September 03, 2006

Huge wildfires prompt emergency hunt of wildlife in Nevada
By MARTIN GRIFFITH
ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A string of wildfires that has scorched hundreds of thousands of acres of prime habitat is prompting an emergency wildlife hunt and relocation of unprecedented scope in Nevada, state wildlife officials said.

Nevada Department of Wildlife officials have authorized a special hunt of 200 antelope and the relocation of up to 350 others after determining the blackened rangeland is unable to support the herd of more than 1,000 animals northwest of Elko, about 290 miles east of Reno.

The department has never before been forced to conduct an emergency hunt and relocation of such magnitude, spokesman Chris Healy said, adding a similar hunt of mule deer in the same area is under consideration.

Biologists fear there would be a major die-off this winter if the antelope herd in certain units of Area 6 is not thinned.

"The fires have been a disaster for wildlife. It's an absolute crisis," Healy said Sunday. "We've burned so much of the landscape that these animals just don't have a chance.

"Now, we're going to have to change our expectations of how many animals we're capable of hosting on the land," he said.

Nevada ranks second nationwide behind only Texas in the amount of acreage charred by wildfires this year - 1.13 million acres, or 1,777 square miles, according to the National Interagency Fire Council.

The Charleston complex fire near Elko, which blackened 190,421 acres, is among the nation's biggest wildfires of the season.

Healy said the recent blazes were especially damaging because they overlapped with earlier wildfires.

"They basically have made a bad situation worse," he said. "We had already lost a lot of winter range for antelope and mule deer before this."

Both animals depend on brush and grasses as a food source, and deer also rely on sagebrush for shelter.

The status of an emergency hunt of mule deer hinges on an assessment of how much winter range is left for them in the area, Healy said.

"That used to be the mule deer factory of Nevada in the old days," he said. "But the capacity of the range to support large numbers of deer is gone in that area due to fires."

According to biologists, the recent wildfires have destroyed more than half of the area's critical antelope winter range.

Plans call for the hunt to occur over a two-week period beginning Sept. 18, with certain past unsuccessful applicants for antelope tags being asked if they want to participate.

Wildlife officials said they then plan to capture from 100 to 350 antelope in the area and release them in unburned parts of the state.

Plans also call for an aggressive re-seeding effort in the area.

Makes you wonder why the game Departments can't feed these animals in the winter time, instead of having emergency hunts? I thought this is why we pay millions of SPORTSMAN money into the Robert Pittman act.

Steve

Very good point Steve, with all the wildlfie organizations, hunting groups and clubs, plus volunteers,(and even the anti-hunters that claim they are friends of animals) I think it would be possible rather than eleminating all future hunting prospects.

Ok... All the freaking sage and cover is toast. Feeding them would only address one aspect of habitat. Cover is also somewhat important, so should we also go out and build a bunch of doghouses for them to hide in? To me, it seems that hunting is the only option. Over time, the land and wildlife will bounce back.

MrHawg

No shit.... did you come up with that by yourself

Last time I checked most wildlife migrate, our deer in North West Wyoming travel over 100 air miles to their wintering groungs.

Steve

Steve, before you spout off, better get some facts straightened out...

The Pittman Robertson Act (not Robert Pittman Act), or Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration are derived from an 11 percent Federal excise tax on sporting arms, ammunition, and archery equipment, and a 10 percent tax on hanguns. The purpose of this Act was to provide funding for the selection, restoration, rehabilitation and improvement of wildlife habitat, wildlife management research, and the distribution of information produced by the projects. There is no mention of any of the funding going to feed wildlife....just improve habitats which this fire has done for us.

Also, just because deer in the Hoback migrate out to the Mesa doesn't mean that all mule deer migrate. Deer in eastern Wyoming don't migrate much, if at all. I don't know a thing about the migrational patterns of deer in Nevada, but don't assume every ecosystem runs the same way.

Feeding wildlife, like you suggest doing Steve, is a bandaid approach to a problem that is going to persist for many years. Sage brush, antelope bitter brush, mountain mahogany, and other important wildlife browse species do not just regenerate overnight. The animals that live, will be in the same predicament next winter. Also, what remaining forage that is left (and hopefully will be a source of seed to naturally reseed the burn) will be severely degredated by intense forage pressure from the artificially high numbers of critters left.

Point being, folks in Nevada have a choice. They can conserve their wildlife and utilize the animals that would otherwise be left for dead on a nonexistant winter range, or feed them and not only further degredate the landscape from over browsing, but still remain in the current situation for many years to come.

They can either end up in the back of someone's truck, or become coyote and raven poo....in my mind Nevada is practicing good wildlife management.

MG

Well excuse the hell out of me. OK sure, lets go get a sack of buck grub and save the world. Prick.

Madgoat

I'm not saying they should feed all the animals it was just a suggestion. I agree their better off feeding someones family then a pack of coyotes. If Nevada manages the game like WY has in the last couple of years the deer and antelope won't recover from the fire or emergency hunt. But hopefully they do a better job then Wyoming Game and Fish Department has since 1992.


MrHawg

I'd be real careful if I were you, as to you you call a prick.

quote:

If Nevada manages the game like WY has in the last couple of years the deer and antelope won't recover from the fire or emergency hunt. But hopefully they do a better job then Wyoming Game and Fish Department has since 1992.

Would you mind elaborating on this one? Hunting seems pretty good to me.

MG

Im doing a run out to Carlin Nv. which is right by Elko. I saw the fires, they were massive. The smoke came clear into Utah and Idaho and was terrible for hundreds of miles. Relocating animals is a big job and expensive, but it will help. Reseeding is also desperatly needed. I cant say enough for the firefighters, they came for miles away and did all they could.

What burns my butt reguarding fires and game habitat is the damn liberals who wont allow the forsters to do their jobs and remove diseased trees from the forests. As a result we end up with forests that are a tinderbox and when lightning strikes, so does disaster. It is appaling. Want to slow down global warming? Get the dumb ass treehuggers to quit ruining our forests. Healthy forests absorb carbon monoxide and relaese oxygen. Without them we're all screwed. I swear that around here over the past couple decades this problem has gotten way out of hand, what once were beautifull forests are now scorched earth. Miles and miles of it. This issue sickens me to the core.

Madgoat

Don't get me wrong, WY Game and Fish Dept is run very well for most parts. And you're right the hunting is good right now however, in the Riverton and Lander area the Game and Fish sold extra tags back in 1992 and the deer and antelope have never recovered. Area 67 had 1200 antelope tags and today there are only 125 permits. My concern is why are they still issuing doe/fawn tags for the hard hit areas with small population of animals. Granted were in a bad drought and the carring capasity (sp) is probable much lower with the lack of moisture.

I've hunted the Bighorns for fourteen years now and it was no problem to see hundres of deer in a three or four week hunt (bow). Now you hardly see any deer however, I have notice more coyotes then ever before.
I personley(sp) know the Game Warden in this same area and he mention the low deer population to the Department and asked if they would lower the deer permits in that area to non-residents a small percent. They rejected his offer and put a four point antler or better on the Mule Deer. They told him if they cut back the amount of tags he perpposed(sp) they would loose over $50,000 in permits aloan. This came from the horses mouth.
I believe we have it pretty good here as far as hunting goes, it could be alot worst. I just hope this drought will end soon.
Headed over to your neck of the woods tomorrow night to packback into the back country for Mule Deer above timberline .

Good-Luck this fall

Steve

Hey Steve,

I was just in the Bighorns last weekend (on the north end of the mtn) and saw a lot of deer. It definately is not like it was in the early 90's for numbers, but it was more than I have seen the past 5-10 years. The winter of 1995 sure didn't help things out over there that is for sure.

You're also correct about the drought. It sure would be nice to get a little moisture! Best of luck with your deer hunt!

MG