Outdoor News Daily

A new federal farm program designed to enroll grassland habitat into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is aiming for 7,500 acres in Michigan, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) is targeting 18 counties in southern Michigan. Wildlife corridors of at least 10 acres or patches of habitat of at least 30 acres are being sought because they will have the most benefit for wildlife. The program, which was the result of an agreement between wildlife management agencies and conservation groups, such as Pheasants Forever and The Nature Conservancy, was announced in January.

“This is the first time in recent years that whole agricultural fields are eligible for inclusion into a CRP program,” said Mark Sargent, the DNR Wildlife Division’s private lands specialist. “This is a great opportunity for landowners to convert marginal agricultural lands into grassland wildlife habitat for species such as pheasants, turkeys, bobolinks and deer. The program will implement some of the goals of the Michigan Wildlife Action Plan.”
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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is investigating the deaths of mudpuppies and fish washing up on the shore of Lake Erie. Mudpuppies, an aquatic salamander, along with smallmouth bass, catfish and sheephead are among the species that have been found dead at locations including Point Gratiot, Sunset Bay, Evangola State Park, and Sturgeon Point.

The mudpuppy and fish die-offs can be caused by a number of factors, such as water temperature changes or various diseases. DEC has collected a mudpuppy sample and has sent it to a lab for analysis and to potentially determine a cause of death.
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In response to the potential of unseasonably high air temperatures in the upper Delaware River Basin this summer and the effects of rising water temperatures on the river’s renowned fishery, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis today announced that New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and the City of New York, the “decree parties” that share management responsibility of the New York City Delaware River reservoirs and their tailwaters, unanimously approved a temporary program to protect this vital recreational fishing resource.

Under the agreement, known as the “Interim Excess Release Quantity Extraordinary Needs Bank for an Emergency Thermal Releases Program for Fishery Protection,” DEC is authorized to make emergency releases from a bank of nearly one billion gallons of water in the Cannonsville Reservoir to moderate temperature spikes until September 15, 2008.
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MADISON – The first signs of oak wilt, a tree-killing fungal disease, are now appearing in infected trees in counties in the southern two-thirds of Wisconsin.

Oak wilt plugs the water- and nutrient-conducting channels in the tree, and affects trees in both the red oak and white oak groups.

“The first symptoms of oak wilt are branches with wilted leaves and leaves on the ground in summer when you wouldn’t expect to see them,” said Kyoko Scanlon, a forest pathologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry. “These are not the brown, dry leaves you see in the fall. These are partially green to bronze-green and are not completely dry.”
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BARABOO – Parfrey’s Glen, Wisconsin’s first State Natural Area, is closed indefinitely due to extensive damage caused by floodwaters last month.

Encompassing 480 acres, Parfrey’s Glen is a spectacular gorge cut deeply into the south flank of the Baraboo Hills near Devil’s Lake State Park in Sauk County. A popular 1-mile long hiking trail offered outdoor enthusiasts an excellent opportunity to interpret the geographical history of the hills, culminating with a waterfall at trail’s end.

“Succinctly, the trail through the gorge doesn’t exist anymore,” said Rich Evans, parks supervisor for DNR’s South Central Region.

Heavy rains during the June 14 weekend rushing down off the bluffs above the gorge turned normally placid Parfrey’s Glen Creek into a roaring torrent of water which dislodged boulders weighing several tons, uprooted trees, washed out a wooden boardwalk, and strewed rocks over part of the trail.
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