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Elk Archery Working Group Applications Wanted

Montana Wildlife Federation

Montana --(Ammoland.com)- FWP is seeking 8-12 individuals to serve on a working group to collaboratively identify the central issues and fundamental objectives that define effective elk management, and potential alternatives for elk archery regulations in support of effective management.

Any “consensus” products could be directed into the 2012-13 biennial season-setting process starting in December 2011. The FWP Commission is not obligated to any adoption.

Interested Individuals:

• Must be able to travel and actively participate in multi-day meeting on July 25, 26, August 24-25, Sept 19-20, and Oct 17-18 in Miles City, Lewistown, Malta or Billings (to be determined). Mileage, lodging and meal costs associated with these meetings will be covered.
• Must be committed to collaboratively developing consensus on equitable potential refinements to the archery regulations in support of effective elk management (including crowding, equity, consistency, and effective population management) across private and public lands in the Missouri Breaks and 22 hunting districts outside the Breaks.
• Must be willing to think of and consider creative solutions to solving complex problems.
• Must be willing to actively participate in a facilitated structured decision-making process that incorporates effective elk management, as well as making specific recommendations concerning allocation of opportunity in elk archery regulations.
• Must be willing to support a model of conservation in Montana that incorporated different stakeholder values and results in effective elk management over time.

In pursuit of an effective and diverse group that is both representative and respectful, no automatic preference will be assigned any group or individual. Rather, individual nominations will be assessed for the perspective they represent and for their visible willingness and ability to comprehensively engage the discussion.

Written applications taken by FWP until Wed, June 29, 2011 and should include:

Name

Mailing Address

Phone

Email

• Please describe your interest in effective elk management and how archery regulations could and should contribute to effective elk management.
• Please describe your familiarity with Montana’s archery elk regulations and how you think you can effectively provide input into the regulation process and overall effective elk management.
• Please describe you experiences working collaboratively toward successful resolutions of contentious issues.

Please Answer the following;

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being “strongly opposed” and 10 being “strongly support” – how do you view the current elk archery regulations in the Missouri Breaks? (Question being asked to assist in providing a balanced representation)

Same…One a scale of 1-10….

How do you view the current elk archery regulations in the 22 districts outside of the Missouri River Breaks?

Please check all that apply to you on your application:

___Hunter-Archery

___Hunter – Rifle

___Outfitter – primarily private land

___Outfitter – primarily public land

___Landowner – primarily with leased or outfitted hunting

___Landowner – primarily without leased or outfitted hunting

___Others (business owner, local government, etc )

Applicant finalists may be interviewed before a final decision is made.

Larry Copenhaver
Conservation Director of Local Issues
Montana Wildlife Federation
406-458-0227 ext. 104
800-517-7256 ext. 104
Official Web-site:www.montanawildlife.org

This message brought to you by Montana’s largest statewide wildlife organization of more than 7,500 conservation minded hunters and anglers with a common mission ‘To protect and enhance Montana’s public wildlife, lands, waters and fair chase hunting and fishing heritage’.

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Missouri Department of Conservation & University of Missouri Using Radio Collars For Elk Research
Radio collars will help answer questions about elk population growth and habitat use.
Written by Candice Davis, MDC

Missouri Department of Conservation

SHANNON COUNTY, Mo --(Ammoland.com)- SHANNON COUNTY, Mo. — All 34 elk and five new calves at the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) Peck Ranch Conservation Area are sporting new jewelry, specifically radio collars, which are part of a cooperative research project with the University of Missouri.

According to MDC Resource Scientist and Elk Biologist Jason Sumners, the cooperative research project will provide critical information to help the MDC track the success of the elk restoration project, determine when management through hunting is appropriate, and guide future habitat and harvest management.

Sumners said the GPS (Global Positioning System)-enabled collars, provided by the university, may also assist MDC in deterring poachers.

Joshua J. Millspaugh, professor of Wildlife Management at the University of Missouri’s School of Natural Resources, said it’s critical that MDC has adequate information about what the elk do after their release from the holding pen.

“Close monitoring leads to effective management, and using radio collars is the most effective and efficient way to do this,” Millspaugh said.

He said the university hopes to gather a full spectrum of information on Missouri’s new elk herd. A big portion of that information will go toward a population model of the elk herd that researchers hope will assist in projecting the growth of the herd and potential harvest, document possible physiological stress responses after the release, and observe movement patterns and resource selection.

MDC Research Biologist Jason Sumners shows collars used to track adult elk (left) and calves (right) as part of a research project with U of M.

By resource selection, Millspaugh said he means to observe what management practices specifically attract or discourage elk population growth. This is where Geographic Information System (GIS) data layers will come in handy by showing researchers what vegetation types are preferred by the elk.

Millspaugh said information collected each day will help the biologists understand where the elk go during different times of the day and why.

Elk survival data will also be collected to help determine when, where, and why elk die, which will help in predicting the rate of growth of the restored elk herd.

Arial surveys to develop elk census techniques and fecal sample collections to assess stress levels will accompany the information gathered from the radio collars. The elk will wear the radio collars as long as the research project is active.

Millspaugh said it’s important to note that, although this sort of research has been done for other restored elk populations, it hasn’t been accomplished to the same scale or with this level of technology. Although radio-collars have been a component of other elk restoration programs, such as those in Kentucky, Tennessee and Wisconsin, this project is unique in that each and every elk in Missouri’s new herd is collared.

“The MDC should be given credit for their progressive and forward-thinking related to technology used in this project,” Millspaugh said. “It is not only the most efficient, but also the most cutting-edge available, and it will pay strong dividends in our ability to effectively manage the herd.”

Sumners said the MDC is fortunate to have a strong cooperative relationship with the university, and the experience and expertise that Millspaugh brings to the project.

Like others involved in the historic restoration of elk to Missouri, Millspaugh said his involvement has had a personal impact.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am thrilled to be involved,” he said. “Although I’m involved in many other wildlife projects around the country, the opportunity to study elk in my backyard is special and exciting.”

The 346-square-mile elk restoration zone covers parts of Shannon, Carter and Reynolds counties and is home to Missouri’s newly restored elk herd. Sumners said catching sight of elk in the vast restoration zone may be a challenge for the public.

“These several dozen animals have more than 221,500 acres of habitat in the rugged terrain of the restoration zone,” Sumners said. “As we learn more and as the herd grows, public viewing opportunities will increase.”

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation provided funds for the initial purchase of radio collars, and the entire research project is supported by the Wildlife Restoration Program, administered through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

For more information on Missouri’s elk restoration efforts, visit www.MissouriConservation.org and search “elk restoration.”

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