Mule Deer Fanatic

“Wyoming’s Wolf Plan Offers ‘Adequate Regulatory Mechanism’ to Manage Wolves, Feds Say”

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CHEYENNE, Wyo. Dec. 14 –The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has approved Wyoming’s Gray Wolf Management Plan, calling it an “adequate regulatory mechanism” that meets the requirements of the Endangered Species Act.

Formal notification of the approval came in a letter yesterday from Service Director Dale Hall to Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Terry Cleveland.

In the letter, Hall wrote, “After careful review and consideration, we determined that the 2007 Plan will provide adequate regulatory mechanisms for conserving a recovered wolf population in Wyoming after delisting and meets the requirements of the Endangered Species Act.”

“The Fish and Wildlife Service’s acceptance of Wyoming’s wolf plan is an encouraging sign that wolves in our state will soon be removed from the Endangered Species List, and that Wyoming will be able to manage wolves on its own terms,” said Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal. “It has been a long and difficult road, and in our discussions we have achieved compromise on issues like the dual classification and the state’s ability to manage wolves in relation to their impact on elk and deer. I salute Wyoming Game and Fish Director Terry Cleveland and his staff for their hard work in developing the management plan. What remains, in terms of process, is for the feds to delist wolves by Feb. 28 of next year.”

Wyoming’s original wolf plan was rejected by the Service in 2004. With the passage of House Bill 0213 by the 2007 Wyoming Legislature, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission had latitude to adopt a new plan that met the requirements of the Service. The plan approved yesterday was adopted by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission on November 16, 2007. The Commission worked with the Service to make several significant changes to Wyoming’s original wolf plan and reviewed public comments before approving the plan and submitting it to the Service.

Under Wyoming’s approved plan, after delisting the Wyoming Game and Fish Department will assume management of wolves in that portion of the state where wolves will be classified as trophy game animals. In the remaining portions of the state, gray wolves will be classified as predatory animals.

The Service has determined that 15 breeding pairs of wolves will ensure Wyoming’s share of a fully recovered population. Wyoming’s plan commits the Game and Fish Department to maintaining at least seven breeding pairs of wolves in the state and primarily outside of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway. The remaining breeding pairs will be located primarily within Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway.

“Approval of Wyoming’s plan is a major step forward in the recovery of wolf populations in the northern Rocky Mountains and should help clear the way for removing them from the Endangered Species List this winter,” said Cleveland. “We’re pleased that the Service has worked with us to find a compromise. Credit goes to the Governor, the Legislature, the Attorney General, and the Commission for their hard work and efforts in moving wolf delisting to this point. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is fully prepared to assume management of wolves in Wyoming, and we are committed to ensuring a recovered population while managing this species in a way that makes sense for people who live and work in wolf country.”

To see the full text of the Service’s letter approving Wyoming’s wolf plan, go to the Wyoming Game and Fish website at: USFWS 2007 Final Gray Wolf Management

Contact: Eric Keszler (307-777-4594)

The Mule Deer Foundation has been pressing the Utah DWR to begin feeding Mule Deer in Northern Utah and the DWR has consented.

More than 10 tons of feed have been spread over areas in Cache, Weber, Morgan and Summit counties.

The DWR enlisted local sportsman’s groups to help deliver the deer pellets and corn to feeding stations throughout the region.
       

Reporter: Tammy Scardino
Estimates in Favor of Mule Deer’s Survival in Southeast Idaho

Posted:
Dec 24, 2007 04:38 PM MST

A team effort has been launched statewide to reduce road mortality of big game animals in Idaho. Data is also being collected to specifically track mule deer populations.

Once a group of Mule Deer are spotted, they’re herded down the hill by helicopter to be met by nets and humans. Doesn’t look like much fun for the deer, but in the long run the tagged ones will provide crucial data for researchers to analyze.

Mark Hurley, Senior Research Biologist: “This is a part of our new Mule Deer Monitoring Program and it includes state wide surveys and state wide estimates of survival.”

Once on the ground, the deer are blind-folded, tagged and a radio collar is placed around their neck. Survival rates will be monitored based on these marked fawns discovered at Blackrock Canyon.

Mark Hurley, Senior Research Biologist: “Mule deer populations are fairly cyclic. Ya know, we need constant and annual estimates of survival in this data we collect so we can understand population cycles.”

Meanwhile, Fish and Game officials in the Mink Creek area are doing quite the opposite, looking for packs of Mule Deer only to scare them away from the roadway by shooting fireworks at them. It’s already being estimated to be a good year for Mule Deer in Idaho. The winter feeding program has not had to be implemented, meaning the deer are doing just fine on their own this year thanks to a mild winter.

Mark Gamblin, Fish and Game Regional Supervisor: “Certainly there is a cost savings for the sportsman for us to not have to spend a lot of money on winter feed, but that isn’t a consideration for whether or not we do feed.”

Remember, deer and other big game animals tend to cross roads at night time and are not as active during the day in order to save up their fat reserves.

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Associated Press – December 25, 2007 3:04 PM ET

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) – Idaho Fish and Game officials near Pocatello are shooting fireworks at mule deer as part of an effort to keep them away from roads where they can be struck by automobiles.

One reason why there could be more deer on the roadways is, biologists are expecting another very good year for mule deer in the state’s southeast.

They’re currently in the midst of documenting mule-deer survival rates this year, an effort that includes chasing down the animals in a helicopter, netting them, then outfitting some with radio collars.

The big reason mule deer are surviving is the mild winter so far in the region surrounding Pocatello.

Officials are optimistic a bumper crop of fawns and adult animals will make it into next spring.

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Wood River Valley

Berkley cautioned against jumping to conclusions too soon as to how well big game will survive this winter. She noted that the flights took place prior to the major winter storm that dumped large amounts of snow in the valley earlier this week.

Regardless, Berkley said the findings are encouraging. She said that in general, the numbers seem on par with the last count the Fish and Game conducted in the same area in 2004.

Berkley said one surprise that came out of the flights was the number of mule deer that are wintering in the valley. She said deer usually head farther south, outside of the valley, during the winter to escape the deeper snows.

“We saw a lot of deer on our flight as far north as Quigley (Canyon),” she said.

Bills Proposed to Limit Hunting Access! Several bills have been proposed in the Colorado Legislature that seek to severely restrict and limit the access to Colorado’s sportsmen. House Bill 1069 presumes all unmarked trails are closed to motorized vehicles. This bill would restrict access to hunters using ATVs and create penalties for infractions. House Bill 1137, sponsored by State Representative Jerry Sonnenberg (R-65), would force the Division of Wildlife to sell an equal amount of public hunting land for every purchase, grant, or gift of hunting land it inherits – an anti-”No-Net Loss” bill. Finally, House Bill 1096, introduced by State Representative Debbie Stafford (D-40) would prevent anyone to hunt behind an enclosure, no matter how large the enclosure. The language is so broadly written that it will eliminate hunting on all fenced properties, regardless of their size.

The Arizona Game and Fish is now estimating that there are 2500 mountain lions in the state. I think that number is way low, personally. Conservatively, the 2500 mountain lions would kill 75,000 deer per year, most of them being mule deer. Hunters are killing less than 8,000 mule deer per year. Imagine what could happen to the deer herd if Arizona had only 500 lions. Of course there are 25,000 coyotes and who knows how many bears to deal with as well.