri in 2010 at a private hunting preserve in Linn County. All cases of CWD in Missouri have been limited to Macon, Linn, and Adair counties, which are part of MDC’s six-county CWD Containment Zone. Additional counties included in the zone are Chariton, Randolph, and Sullivan.

As done in the past three years, MDC worked with hunters, landowners, taxidermists, and meat processors to collect tissue samples from adult deer harvested in north-central Missouri during the fall archery and firearms deer seasons. The Department also collected tissue samples from deer harvested in other areas of the state. MDC has collected more than 1,800 tissue samples this season so far and more than 43,000 tissue samples since the Department began testing for the disease in 2001.

MDC staff will work with select landowners in the CWD Containment Zone over the next several months to harvest additional deer for disease testing and will report a summary of all testing efforts and results once completed.

Chronic Wasting Disease infects only deer and other members of the deer family by causing degeneration of the brain. The disease has no vaccine or cure and is 100-percent fatal. There is no evidence that the disease can affect humans.

Missouri offers some of the best deer hunting in the country, and deer hunting is an important part of many Missourians’ lives and family traditions. Infectious diseases such as CWD could reduce hunting and wildlife-watching opportunities for Missouri’s nearly 520,000 deer hunters and almost two million wildlife watchers. Deer hunting is also an important economic driver in Missouri and gives a $1 billion annual boost to state and local economies. Lower deer numbers from infectious diseases such as CWD could hurt 12,000 Missouri jobs and many businesses that rely on deer hunting as a significant source of revenue, such as meat processors, taxidermists, hotels, restaurants, sporting goods stores, and others. CWD also threatens the investments of thousands of private landowners who manage their land for deer and deer hunting, and who rely on deer and deer hunting to maintain property values.

Related articles

• Bill would legalize fenced-in hunting preserves (wcpo.com)
• Missouri deer season ends with harvest of 260,552 (kspr.com)
• Low Deer Count Causes Complaint Among Ohio Hunters (natureworldnews.com)