Mentor Recognized for His Dedication

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Brian Malone received the Mentor of the Year award for his dedication to sharing his love of the outdoors and wild turkeys with others. He accepted the award during the 42nd annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show.

The NWTF determined this year's award winners based on how their work strengthens the Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative.

"I'm both humbled and extremely honored to be named the volunteer Mentor of the Year," Malone said. "As sportsmen, the most important thing we can do for the future of hunting and wildlife conservation ... is to leave more than we took for the next generation to come. Take the time to pass down the knowledge that has been passed down to us. Do all that we can to provide education, assistance and hunting opportunities for anyone interested in participating in this sport. Also, work as hard as we can to better, to improve and to protect our natural resources and open spaces."

For more than 30 years, Malone taught others about conservation while taking them on their first turkey hunts. His inspiration and teachings have created a new generation of turkey hunters and mentors. Throughout his professional and personal life, Malone has volunteered at hunter education classes, Turkey Hunting 101 courses and mentored hunts. Malone also was instrumental in the restoration of the wild turkey on Cape Cod, serving as former Dennis, Massachusetts, director of natural resources.

"Brian is a mentor's mentor," said Becky Humphries, NWTF CEO. "Because of his dedication to preserving our hunting heritage, those he first mentored are now recruiting a whole new generation of hunters. We are blessed to have such dedicated and faithful volunteers like Brian."

About the National Wild Turkey Federation
When the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in 1973, there were about 1.3 million wild turkeys in North America. After decades of work, that number hit an historic high of almost 7 million turkeys. To succeed, the NWTF stood behind science-based conservation and hunters’ rights. The NWTF Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative is a charge that mobilizes science, fundraising and devoted volunteers to raise $1.2 billion to conserve and enhance more than 4 million acres of essential wildlife habitat, recruit at least 1.5 million hunters and open access to 500,000 acres for hunting. For more information, visit NWTF.org.

Source: NWTF Media Press Release

Gov. Malloy Announces Launch of Passport to Parks Program, Providing Connecticut Residents Greater Access to State Park System

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Residents with Valid Connecticut License Plates Can Now Access All State Parks for Free

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced the launch of the state’s Passport to Parks program, a new system that supports services at the state parks system while allowing Connecticut residents who have valid state license plates to access all state parks for free, effective immediately.

Created by the bipartisan state budget that was adopted late last year, Passport to Parks is supported through a $10 fee that is being applied through the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to non-commercial vehicles that have new registrations, renewals, and plate transfers registered. These include passenger cars and vehicles with combination plates, as well as motorcycles, campers/motor homes, and vehicles with antique car plates.

Funds generated through this system will provide the Connecticut State Park system – a division of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) – with greater financial support, allowing a number of services at the parks that had been previously reduced to be restored, such as the reopening of several closed campgrounds, increased staffing of state beaches during the summer, and the restoration of regular hours of operation at certain nature centers and museums.

Launching the program now will allow DEEP adequate time to begin restoring these services for the upcoming 2018 spring and summer season, and give time for visitors to make reservations at several campgrounds, including those that had previously been closed.

Out-of-state vehicles will still be charged parking fees ranging from $7 to $22 depending on the park and time of day. Fees to reserve overnight campgrounds for both in-state and out-of-state visitors will still apply.

“Our state parks are one of our most valuable resources, providing recreation and enjoyment to families across our state and serving as an important economic engine,” Governor Malloy said. “Adopting the Passport to Parks system will help ensure that our state parks remain an attractive destination and continue adding to the quality of life and natural beauty we enjoy in our state.”

“We are incredibly grateful to Governor Malloy, members of the General Assembly, stakeholders, and residents of Connecticut who advocated for this program to help fund our state parks,” DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said. “Each year, nine million people visit our 110 Connecticut State Parks, providing enjoyment to all who visit. It is important that we provide adequate funding to ensure a safe and positive visitor experience. With this dedicated source of funding, we are able to restore many of the services that had been previously cut as a result of fiscal constraints.”

“We are happy to help with providing access to many of Connecticut’s tremendous natural resources and give everyone an opportunity to visit and enjoy them,” DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra said.

“Passport to the Parks is a great idea launched at the right time,” Eric Hammerling, Executive Director of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association, said. “Without the revenues generated by the program, there would be further cuts to the state park budget, further closures of campgrounds, and further reductions of full-time and seasonal workers like lifeguards who hold the park system together. We are hopeful that this is a huge leap forward toward both sustainably funding Connecticut’s state parks and opening opportunities for all Connecticut residents to experience them.”

Implementation of the Passport to Parks program will support the restoration of a number of services throughout the state park system, including:

·         All of the state’s eight lifeguarded state park beaches are anticipated to be fully staffed for the summer, including at Hammonasset, Rocky Neck, Sherwood Island, Silver Sands, Black Rock, Burr Pond, Indian Well, and Squantz Pond. (Staffing is contingent upon adequate levels of lifeguards being available each season and adjustments may be made toward the end of the season when many of the lifeguards begin school.)

·        
Hours of operation at the state’s museums and nature centers will be restored from Memorial Day to Labor Day, including at Dinosaur, Gillette Castle, Meigs Point Nature Center, and Fort Trumbul.

·         Four campgrounds will reopen:

o    Devil’s Hopyard (East Haddam) – Opening day of fishing season through Labor Day

o    Green Falls (Voluntown) – Opening day of fishing season through Labor Day

o    Macedonia Brook (Kent) – Opening day of fishing season through Labor Day

o    Salt Rock (Sprague) – Weekend before Memorial Day through Labor Day

·         Spring camping will be restored at the following locations:

o    American Legion and Peoples State Forests (Barkhamsted) – Opening day of fishing season through Labor Day

o    Mount Misery (Voluntown) – Opening day of fishing season through Labor Day

·         Fall camping will be restored at the following locations:

o    Hammonasset Beach (Madison) – Weekend before Memorial Day through Columbus Day

o    Rocky Neck (East Lyme) – Weekend before Memorial Day through the end of September

o    Housatonic Meadows (Sharon) – Weekend before Memorial Day through Columbus Day

o    Hopeville Pond (Griswold) – Weekend before Memorial Day through the end of September

 

This year, the opening day of the fishing season is on Saturday, April 14, 2018.

Reservations at all state campgrounds for the 2018 season can be made beginning at noon on Thursday, February 8, 2018. Camping reservations can be made online through the Reserve America service or by calling 1-877-668-CAMP (2267).

The bipartisan state budget, which was adopted by an overwhelming vote of the Connecticut General Assembly, created the Passport to the Parks non-lapsing account that was to fund expenses of the Council on Environmental Quality beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, and for the care, maintenance, operation and improvement of state parks and campgrounds, the soil and water conservation districts and environmental review teams. Unfortunately, the law was drafted to require appropriation of funds but none were made, necessitating a legislative fix this session. The Governor’s FY19 budget adjustment proposes to fix this problem by moving these government expenditures back on-budget through a separate appropriated fund called the Passport to the Parks Fund.

2019 USA Ice Fishing Team announced today after try-outs.

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Congratulations from the entire Outdoor Scene Nation to our 2019 Individual National Finals Champion is Nick Schertz, Tomahawk Wisconsin.... Kevin Kowalski 2nd, Kieth Kniffen 3rd, Chad Schaub 4th, Anthony Rodriguez 5th, Zach George 1st alternate...More individual heat results, photos fishng videos, awards video later today/ tonight.


Our 2018 USA Ice Fishing team will compete Marc 17 and 18 in Kazakhstan against the world's best teams !

2018 Sweden Team will be tough !

Massachusetts Archery Extended Season ?

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

WESTBORO − State wildlife officials are considering a plan which would add two weeks to the archery hunting season for deer in the eastern part of the state.

Currently, the archery hunting season begins six weeks before Thanksgiving, or Oct. 15 this year, and lasts until the end of the primitive firearms season, which is the end of December this year. The proposal would allow archery hunting starting on Oct. 1.

State officials said the proposal will increase hunting opportunities in a region where the deer numbers are above management range goals of six to eight deer per square mile. It would apply to Wildlife Management Zones 10-14, which include all of southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.

No additional hunting days are recommended for wildlife management zones 1-9, since deer in these areas are within the management range of 12 to 18 per square mile.

The state’s fisheries and wildlife board will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 7 p.m. March 7 at the MassWildlife Field Headquarters, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westboro, where written and oral comments on the proposal will be accepted.

The board will also accept written comments until March 21, either by mail to the Chairman, Fisheries and Wildlife Board, in care of MassWildlife Director, Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, 1 Rabbit Hill Road, Westboro, MA 01581. They can also be e-mailed to Susan.Sacco@state.ma.us and to the marked attention of the fisheries and wildlife board.

During last year’s deer hunt in the Blue Hills Reservation, 10 of the 67 deer taken were by bow hunters, who had 11 exclusive hunting days. It was the third year a limited deer hunt was allowed in the reservation.

The Braintree Conservation Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on March 14 on the question of allowing bow hunting on land under the commission’s control.

Jackson Receives NWTF Lifetime Achievement Award

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In recognition of his contributions to wildlife conservation, Steven Jackson received a national award from the National Wild Turkey Federation.

The NWTF announced Jackson, of Connecticut, as the Wayne Bailey Lifetime Achievement Award winner during the 42nd annual NWTF Convention and Sport Show.

The Wayne Bailey Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a wildlife biologist, trapper or wildlife manager who has devoted his or her career to the wild turkey and played a major role in the turkey's restoration and management.

The NWTF determined this year's award winners based on how their work strengthens the Save the Habitat. Save the Hunt. initiative.

Jackson's interest in wild turkey restoration in states surrounding Connecticut led him to make the necessary contacts and agreements to get the program off the ground in his own state. Considered the "father" of Connecticut's wild turkey program, he contributed countless hours to the effort even before the first wild turkey trap and transfer into Connecticut. From 22 initial turkeys to huntable populations just a few years later, Jackson's work will be visible for many years to come.

"Steven's work for the wild turkey in Connecticut has been essential to the success of the restoration program," said Becky Humphries, NWTF CEO. "In addition to his restoration dedication, it has been his career's work to make sure they flourished."

Ban on coyote-hunting contests moves ahead after lengthy debate

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

A bill banning coyote tournaments survived unchanged after two hours of debate on the House floor Wednesday. It would be the first law in the U.S. that imposes possible jail time on individuals taking part in the competitive hunting of coyotes.

The bill still needs final approval from the House before moving to the Senate. After years of pressure from wildlife activists, the ban on coyote contests was added this year to a broader “housekeeping” bill drafted by the House Committee on Natural Resources and Wildlife.

Vermont would become the second state after California to ban the competitions.

House members took issue with various aspects of the proposed ban but ultimately shot down an amendment introduced by Brian Smith, R-Derby, that would have removed the coyote contest ban from the bill altogether.

Smith’s amendment was split into two votes, one on the ban and associated civil penalties, and the other on additional criminal penalties.

The penalties for hunters who organize or partake in coyote tournaments — up to 60 days in prison and from $400 to $4,000 in fines — would be on the same level as illegally hunting big game. As a separate penalty, offenders would lose their hunting license for at least a year.

Rep. Susan Buckholz, D-West Hartford, said she supported the ban, and thought most hunters did too. But she was among the lawmakers pushing to remove the section imposing criminal penalties.

“This is not something that the judiciary and corrections should have to deal with,” she said of the ban. “This is something new, and an animal that you can take out any time during the year. To send somebody to jail for this is beyond me.”

Like-minded members said the bill should be returned to the House Judiciary Committee for review — a motion that was put to a vote and defeated. Buckholz and others said that if revoking hunting licenses proved to be an insufficient deterrent on its own, the discussion over different penalties could take place down the road.

Responding to claims that the proposed penalties were “overkill,” James McCullough, D-Williston, seized on the word choice.

“Overkill is a very good pun,” he said. “We are talking about the egregious slaughter contest for sentient beings, that are just being slain for the fun of it and prizes and recognition given out for the process.”

He said he doubted his colleagues could bring together the votes to remove the criminal penalties, but they almost did. A roll call vote on removing the section on jail terms and fines went 74-63 in favor of keeping them.

Robert Helm, R-Fair Haven, said the ban was a case of legislative overreach, or at least micromanaging, as issues of wildlife control and conservation had for the past 15 years fallen within the purview of the Fish & Wildlife Board, an independent body.

“Now it appears we are going to sit back in the seat and start driving the bus again for issues that we want,” he said. “The thing that frightens me is that it will catch and we will start doing that repeatedly and repeatedly and be back where we were 15 years ago.”

Vermont’s Fish and Wildlife Department has said that coyote populations are perfectly healthy as is, and has resisted calls for a competition ban or closed season on the animals, which can currently be hunted year-round.

This position has made Louis Porter, the department’s commissioner, one of the main targets of animal rights activists campaigning on behalf of coyotes.

Speaking after Wednesday’s vote, Porter said his agency made conservation decisions based on science, whereas lawmakers were debating what was

essentially a social question of how coyotes should be treated in Vermont.

“This is a decision around whether some people don’t like coyote hunting and would like to see it prevented, not because there is any threat to the coyote population, or any other population, but because they don’t like the activity,” he said.

Porter said that coyotes have an important role in Vermont’s ecosystem, and noted that Vermont’s open season and lack of regulations around hunting the animals was a “middle of the road approach” compared to states with government-sponsored coyote hunting contests.

“I would never, ever advocate for diminishing or eliminating the population,” he said, “but the fact of the matter is that the relatively small amount of coyote hunting pressure that occurs is not any threat to the population, contests or no contests.” Source:

y Colin Meyn VT Digger

Feb 21 2018, 8:37 PM 0

RHODE ISLAND FISHING & HUNTING LICENSES FOR THE 2018 SEASON TO GO ON SALE MARCH 1 WITH NEW ONLINE FEATURES

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

PROVIDENCE - The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) will launch a new, fully online fishing and hunting license system that expands upon current web-based services on Thursday, March 1.

Implementation of the new system is part of statewide efforts to improve customer service and streamline processes. The system will replace paper-based license issuances and accounting methods and builds upon the current offering of online fishing licenses to include hunting licenses, permits, tags, and stamps. Fishers and hunters will be able to access their accounts 24/7, so they can manage their licenses, add new permits and licenses from the comfort of home, on the go, or even out in the field.

The new system secures licensing and registration information electronically and enables customers to save frequently used information, report harvests online, and carry proof of licenses and permits in one document. The system will issue each user a Rhode Island Fishing and Hunting ID, or RIFHID (pronounced Rye-fid). This number is unique to each customer and can be used to quickly access the system to reprint lost or damaged licenses and permits, purchase additional permits, and renew licenses in subsequent years.

Licenses will still be available for purchase at DEM’s Office of Boating Registration & Licenses in Providence and participating sales agent locations across the state. On March 1, residents and non-resident customers will be able to purchase freshwater fishing, recreational saltwater fishing, hunting, and combination freshwater fishing and hunting licenses, as well as trout stamps and spring turkey permits. Starting in April, hunters will be able to report their spring turkey harvest online. In August, hunters will be able to purchase hunting permits for deer, migratory bird, and small game and will be able to report all harvests online.  

There are no additional fees for purchases made online or at DEM. If customers make purchases at a sales agent, there will be an enhanced access fee of $2 per license and $0.50 per permit for residents; for non-residents, the additional fee will be $3 per license and $0.50 per permit.  Enhanced access fees will be used to offset the administrative costs to bill, track, and account transactions at sales agent locations and support system development, operation, support and maintenance.

The enhanced system was developed by Rhode Island Interactive, LLC (RII). RII previously partnered with DEM and its vendors to issue the current online freshwater fishing license, which has been active for over 10 years, and saltwater fishing licenses, which have been available online since 2010.

As part of a larger network of recreational opportunities in Rhode Island, hunting and fishing play an important role in connecting people with nature, supporting quality of life and family traditions, and attracting tourism. Fishers and hunters purchase approximately 70,000 licenses, permits, stamps and tags each year and contribute more than $148 million to Rhode Island’s economy. Revenue generated from license and permit sales support Rhode Island fish and wildlife conservation programs. A critical source of funding, these monies are leveraged to match federal Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program dollars that support outdoor recreational opportunities for fishing, hunting, and boating in Rhode Island.

More information about the new licensing system is available at dem.ri.gov/huntfish. The site also acts as a portal to help plan adventures that make the most of Rhode Island’s great outdoors. The site links to information on hunting and fishing opportunities, trails and natural areas through a variety of maps, as well as certification information for hunter safety and boating safety.

For more information on DEM programs and initiatives, visit www.dem.ri.gov. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RhodeIslandDEM or on Twitter (@RhodeIslandDEM) for timely updates.