QDMA Reaches 50,000 Members and Counting

Quality Deer Management Association

For Immediate Release

QDMA Reaches 50,000 Members and Counting BOGART, GA. – David Wambold of Mascoutah, Illinois, thought his $30 would cover the standard one-year membership in the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA). But when he joined through the QDMA Web site on March 31, he pushed the nonprofit conservation organization to 50,000 active members and earned himself a complimentary Life Membership in the process. “I was looking for help with food plots and habitat improvement, and a friend suggested I join QDMA. He loaned me a couple of his Quality Whitetails magazines, and I also saw the QDMA television show, and I was extremely impressed,” said David, a retired aquatic biologist, whose family jointly owns a 100-acre hunting property. “I never win anything, so it was a complete surprise when I learned I had won a Life Membership. From what I’ve seen of QDMA’s materials and message, this is a fantastic prize.” “David’s story is a perfect example for explaining QDMA’s continued growth,” said executive director Brian Murphy. “It is a reflection of the growing interest in deer management, habitat improvement, and land and wildlife conservation. Many deer hunters like David are managing land, especially small tracts, to create quality deer habitat and better deer hunting. QDMA has the information, expertise and support to help them achieve these goals.” With 50,000 active members in all 50 states, Canada and several foreign countries, QDMA is now one of the fastest growing conservation organizations in North America. The milestone in membership was reached just six months short of QDMA’s 20th Anniversary this October, but the majority of QDMA’s growth has occurred in the last decade. When Murphy took the reins of the organization in 1997, QDMA had just 3,000 members, and Murphy was QDMA’s only employee. By 2000, QDMA reached 10,000 members, and momentum was beginning to build. Eight years later, QDMA has 50,000 members and more than 30 full- and part-time employees. Murphy first operated QDMA out of a spare bedroom in his Georgia home; the organization is now headquartered on a 23-acre site just outside Athens, Georgia, that was donated to the organization in 2004. “Our growth is also made possible by an expanding network of volunteers and QDMA Branches across North America,” said Murphy. “We’ve grown from just over 30 active Branches to 175 Branches in the last four years alone. These volunteers are critical to continued membership growth and achieving the association’s educational mission.” QDMA’s growth has allowed the organization to diversify its outreach efforts. QDMA’s message of sound deer management and wildlife stewardship is now conveyed through a multimedia effort that includes Quality Whitetails magazine, Quality Whitetails TV on the Outdoor Channel, publications like the landmark book Quality Food Plots, the QDMA Web site, and QDMA’s Deer Steward certification courses. Additional outreach initiatives under the umbrella of the REACH program include funding for whitetail research, advocacy of sound deer management in public policy, and QDMA’s Mentored Hunting Program for hunter recruitment and retention. “Number 50,000 is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Craig Dougherty, chairman of QDMA’s Board of Directors. “QDMA is all about better deer and better deer hunting, and there are about 10 million deer hunters who have not discovered us yet. When they do, we will see an increase in wildlife conservation activity of historic proportions, with white-tailed deer being the big winners.” Visit us today at www.qdma.com

QDMA Founded in 1988, the QDMA is a national nonprofit wildlife conservation organization with 48,000 members in all 50 states and several foreign countries. Membership in the QDMA is open to anyone interested in better deer and better deer hunting, and committed to ethical hunting, sound deer management and the preservation of the deer-hunting heritage. To learn more about the QDMA and why it is the future of deer hunting, call (800) 209-DEER [(800) 209-3337] or visit www.QDMA.com.

Glastonbury Shooting Range Re-Opens For 2008 Season

Glastonbury Shooting Range
Re-Opens For 2008 Season

Weekend Hours Start April 5, 2008

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that the Glastonbury Shooting Range is scheduled to re-open for supervised public use starting Saturday, April 5, 2008. The range is located within the Meshomasic State Forest off of Toll Gate Road in Glastonbury and has been closed for the winter period. Following extensive renovations completed in 2004, the range has been open during limited weekend hours for the past three seasons. The range will remain open through November 30, 2008 and will be staffed by seasonal DEP employees that are certified range safety officers.

Hours of operation will be from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays only. There is no fee to use the range. The range will be closed to public use during all other times and DEP Environmental Conservation (EnCon) Police officers will strictly enforce hours of operation. Reservations can be made by contacting the DEP Eastern District Headquarters in Marlborough at (860) 295-9523, Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 p.m. Callers may make single time slot reservations for themselves and not more than one other person at any one time. A total of ten covered shooting positions are available during two time periods: 10:00 am – 12 noon and 12 noon – 2:00 p.m. Shooting position assignments will be made at the discretion of the range safety officer. Target stands will be provided at 25, 50, 75 and 100-yard distances, but shooters must supply their own targets and stapler or tape for target placement. Only paper targets will be allowed and shooters should be reminded to bring eye and ear protection, which will be required at all times. Rifles, shotguns, pistols and muzzleloading rifles may be used, however fully automatic weapons are not permitted. The site is handicapped accessible, with a specially designed shooting bench for wheelchair access and includes portable sanitary facilities. Walk-in shooters are welcome and will be accommodated for unreserved positions or as space becomes available. The range may be closed due to severe weather and staffing availability.

Federal funding for site improvements, range equipment and seasonal staffing is provided through Connecticut’s Conservation Education/Firearms Safety Program. Federal funds available to the states through the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act (commonly referred to as the Pittman-Robertson Act), are derived from a federal excise tax on firearms, ammunition and archery equipment. Connecticut receives a special allocation of federal funding that can be used for the construction, operation, maintenance and enhancement of public target and shooting ranges.

Info supplied by: CT DEP

Dive team finds snowmobile of missing Connecticut man

By Nick Sambides Jr

Penobscot

NORCROSS — Maine Warden Service divers found the snowmobile of a missing New Haven, Conn., man in about 40 feet of water in North Twin Lake on Tuesday afternoon.

The 42-year-old man’s family reported him missing when he failed to return about two hours after he left camp at 9:45 p.m. Monday to go sledding by himself.

A member of the 10-man warden’s dive team found the man’s snowmobile in the water near where an almost mile-long snowmobile track from his family’s camp abruptly ended at open water, said Deborah Turcotte, interim spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

“There’s a huge rock out there and the water is very dark,” Turcotte said Tuesday. “There are a lot of trees in the water, too. The wardens can’t even see a foot or so in front of them under the water, so it’s very slow going.”

The missing man has been identified, but wardens are withholding his name because not everyone in his immediate family has been contacted yet, Turcotte said Tuesday evening.

About 18 wardens, including the dive team, participated in the search Tuesday. The divers went into the water at about noon and some were still immersed as of 5:45 p.m., Turcotte said. The search was called off at about 6:20 p.m., but is due to resume this morning.

Norcross is a sparsely-populated area off Route 11 near Quakish and Elbow lakes about three miles west of Millinocket. The Golden Road and a railroad freight line run nearby. The man’s family has had a camp on North Twin Lake for generations, Turcotte said.

Since early last month, wardens have been pleading with snowmobilers to be aware of the changing surface conditions as temperatures rise and ice melts, often rapidly. Areas that might appear to be solid could be undermined by welling water and rapid currents, they have said.

A combination of both, plus darkness, likely contributed to the Norcross accident, Turcotte said. She warned snowmobilers to avoid water bodies and stick to groomed trails.

“The ice is opening up rather quickly. Where there could be ice in the early morning has opened up by early afternoon,” Turcotte said, adding, “I don’t know if that was the case here.”

Some power companies are drawing down lakes to accommodate the spring runoff, which leaves behind open water and open shores.

Ten snowmobiling fatalities have been reported so far this season, and Tuesday’s search was the warden service’s third in three days, although the first to involve a dive team, Turcotte said. As many as 90,000 people ride snowmobiles in Maine during the season.

The most fatalities reported was 16 in the 2002-03 sledding season, she said.

nsambides@bangordailynews.net

Bangor Daily News.com

DEP 2008 Preseason Trout Stocking Well Underway

DEP 2008 Preseason Trout Stocking
Well Underway

Trout fishing season opens on Saturday, April 19^th
Preseason angling opportunities available at the
State’s Trout Management Areas

FIND YOUR RODS, DUST OFF YOUR LURES, CHECK YOUR WADERS, AND GET READY FOR OPENING DAY OF TROUT FISHING SEASON! The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is also gearing up for the 2008 season. DEP’s Inland Fisheries Division began its annual spring trout stocking on March 4th, and expects to have over 400,000 trout stocked throughout the state by Opening Day on April 19, 2008.

“Opening Day is an excellent opportunity for families to get outside and experience a day of trout fishing,” said Gina McCarthy, Commissioner of the DEP. “Fishing in our state’s beautiful streams and lakes is something we’re encouraging people to do more of as part of our No Child Left Inside campaign. All of Connecticut’s residents should get ready to go trout fishing on April 19.”

Anglers can enjoy a variety of trout fishing experiences in Connecticut, ranging from the local stream to specially managed areas such as Trout Parks (frequently stocked and ideal for families), Trophy Trout Streams (stocked with more large fish), and Trout Management Areas (catch-and-release fishing). “Connecticut’s anglers can look forward to exceptional trout fishing this spring,” said Commissioner McCarthy. “Thanks to the hard work of the staff at our hatcheries, our fish made it through the winter in excellent condition and are now more than ready to battle Opening Day anglers.”

As part of its “No Child Left Inside” initiative, DEP has also initiated a pilot Urban Fishing program to enhance fishing opportunities at attractive, easily accessed locations in Connecticut’s major population centers. All four of the ponds designated as Urban Fishing areas, Keney Park Pond (Hartford), Lake Wintergreen (Hamden), Bunnells Pond (Bridgeport) and Mohegan Park Pond (Norwich) will be stocked this spring prior to Opening Day.

Over 200 truckloads of trout will be distributed throughout the state in preparation for Opening Day. These trout will be released into 101 lakes and ponds and 201 rivers and streams throughout Connecticut. The following species & sizes will be stocked for Opening Day:

62,250		brook trout	(10-11 inch)
214,300		brown trout	(10-11 inch)
7,900		brown trout	(12 inch)
8,000		tiger trout	(10-12 inch brook/brown hybrid)
89,000		rainbow trout	(10-12 inch)
18,650		rainbow trout	(12-14 inch)
1,680		surplus broodstock	(3-10 pound trout)

^{An additional 1,100 broodstock Seeforellen strain brown trout ranging in size from 1 to 15 pounds were stocked into 15 lakes and ponds in late December, 2007. The broodstock were released into Amos Lake, Bashan Lake, Black Pond (Middlefield/Meriden), Black Pond (Woodstock), Cedar Lake (Chester), Coventry Lake, Crystal Lake, Long Pond, Mashapaug Lake, Mohawk Pond, Mt. Tom Pond, Stillwater Pond, Tyler Lake, West Hill Pond and West Side Pond.}

^{Trout anglers looking for an early start to the fishing season can visit one of the state’s sixteen Trout Management Areas (TMA). All these popular areas are open for pre-season catch-and-release fishing. The TMA’s on the Mill River (Fairfield), Saugatuck River, Pequabuck River (including Coppermine Brook), Hammonasset River, Hockanum River, Mill River (Hamden), Naugatuck River, Farmington River, Mianus River, Willimantic River, Moosup River, Yantic River, and Salmon River have already been stocked. Additional TMA’s are located on the West Branch-Farmington River and Housatonic River (Bulls Bridge and Housatonic River TMA’s). Class I Wild Trout Management Areas (WTMA) are also open year-round for catch-and-release fishing, and are located on Deep Brook, Eightmile River, Hawleys Brook, Beaver Brook/Merrick Brook, Macedonia Brook, Mill River (in Easton), Quinnipiac River, Tankerhoosen River, and Wachocastinook (Riga) Brook. Additionally, downstream portions of five of the designated Sea-run Trout Streams (Eightmile River, Farm River, Hammonasset River, Latimer Brook, Whitford Brook) are open year-round with a two trout per day creel limit and a fifteen-inch minimum length.}

^{Anglers should consult their 2008 CT Angler’s Guide for detailed information on specific locations and angling regulations. Angler’s Guides are available at all Town Clerks Offices and at tackle shops and other vendors that sell fishing licenses. Also, new for 2008, anglers can now purchase their fishing licenses online. Both the Angler’s Guide and the online licensing system can be accessed on the DEP web site at: www.ct.gov/dep/fishing}

from: CT DEP Website

Stupid deer law? You be the judge.

How Laws Get Passed (the unauthorized version):

State Department of Natural Resources Director Rebecca Humphries wants to make it legal to kill albino deer during the whitetail deer season in Michigan, reversing a ban that has been in effect for 20 years or so.

Humphries argues that the law, as it now stands, is both an unreasonable burden on hunters and biologically unsound.

So why does the law exist? The answer appears to be a classic tale of a senator using the state legislature as his personal playground.

According to DNR spokeswoman Mary Detloff, the protection order on albino deer – pure white creatures with pink eyes – was the work of former state Sen. Joe Mack, a Democrat from Ironwood who fiercely represented the Upper Peninsula for 30 years in the House and Senate.

Mack, Detloff wrote in an e-mail to me, “apparently had a constituent at the time who had a pet albino (deer) they wanted protected. When the game laws were codified in the early 1990s, the law became a wildlife order that has since stood.”

I’d love to hear that from Mack, himself, but he died in 2005 at age 85.

The Natural Resources Commission will likely invite public comment on Humphries’ proposal before deciding whether to adopt it or not.

from: Lansing State Journal

Deer/ habitat seminar April 12

Gladwin County Record

GLADWIN COUNTY — The public is welcome to attend a deer/habitat management seminar, “Deer and Deer Hunting – Looking into the Future”, April 12 at the Gladwin High School, 1400 N. Spring St. Doors open at 11:15 a.m.

Topics and speakers include:

• 12 p.m. – “Hunter Perspectives of QDM”, Leon Hank, president, QDMA State Chapter.

• 1 p.m. – “Concepts of Deer Management & Future Changes”, Brent Rudolph, research biologist, Michigan DNR.

• 2 p.m. – Break – Open Discussion.

• 2:30 p.m. – “Answers to More Effective Food Plots & Site Layouts”, Ed Spinazzola, director QDMA National Office; author, Wildlife Food Plot Books and Articles.

• 3:30 p.m. – “Managing Forest for Profit & Wildlife”, Gerald Lambert, professional, specializing in Forest/Wildlife Management and Timber Sale Taxation Issues.

• 4:30 p.m. – Question and Answer Period, Hank, Rudolph, Spinazzola and Lambert.

A dinner/social will immediately follow the seminar. A buffet dinner will be served along with a cash bar. Food and beverages are available for purchase from the Gladwin Athletic Booster Club. Food plot vendors will be on site.

This event is sponsored by the Mid Michigan Branch of the QDMA representing Clare, Gladwin, Isabella and Midland counties.

The next general membership meeting is June 28, 2008 at Jay’s Sporting Goods/Outback room in Clare at noon. The 7th annual fundraiser banquet is Sept. 13, 2008 at the Doherty Hotel in Clare. There will be a great dinner, live and silent auctions, raffles, games and much more.

To RSVP or for more info, call Richard King 989-426-9181, Frank Myers 989-386-9194 or Phil Andres 248-360-8221.

Barbour gets bill allowing the hunting of deer over grain or other food

JACKSON, Miss. –

The House has sent the governor a bill that allows deer hunting over grain or other food.Critics say the practice takes the sport out of hunting. Supporters say it’s a means of controlling the state’s growing deer population.

Under the bill, food must be placed in feeders or spin feeders.

The bill passed the House 68-51 on Monday. The law takes effect July 1.

When questioned about the practice of hunting deer over food, House Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Chairman Bo Eaton, D-Taylorsville, responded: “It’s all about ethics. If you feel like it’s unethical, then don’t do it.”

 

 

The bill is House Bill 1089.

The Associated Press

Mysterious bat disease hits Conn.

 

White-nosed syndrome — a mysterious disease that has decimated bat populations in New York state — has spread to Connecticut. The state Department of Environmental Protection announced Friday that they have found bats afflicted with the disease in a hibernating area in northern Litchfield County — one of eight places where the DEP monitors bat populations.

“I was holding out some hope we wouldn’t see it in Connecticut,” said DEP wildlife biologist Jenny Dickson. “But we checked this site on Wednesday and found it.”

The disease — also found in Vermont and Massachusetts — is called white-nosed syndrome because the a white fungus grows on the noses of the bat afflicted with the disease. But scientist have no idea whether the fungus growth causes the disease, which may kill 80 percent of the bats in some caves in New York state, or whether its simply one of several symptoms associated with the disease.

The disease is causing a huge worry among environmentalists because bats are, by far, the best predators of night-time insects in nature.

“People think of things like mosquitoes, but it’s much broader than that,” Dickson said. “Bats control agricultural pests and insect pests that can damage the forests.”

By Robert Miller STAFF WRITER: News Times.com

QDMA convention set in Chattanooga again

Huntsville TimesQDMA convention set in Chattanooga again

The Quality Deer Management Association will hold its annual national convention July 24-27 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

The event features exhibits, seminars from noted wildlife biologists, taxidermy exhibits, live entertainment, youth and ladies activities, auctions and more.

For more information, visit www.qdma.org.

Milford Point sets positive example

Canoers and kayakers paddle out into the Charles E. Wheeler… (Connecticut Post file photo.

What access would there be to Long Beach in Stratford and Pleasure Beach in Bridgeport if those sites were acquired by the federal government and made part of a wildlife refuge? Using the Milford Point unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge as an example, public access would be widely available, officials said this week.

“It has been open to all types of multiple uses, including fishing, boating and hunting, 24/7,” said Milan Bull, of the Coastal Audubon Center at Milford Point.

The state Department of Environmental Protection manages the 840-acre Charles “Shang” Wheeler salt marsh and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has direct control of Milford Point itself.

“There is no camping allowed on Milford Point,” Bull said, “but hiking and fishing are. Literally hundreds of bluefish have been caught off the end of the point.”

When the piping plovers — small sand-colored birds that lay their eggs in sand — are nesting, the immediate area around the nests are blocked off, said Bull and Timothy Chaucer, a naturalist and director of the Gulf Pond Nature Center in Milford.

The plovers, on the national list of threatened species, are particularly affected by human disturbance to their nests, Chaucer said. “The refuge might close off an area during breeding season, but there are nine or 10 months where that isn’t a factor at all.”

If the Bridgeport and Stratford beaches are eventually incorporated into the Stewart B. McKinney preserve, the situation there would be the same or similar, officials said. “We are mandated by law to allow certain recreational activities when we find them compatible with the refuge,” said Rick Potvin, manager of the 70-mile long wildlife area that stretches from Greenwich to Westbrook.

“We need to be relevant to the community and we don’t believe we’d be relevant if we didn’t allow public access,” he said.

Some Stratford and Bridgeport residents have expressed concern that if a proposed sale of Long Beach and Pleasure Beach to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service goes through, they may be kept away from the areas or barred from using them.

The Connecticut Post reported March 2 that the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Ipswich Bay in Massachusetts emphasizes that “wildlife comes first,” an apt expression of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s philosophy.

An early plan developed by the wildlife service provides public access to Pleasure Beach and the Stratford property, via water taxis and a refurbished dock on the Bridgeport side. But some of the park-like features many say they want — camping spots, cookout areas, pavilions, picnic tables, volleyball nets and designated swimming areas — are not included in the early plan.

The wildlife service envisions a more passive experience, with visitors strolling along nature trails, walking on boardwalks and pausing at viewing stations and scenic overlooks.

Federal wildlife officials have said they will seek local public input before final decisions are made here.

Potvin said that although the purchase by the federal government for incorporation into the McKinney preserve is “far from a done deal,” his staff has prepared a public access concept, anticipating what might be allowed at Pleasure Beach and Long Beach.

“Overnight outings might be allowed at Pleasure Beach, and there could also be a boardwalk” connecting the two sites,” the federal official said. The docks might be redone to allow water taxi service to Pleasure Beach, he said.

There is no money appropriated for the purchase, expected to cost $10 million or more, Potvin said. “If we knew the land would be transferred to us, we would do a series of pre-acquisition surveys, asking the public what they’d like to see.”

William Lipsky, who lives near Milford Point, said that access to the refuge area has never been an issue for him or his neighbors.

“There is a sign right on Milford Point that says there is public access to the water,” he said. “There’s never been a problem. But you almost never see anyone out there, not even the fish and wildlife service.”

Lipsky said he and his Cedar Beach neighbors have had more problems with the DEP about speed limits for boats in the Wheeler Salt Marsh that the state manages than with federal wildlife officials.

Several years ago, concerned about erosion in the ecologically sensitive marsh, DEP employees posted a 5-mph limit and prohibited boats from leaving wakes.

That has meant that a trip through the marsh out to the mouth of the Housatonic River can take a half-hour or more, Lipsky said. “Five miles, even in a boat, is slow. I ended up selling my boat; it was taking too long” to get to the river.

But Lipsky gives the DEP high marks for strictly enforcing a ban on jet skis in the marsh. “You still get a few jerks that think that the law doesn’t apply to them,” he said.

Another issue that flared up in recent years in the federally protected area was fireworks. The town of Stratford agreed to move its July 4th fireworks display farther up the river to avoid disturbing the birds, officials said.

“The whole thing died down pretty quick,” Lipsky recalled.

Bull, of the Audubon Center, said fireworks are still sometimes a problem, “especially regarding the threatened bird species. You have to be careful; you don’t want 800 people trampling — literally — through a nesting area.”

Canoes and kayaks are allowed into both the state-managed and federally managed areas of the wildlife refuge in Milford, without permits, officials said. Many people use the access point off Court Street; others put in at the state-owned boat ramp on Naugatuck Avenue.

“There are six priority public uses, and four of them are available at Milford Point,” said Potvin, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Overnight camping is not allowed, although it would be, by permit, in other units of the refuge. You do not need a permit for a canoe.”

There would be “extensive public involvement in the process of determining uses” for Long Beach and Pleasure Beach, should they be acquired for the McKinney refuge, Potvin said. “We would listen to what people want, and we’d do a compatibility study,” he said.

FRANK JULIANO – Connecticut post.com

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