Post by ridge on Nov 7, 2014 22:37:35 GMT -5
November 6th, 2014 NRC meeting summary
Greetings to members of the Concerned Sportsmen of Michigan, friends and other interested
sportsmen.
There was no wildlife committee meeting today because for the first time in 8 years, there were not
enough NRC commissioners attending the meeting to form a quorum. Part of that is due to the fact
that they are short a commissioner due to Madigans resignation. I talked to one of the Commissioners
and he indicated that it would likely be January before Governor Snyder appoints a new
Commissioner. It will be interesting to see who gets appointed, this will be the first appointment
made since the Legislature imposed educational requirements, requiring that candidates have some
background related to science or wildlife.
State Parks update
Ron Olson director of the state parks division gave an update on changes to the Silver Lake state park
ORV site. Over 650,000 people utilize this part of Silver Lake State park every year and the fact that
permits had to be obtained on site often caused long lines and long wait times during busy times of
the year. The park is adopting a permit reservation system modeled on the State Park reservation
system, which will allow users to obtain permits by phone or on-line, thus eliminating the long wait
times. There will be a modest surcharge for reserved permits or consumers can still wait in line if
they want to pay a lower fee. This change was the outcome of two separate DNR/stakeholder work
groups, as well as public input.
Ron also gave a brief update on the Island Lake land reclamation project. If you remember this
project was mentioned a couple of meetings ago, basically the State is going to sell n
On-metallic mineral rights from the portion of Island Lake State game area that was a former sand
and gravel mine. As part of the bid, whoever mines the remaining sand and gravel has to restore the
reclaimed land to the original prararie habitat that existed there prior to mining occurring. This will
be a long term project expected to take around ten years to finish but will restore a large chunk of
land to be suitable for public use. To date 3 bids have been received and are being reviewed by the
DNR.
Fisheries Update
As a follow up to last months announcement that Asian Carp DNA had been found in the Kalamazoo
River, Jim Dexter talked about the subsequent testing efforts. Further testing found no other DNA
positives for Asian Carp, to date over 2,000 samples have been tested in Michigan. He did mention
that Wisconsin recently had a positive test result in a sample taken from the Fox River, which is also
in the Lake Michigan watershed. 6,000 samples have been taken in the states surrounding the Great
lakes, with two positives. The DNR will continue to aggressively monitor the situation and will also continue to press for hydrologic barriers on the Federal Level, which would prevent carp from getting
into Lake Michigan from the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. He also announced that the DNR is providing
$3.6 million dollars in grants to private entities for invasive species control.
Wolf plan update
The wildlife division announced that it is going to be revising the 2008 Wolf Plan and hopes to have a
revised plan in place to present to the NRC by the March meeting.
DMAP update
Brent Rudolph provided an update on how the revised DMAP test program was going in the 5 county
test area.
The DNR has identified that there are 250 eligible properties in that 5 county area. As of October
29th, 86 applications for DMAP exceptions (either using a firearm during archery season or using DMAP
on an antlered buck) had been received by the Department. 73 exception permits were issued to
allow the use of firearms in filling the permit, 2 were denied. 28 exception permits were issued
allowing 1 permit to be used on an antlered buck, 9 applications were denied. Brent stated that most
of the denials were due to the applicants being unfamiliar with the level of agricultural damage
needed to qualify. To date, only 1 antlered buck has been reported to have been harvested under
the new expanded DMAP program. Farmers have until January 15th to report whether their permits
have been used. All bucks harvested under permit must be surrendered to the DNR, including antlers.
There have been 74 permits issued total, as some of the permits allow both exceptions. In January
the wildlife division will provide a comprehensive report of the results of the first year, this is a 3
year test program. To date there have been no reports of any hunter safety issues related to the
issuance of these permits.
Brent also announced a change in the issuance of disease control permits, which are available to
farmers in designated areas of the NLP where bovine TB is a concern. Outside of the 4 core bTB
counties, disease control permits will now only be issued to farmers who are enrolled in designated
USDA risk mitigation programs. This change was made in cooperation with the Michigan Department
of Agriculture and Michigan Farm Bureau.
Russ Mason also announced that the DNR has created a new position which Brent Rudolph will
occupy, he will be overseeing two deer specialists, a new hire who will be the deer specialist for the
SLP, who was previously the deer specialist for the Indiana DNR and Ashley Autenrieth, who will be
the new deer specialist for the NLP & UP.
Forestry Division Update
Chief Bill O’neill gave an update on forestry production in Michigan. The forestry division prepared
62,000 acres for timber lease auction this year, approx. 926,000 cords of wood. The 200 – 2012
average has been 53,400 acres a year, so there has been an increase in production, which is good
both for the increased revenue generated and also for increased habitat creation for wildlife. About
85% of the leases were sold at auction, with 57,581 acres being leased. One of the reasons for the
increase is the continued salvage of Ash killed by Emerald Ash borer. Revenue is up this year, it
generated $46 million in revenue in 2014, up from $38 million in 2013 and $33 million in 2012. About
$3.5 million of that revenue goes into the wildlife trust fund and can be spent on habitat related
improvement projects. As a totally anecdotal aside, I noticed an inordinate number of lumber trucks on my drive down from TC today. I don’t know if it’s a time of year thing or what but I passed over a
dozen semi’s loaded with everything from hardwood logs to pulp wood to milled timbers and lumber
between TC and Grand Rapids. Maybe just a coincidence but increased timber harvests are a good
thing for wildlife in the NLP.
Oil & Gas auctions
There was an update on the recent oil & gas lease auction that occurred in October. 152,000 acres of
mineral rights were leased, resulting in $2.9 million in immediate revenue, plus the annual royalties
that occur every year during the 5 year lease periods. Since the Natural Resources trust fund has
been capped, that revenue is distributed to a number of different departments, some of it going into
the fish and game fund.
Graymont update
There was a brief update given on the Graymont limestone mine in the UP. After a lot of initial
pushback, graymont has completely revised their proposal and has resubmitted it to the DNR. It is
currently under analysis and there will be further reports over the course of the winter.
That’s about it for this month, hope everyone has a great deer season, stay safe and warm.
Jim Sweeney
Greetings to members of the Concerned Sportsmen of Michigan, friends and other interested
sportsmen.
There was no wildlife committee meeting today because for the first time in 8 years, there were not
enough NRC commissioners attending the meeting to form a quorum. Part of that is due to the fact
that they are short a commissioner due to Madigans resignation. I talked to one of the Commissioners
and he indicated that it would likely be January before Governor Snyder appoints a new
Commissioner. It will be interesting to see who gets appointed, this will be the first appointment
made since the Legislature imposed educational requirements, requiring that candidates have some
background related to science or wildlife.
State Parks update
Ron Olson director of the state parks division gave an update on changes to the Silver Lake state park
ORV site. Over 650,000 people utilize this part of Silver Lake State park every year and the fact that
permits had to be obtained on site often caused long lines and long wait times during busy times of
the year. The park is adopting a permit reservation system modeled on the State Park reservation
system, which will allow users to obtain permits by phone or on-line, thus eliminating the long wait
times. There will be a modest surcharge for reserved permits or consumers can still wait in line if
they want to pay a lower fee. This change was the outcome of two separate DNR/stakeholder work
groups, as well as public input.
Ron also gave a brief update on the Island Lake land reclamation project. If you remember this
project was mentioned a couple of meetings ago, basically the State is going to sell n
On-metallic mineral rights from the portion of Island Lake State game area that was a former sand
and gravel mine. As part of the bid, whoever mines the remaining sand and gravel has to restore the
reclaimed land to the original prararie habitat that existed there prior to mining occurring. This will
be a long term project expected to take around ten years to finish but will restore a large chunk of
land to be suitable for public use. To date 3 bids have been received and are being reviewed by the
DNR.
Fisheries Update
As a follow up to last months announcement that Asian Carp DNA had been found in the Kalamazoo
River, Jim Dexter talked about the subsequent testing efforts. Further testing found no other DNA
positives for Asian Carp, to date over 2,000 samples have been tested in Michigan. He did mention
that Wisconsin recently had a positive test result in a sample taken from the Fox River, which is also
in the Lake Michigan watershed. 6,000 samples have been taken in the states surrounding the Great
lakes, with two positives. The DNR will continue to aggressively monitor the situation and will also continue to press for hydrologic barriers on the Federal Level, which would prevent carp from getting
into Lake Michigan from the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. He also announced that the DNR is providing
$3.6 million dollars in grants to private entities for invasive species control.
Wolf plan update
The wildlife division announced that it is going to be revising the 2008 Wolf Plan and hopes to have a
revised plan in place to present to the NRC by the March meeting.
DMAP update
Brent Rudolph provided an update on how the revised DMAP test program was going in the 5 county
test area.
The DNR has identified that there are 250 eligible properties in that 5 county area. As of October
29th, 86 applications for DMAP exceptions (either using a firearm during archery season or using DMAP
on an antlered buck) had been received by the Department. 73 exception permits were issued to
allow the use of firearms in filling the permit, 2 were denied. 28 exception permits were issued
allowing 1 permit to be used on an antlered buck, 9 applications were denied. Brent stated that most
of the denials were due to the applicants being unfamiliar with the level of agricultural damage
needed to qualify. To date, only 1 antlered buck has been reported to have been harvested under
the new expanded DMAP program. Farmers have until January 15th to report whether their permits
have been used. All bucks harvested under permit must be surrendered to the DNR, including antlers.
There have been 74 permits issued total, as some of the permits allow both exceptions. In January
the wildlife division will provide a comprehensive report of the results of the first year, this is a 3
year test program. To date there have been no reports of any hunter safety issues related to the
issuance of these permits.
Brent also announced a change in the issuance of disease control permits, which are available to
farmers in designated areas of the NLP where bovine TB is a concern. Outside of the 4 core bTB
counties, disease control permits will now only be issued to farmers who are enrolled in designated
USDA risk mitigation programs. This change was made in cooperation with the Michigan Department
of Agriculture and Michigan Farm Bureau.
Russ Mason also announced that the DNR has created a new position which Brent Rudolph will
occupy, he will be overseeing two deer specialists, a new hire who will be the deer specialist for the
SLP, who was previously the deer specialist for the Indiana DNR and Ashley Autenrieth, who will be
the new deer specialist for the NLP & UP.
Forestry Division Update
Chief Bill O’neill gave an update on forestry production in Michigan. The forestry division prepared
62,000 acres for timber lease auction this year, approx. 926,000 cords of wood. The 200 – 2012
average has been 53,400 acres a year, so there has been an increase in production, which is good
both for the increased revenue generated and also for increased habitat creation for wildlife. About
85% of the leases were sold at auction, with 57,581 acres being leased. One of the reasons for the
increase is the continued salvage of Ash killed by Emerald Ash borer. Revenue is up this year, it
generated $46 million in revenue in 2014, up from $38 million in 2013 and $33 million in 2012. About
$3.5 million of that revenue goes into the wildlife trust fund and can be spent on habitat related
improvement projects. As a totally anecdotal aside, I noticed an inordinate number of lumber trucks on my drive down from TC today. I don’t know if it’s a time of year thing or what but I passed over a
dozen semi’s loaded with everything from hardwood logs to pulp wood to milled timbers and lumber
between TC and Grand Rapids. Maybe just a coincidence but increased timber harvests are a good
thing for wildlife in the NLP.
Oil & Gas auctions
There was an update on the recent oil & gas lease auction that occurred in October. 152,000 acres of
mineral rights were leased, resulting in $2.9 million in immediate revenue, plus the annual royalties
that occur every year during the 5 year lease periods. Since the Natural Resources trust fund has
been capped, that revenue is distributed to a number of different departments, some of it going into
the fish and game fund.
Graymont update
There was a brief update given on the Graymont limestone mine in the UP. After a lot of initial
pushback, graymont has completely revised their proposal and has resubmitted it to the DNR. It is
currently under analysis and there will be further reports over the course of the winter.
That’s about it for this month, hope everyone has a great deer season, stay safe and warm.
Jim Sweeney
