Spring Hearings 2020
https://dnr.wi.gov/About/WCC/
Online voting will go live at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 13, and be available for 72 hours.
*****
We can all make a difference for birds
and other wildlife by completing the Spring Conservation Congress
online survey available April 13-16 at
https://dnr.wi.gov/About/WCC/ springhearing.html
Anyone that lives in Wisconsin can answer the questions in the
survey. The recommendations below were prepared by the Chequamegon
Audubon Chapter.
Please share this information with other interested
conservationists to provide feedback to our state wildlife managers.
For more information about the impacts of lead on birds, please see the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Partnership (WBCP) Issues paper, "Lead Poisoning in Wisconsin's Birds".
For more information about the impacts of lead on birds, please see the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Partnership (WBCP) Issues paper, "Lead Poisoning in Wisconsin's Birds".
Thanks,
Neil Howk, president of Chequamegon Audubon*****
We can all make a difference for
birds and other wildlife by completing the Spring Conservation Congress online
survey available on April 13-16 found at https://dnr.wi.gov/About/WCC/springhearing.html
Anyone that lives in Wisconsin can answer the questions in the
survey. Most important are the following
questions (even if you only have time to answer these, especially #1-#7 which
deal with banning lead ammunition on state lands and #28 which opposes the Back
Forty Mine):
1-7: YES 19: YES 28: YES 48: YES
55: YES
10: NO 21: YES 31: NO 49: YES
16: YES 22: NO
33: NO 50:
NO
18: NO 24: YES/NO
34: NO 52: YES
1-7: YES to
support banning lead ammunition on Wisconsin State lands. Lead poisoning is still one of the leading
causes of death for bald eagles. This is so important to prevent devastating
lead poisoning in birds, wildlife, and humans (especially children). For excellent and detailed information on
this subject, go to http://www.huntingwithnonlead.org/
10: NO to
increase the length of the deer gun harvest season. As a population management tool to
reduce the deer herd and encourage forest regeneration, #24 lengthening the
season before the current opening (closer to the rut), would be more effective.
16: YES to
restrict the use of deer baiting and feeding to reduce the spread of CWD
(Chronic Wasting Disease) and other disease.
18: NO to
a spring hunting season for bears. A
spot and stalk hunting tactic would be difficult in heavily timbered areas like
northern Wisconsin, leading to more baiting as a probable hunting method. Bears currently get 40% of their diet from bait piles. This would extend the baiting season from
mid-April through fall harvest and result in an even greater percentage of
their diet from unhealthy/unnatural foods found in bait piles. Black bears are also listed as a CITES
(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) species because have a
look-a-like subspecies somewhere in the world that is/are endangered and on
Appendix I. This would require federal approval to extend
the harvest.
19: YES to
earn a Buck. This is a tool to reduce
deer herds and limit the spread of CWD.
21: YES to
give more authority to the WDNR to determine baiting and feeding
regulations.
22: NO to
allowing the CDACs (County Deer Advisory Committee) to make recommendations
regarding baiting and feeding in their counties. CDACs are not biologists and can be subject
to pressures of local constituents on baiting and feeding, even if they are not
scientifically based. The effort here is
to limit the spread of CWD.
24: YES to
increase the length of the deer gun harvest season opening earlier than the
current season. An earlier opening
season (closer to the rut) is a good population management tool to reduce the deer
herd and encourage forest and ecosystem regeneration. However, we struggled with this question
because this would also result in an increase in lead poisoning in birds and
other wildlife, especially bald eagles, so some might want to vote NO on this question. Ultimately, Audubon wants to both encourage
WDNR deer population management tools that result in better forest regeneration
but also encourage a switch to non-toxic ammunition.
28: YES to
oppose the Back Forty mine and support water quality for the Menomonie River
and Lake Michigan, one of the largest watersheds in Northern Wisconsin and
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
31: NO to
an opening an experimental trapping season for badger. We feel there needs to be more data on
population parameters and demand before a trapping season is opened.
33: NO to
a change which would allow the use of cable restraints in trapping fox, coyote,
and bobcats beginning on the first day of the season for those species? Annual
surveys show that trappers catch about 40-50 dogs in cable restraints annually,
all of them released with no injury. However, to push the
cable restraint season earlier would result in greater potential trapper - dog
owner interaction and possible conflict with fall "walkers", be they
bird hunters or hikers.
34: NO to
extending the bobcat season. This
request is not biologically based.
48: YES to
restoring fish passage for migrating (lake run) fish to the Iron River in
Bayfield County. This will decrease the
need for hatchery trout being released into Lake Superior, allowing natural
reproduction to take over. The disease
issue is of less concern after high waters have already allowed natural fish to
access the fishery without any problems.
49: YES to
support the WCC recommending that the DNR and Natural Resources Board study the
buffalo fish species to determine and establish appropriate levels of harvest
protection within Wisconsin waters? This
is a native fish species that is currently categorized as a “rough fish” and as
a result has no bag limit (unlimited harvest) and needs protection.
50: NO to allow boating in excess of
slow-no-wake on lakes with 50 or more acres of surface water not currently
restricted to slow no wake zones. This
could have an negative impact on
nesting loons, waterfowl, and other wildlife using lakes
if boats, jetskis, etc run at high speeds near shorelines.
52: YES to
support 3 day non-resident wild rice license.
State and tribal wild rice committees have been supportive of this
concept. If allowed the
opportunity to harvest the wild rice, it would encourage stewardship of wild rice
by non-resident shoreline owners and give family members of resident ricers
opportunities to harvest with them. We
may also gain greater support not only for wild rice management, but for the
overall need to protect wetlands.
55: YES to
support the legislature creating an alternative funding source in addition to
license fees to fund the WDNR’s wildlife and fisheries management
programs. As the number of hunters
continues to decrease, so has funding for important fish and wildlife programs
that their license fees support. Another
source of funding is important.