Tag Archives: u.s. fish and wildlife service

Feds release state-by-state report on hunting, fishing and wildlife watching

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South Dakota leads the country in the percentage of residents who hunt, and Minnesota ranks second, behind Alaska, in the percentage of residents who fish.

Those are just a couple of the statistics that jumped out at me in the state-by-state overview from the 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the state overview Tuesday, a follow-up to the preliminary national survey results that came out in mid-August. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has conducted the survey every five years since 1955.

For the record, 21 percent of South Dakota residents hunt, and 32 percent of Minnesota residents fish — second only to Alaska, where 40 percent of residents fish. Alaska also came in a close second in the percentage of residents who hunt, tied with Mississippi at 20 percent.

Wildlife-associated recreation such as bird-watching gained participants in 28 states since 2006, the new report indicated.

“The State by State data from the National Survey is where the rubber meets the road for state fish and wildlife agencies,” Dr. Jonathan Gassett, commissioner of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources Commission and president of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, said in a statement. “These results help each state set the course for future fish and wildlife conservation and they help quantify the results of investments that each state has made in its wildlife-related recreation programs, especially hunter and angler recruitment and retention programs.”

In North Dakota, 28 percent of survey respondents said they watched wildlife near their home, while resident anglers spent 74 percent of their fishing days in-state and 26 percent of their time out of state.

Minnesota anglers, by comparison, spent 80 percent of their fishing time in the state.

I’m having trouble interpreting the hunting results for North Dakota and Minnesota, so I’ll leave it at that for now. To read the full state-by-state survey, click here:

 

Sportsmen’s groups respond to federal wolf delisting plan

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Here’s what a couple of sportsmen’s groups had to say today about the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to remove wolves in the Great Lakes region from federal protection under the Endangered Species Act:

 “This announcement is a major victory for sportsmen, conservation, and wildlife management. We applaud the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their decision to recognize the scientific facts regarding wolves in the Great Lakes region. This is how the Endangered Species Act is supposed to be implemented. When animal populations recover, those species should be removed from the list and returned to state management. This has been a long, hard fought battle and is not likely over as we expect the animal rights lobby to turn to the courts to stop the delisting. We will be ready.”
— Rob Sexton, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation senior vice president.   

 “Barring any legal holdups from animal rights activists, we should see science-based wolf management and control measures go into effect by February, and that’s great news for conservation overall in the Great Lakes region.”
— David Allen, president and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Feds to remove gray wolves from Endangered Species List

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Photo: National Park Service

A development that can’t happen fast enough for many in northwest Minnesota occurred this morning, when Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced plans to remove the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List in the Great Lakes Region.

The Great Lakes Region covers Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and portions of adjoining states, including North Dakota.

Salazar said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is publishing a rule in the Federal Register to delist wolves in the Great Lakes Region. The rule becomes effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

That means management of wolves will return to the states next month. The population in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin now exceeds 4,000 animals and Minnesota’s population alone is estimated at 2,921 wolves. That’s more than twice the 1,400 benchmark called for under federal recovery goals.

Each state has developed a plan to manage wolves after federal protection is removed.

“Gray wolves are thriving in the Great Lakes region, and their successful recovery is a testament to the hard work of the Service and our state and local partners,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “We are confident state and tribal wildlife managers in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin will effectively manage healthy wolf populations now that federal protection is no longer needed.”

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has scheduled a conference call for 11 a.m. today to discuss specifics of the wolf delisting and how the state will manage wolves. I’ll provide updates here as they become available.