Wildlife Program Report

December 2008

Region 7 FWMB

More deer ticks reported in our area – When checking deer at meat cutters, wildlife staff encountered more deer ticks this year over much of the region, suggesting that deer ticks are expanding their populations in this part of the state. We also received preliminary results from a 2007 NYS Department of Health study at the mandatory deer check station in Rome, indicating that just under 1/5 of the deer in this largely Oneida county sample had evidence of exposure to the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. If you are curious about how to identify deer ticks, the best photos we’ve found are at http://www.westchestergov.com/health/IdentifyDeerTickA.htm. You may also encounter the dog tick or the more common deer ked. Both of these are bigger, and the keds have only 6 legs instead of 8 legs like ticks and spiders.

Experimental pesticide applications to reduce tick populations - Hunters and others have also noticed more ticks in the area, and we’ve already had an inquiry from near Ithaca about the possibility of treating wild deer with permethrin in an effort to reduce the tick population. Permethrin is not registered for this use in New York except on an experimental basis. Such an experiment is being conducted downstate on Shelter Island and Fire Island. Limited results from that experiment found detectable permethrin levels on deer hides and in deer meat collected from 2 (of 3) deer collected from the treatment area in October 2008. NYSDOH says the health risks from these residues in deer meat are very low or negligible but the choice of whether to consume venison from deer harvested in the treatment area is a personal one. They will be conducting more sampling in future years. The results are available by request from NYSDOH.

Budget news – Next year’s targeted fill level for Division of Fish Wildlife and Marine Resources is down 42 from this year. Presumably the decline would occur through attrition, though we’re not sure. No relief is in sight for our vacant Fish/Wildlife Technician 3 position (Bruce Manuel retired at the end of June) or our vacant wildlife secretary position (now downgraded by Civil Service to a "Keyboard Specialist 2")..….. For non-personnel expenditures, few of the "Attachment A’s that are now required prior to expenditures of $500 or more have been approved to date, but one that has been approved is for the Venison Donation Program, so VDP will soon be getting its $75,000 check….. In addition to a new Trout/Salmon stamp the governor’s budget includes a new Saltwater Fishing license.

Reported deer kill during SZ Archery season catches up to 2007 despite later start date - Hunting conditions were good during most of the archery season, and the total reports quickly caught up last year’s levels.

SZ Big Game Firearms Season has slow start but catches up– Due to weather conditions during the first weekend of firearms season and resulting lower hunting pressure, reported kill for the first 3 days was considerably lower than for the first 3 days of 2007. Reported take from the fourth day through the second weekend was very similar to that in 2007, and by November 30, the reported kill for SZ had caught up to the 2007 numbers and very slightly surpassed them (+3%). The new on-line harvest reporting method was being used effectively. Problems were encountered for some people trying to report by Internet, but we were told the problems could usually be solved by "enabling cookies and disabling your pop-up blockers".

WMA acquisition Funding: Two separate proposals were completed by R7 SWG Biologist Tom Bell for acquisition at Owasco Flats. Tom prepared and submitted an internal DEC proposal for $122,000 from the Migratory Bird Habitat Conservation Stamp for acquisition in the proposed Owasco Flats WMA area. The proposal was accepted and we plan to use these funds as we continue to conduct appraisals and acquisition in the area. Tom prepared a second proposal for $75,000 under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) Small Grants program. The goal of this funding source is to preserve wetland habitat for migratory birds and other wetland-dependent wildlife. However, the NAWCA Small Grants proposal ran into a snag in Albany and consequently was not submitted on time. These alternate funding sources are especially important now, because the Environmental Protection Fund took a $50 million dollar hit (out of a typical level of $135 million) in the Governor’s proposed budget for 2009.

WMA - Acqusition: Acquisition paperwork has slowed down until fiscal matters relating to the state budget deficit are clarified, and the slowdown is variable depending on how far along each potential acquisition when the fiscal crisis hit. For the short-term, everything without signed purchase agreements is stalled. We acquired one new parcel at Deer Creek Marsh. This was a transfer from The Nature Conservancy along Rt. 3 that has been underway for over 6 years. Some appraisals at Owasco Flats made it through the appraisal process, while 3 other parcels already contracted for appraisals had their appraisal contracts temporarily suspended. We are working on other acquisitions from willing sellers in Oswego County and in Onondaga County. The Oswego county parcels total approximately 171 acres and, if acquired, would provide better access on Happy Valley WMA. The Onondaga county parcel is approximately 39 acres in North Syracuse. All this paperwork has slowed down until funding matters clear up.

Research on Landowner Attitudes towards Early Successional Habitat - Biologist Tom Bell attended a meeting for a DEC funded project being done by the Cornell Human Dimensions Research Unit’s entitled "Assessing landowners attitudes towards early successional habitats". The meeting discussion primarily focused on the data already available and how to best utilize it as well as defining a focus area. The goal of the project is to learn better ways to reach out to landowners and encourage them to create quality early successional wildlife habitat for the many important species that depend on it.

Trails on WMA’s - A Biologist coordinated trail marking for a leg of the Onondaga Trail on the Tioughnioga WMA. This pass-through corridor is a planned project approved in the Tioughnioga Unit Management Plan which was finalized in 2007. The trail proceeds along the northwest edge of the WMA north of Damon Road, so as not to negatively impact other uses or disturb sensitive ecological areas….Temporary Revocable Permits to groom snowmobile trails have been issued to the clubs that do the trail grooming at Tioughnioga, Little John, and Happy Valley WMA’s. The TRP’s stipulate posting of 25 mph signs for all the snowmobile trails, to be done by the organization that hold each of the TRP’s.

Trapping on WMA’s - Late in October we received a copy of a letter from DEC to The Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, Inc. stating the Department’s intention to post signs at trailheads in WMA’s during trapping season to warn dog owners of the presence of traps and advise them to keep their dogs leashed. We quickly prepared laminated neon colored paper signs and posted them at trailheads for at least the Finger Lakes trail and Link trail where those trails cross WMA’s in Region 7. Within a few days after posting we received some comments and questions from a trail steward for the section of Finger Lakes Trail crossing Connecticut Hill, indicating that this steward had been previously unaware that trapping occurs on the area. This suggests that the new posting is providing a significant piece of information for at least some users.

Retirements/Staffing – No relief is in sight for our vacant Fish/Wildlife Technician 3 position (Bruce Manuel retired at the end of June) or our vacant wildlife secretary position (now downgraded by Civil Service to a "Keyboard Specialist 2"). While we are grateful for assistance from other programs for many of the secretarial functions, some of the functions formerly done by our secretary have shifted onto our phone tech. That means that at least some functions previously supported by Regional Administration funds are now directly supported by the Conservation Fund. The vacant Fish/Wildlife Tech 3 position added to the difficulty of completing deer biological data collections and will pose additional difficulty as we try to complete the final year of banding and data collection for the Northeast interstate wild turkey study and as we move into spring and summer deer nuisance permit issuance and WMA management.

Terrestrial Invasive Species grant sought for feral swine eradication – Wildlife staff prepared and submitted a grant application for funds to offset the cost for operating the feral swine eradication effort. We temporarily discontinued Region 7 feral swine eradication activities and will be resuming now that all big game seasons are complete. Sportsmen are urged not to disrupt groups of swine, so as not to contribute to further dispersal of the females and rapidly developing juveniles. As in eradication of many other pest species, containment depends on removing entire groups of breeding females and juveniles before additional dispersal can take place. In areas where they are firmly established, feral swine cause huge disruption to ecological systems and native wildlife.

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