U.P. Habitat Workgroup Mtg Feb. 3

[ridge]

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 at www.michigan.gov/dnrcalendar.



For more information about the workgroup, contact DNR U.P. Wildlife Supervisor Terry Minzey at 906-485-1031Call: 906-485-1031, ext. 311.

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Please feel free to correct me.  The above list looks like it is stacked with DNR bigwigs, US Forestry Service, and special interest groups.  Why are there no every day sportsmen or deer hunters?  Is this deck stacked by intention to remove UP deer hunters from the decision-making process?

[daappleknocker]

Ridge, to answer your question, ABSOLUTELY! I will be at this meeting, weather permitting as it is an eight hour drive from my home. This is a subject that I have been interested in and following since my stint on the Michigan Deer Advisory Team, 2008-2010. There were several hunting groups that wanted the ability to siphon off hunter dollars for improvements on private property, the QDMA taking the lead. I was the lone dissenter as I felt it was and IS wrong to spend license fees and tax dollars to improve private property. When I ask the QDMA representative if he used public dollars to improve his private property would he let me hunt on that property? His answer was absolutely NOT, but I would be advantaged IF a deer strayed off his property onto public land then I could shoot it. After much heated debate we finally reached consensus when they added the verbage that public monies could be used on private property if it was in a DWC, or deer wintering complex or as most hunters know as "deer yards". The areas and the deer resource must be in distress.

I have been actively requesting information on the areas and conditions of our DWC's since that time. I have been told several times that the MDNR is in the process of mapping these areas and the work is not complete. I have recently found maps outlining these areas in every county of the U.P. This information can be found on the MDNR site by searching, deer wintering complexes. 

I see this movement as a money grab by some who want to improve their properties for financial gain. Their own language, "our goal will be to develop deer winter range improvement stratigies across ALL LAND OWNERSHIPS IN THE U.P.". Yes, this workgroup is stacked with members and groups who will be advantaged by their decisions. Is their priority to improve deer populations for hunters as it should be, or is it to increase "prey animals" as they (MDNR) promised in the wolf management plan? Why are they finally considering improvements on deer wintering complexes when the populations in these areas are for the most part non-existant? Why did they allow the deer populations to exceed the enviornmental carrying capacity in the late 80's and early 90's which led to the destruction of most deer wintering complexes because of excessive populations during the extreme winters of 95-96 and 96-97? 

These are questions I hope to have answered. I doubt this will happen as many of the members of this group have treated me poorly on past issues. All that I ask is for the truth, something that they evidently are not capable of, and thus the poor treatment.

[ridge]

To sum up your post, daappleknocker, I would call that pay off.  Many of those folks seem to be like the DC folks, if their mouth is open, truth is impossible to find.  Have a safe trip and keep the shovels handy.