Transcript Wildlife_Management_by_DEP_2007

WILDLIFE
DIVISION
Managing Connecticut’s Wildlife
The CT DEP Wildlife Division is
mandated by law to conserve and
manage all forms of wildlife in the state.
Wildlife Management
Wildlife
People
Biological Carrying Capacity
Cultural Carrying Capacity
Food
Water
Shelter
Safety
Concerns
Tolerance
Management Activities
•Habitat Management
•Endangered species
•Reintroducing native species
•Hunting/Trapping
Research Projects
•Monitoring
•Banding
•Telemetry
Technical Assistance
Educational Activities
Habitat Management
Managing Habitat for imperiled species
Each year protective fencing is installed around
the nesting sites of two threatened shorebirds:
the Piping Plover and the Least Tern.
Managing Habitat
Fields on state owned and managed properties are assessed
annually to determine if they need prescribed burns or mowing to
restore old field habitats and delay succession.
These fields habitats are
critical for a variety of
wildlife including listed
grassland birds such as
grasshopper sparrows,
American Kestrels, Upland
Sandpiper and others.
Meadowlarks and bobolinks need vast expanses of
field habitat for nesting and breeding.
Managing Habitat
The habitat management
program also enhances
wildlife habitat through
forest management plans
that may include
maintaining vegetative
buffers or retaining snag
and den trees that are
important nesting sites for
birds and mammals.
Managing Habitat
Large tracts of forested lands
are managed for neotropical
migrants such as the Scarlet
Tanager, the Black-and-White
Warbler, Ovenbirds and
others.
Wildlife Division staff
also help to identify
and review proposals
to buy new lands.
An important
component of the
habitat management
program is the
management of
marshland.
Managing Habitat
Sometimes this
involves phragmites
control, maintaining
dikes and other water
control structures or
creating potholes for
waterfowl.
Managing Habitat
•Agricultural
Agreements with
Farmers
•Approximately 3000
acres maintained as
farmland through lease
agreements
•WHIP Program
• LIP Program
Managing Habitat
for a Species
Providing, maintaining
and checking boxes
installed for wood ducks…
Eastern Screech Owl
Managing
Habitat for a
Species
Eastern Bluebird
Managing Habitat by
removing non-native species
Purple Loosestrife
Monitoring Habitats for unique species
•Biologists have surveyed a
number of historic and new
locations for the presence or
absence of habitat and/or
turtles.
•The state-endangered Bog turtle lives
in calcareous (containing calcium
carbonate, calcium or lime) wetlands
such as sphagnum bogs, wet
meadows and wet pastures.
Monitoring Habitats for unique species
Puritan Tiger
Beetles are only
found in 2 places
in the world, one
being CT.
Boat surveys of the CT
River were conducted to
search for other
locations where beetles
may be translocated.
Monitoring Habitats for unique species
•Historic locations
are surveyed to
assess the
population status of
a freshwater mussel
called the dwarf
wedge mussel, a
state and federally
endangered species.
• Freshwater mussels are important bioindicators and many of
the native CT species have experienced population declines.
Reintroducing Species
to Native Habitats
Fisher
•Considered extirpated by
1900’s due to logging and
overexploitation
•Reforestation allowed fishers
to move from Massachusetts
into northeastern parts of CT
•1988 fishers were trapped
from NH and VT and
relocated to the Northwestern
parts of CT
•Monitored through radiotracking & snow tracking
• Found to have high
survival rates and
successful reproduction
• Now common
throughout CT.
Wild Turkey
•Were eliminated by the early
1800s due to logging,
unregulated hunting and a
series of harsh winters
•Free roaming wild
turkeys were livecaptured in other states
(with the use of rocket
nets) and translocated to
CT.
•Between 1975 and 1992,
356 wild turkeys were
released at 18 sites
throughout CT.
•Now present in all 169
towns.
•We have regulated
hunting season.
Aerial and field
population censuses
allow for the
monitoring of wildlife
populations.
•Each spring waterfowl
biologists count waterfowl
seen at ponds, marshes and
swamps within randomly
selected, one kilometer square
plots.
•In CT, there are 50 plots in
inland habitats and six in
coastal tidal habitats.
•Winter surveys are often
conducted to search for deer
throughout the state or
waterfowl along the coast,
major rivers and selected lakes.
•Results help indicate population
trends and can be used to help
determine bag limits and season
lengths for duck hunting
seasons.
Monitoring Large Mammals
Winter Tracking
•Bobcats
•Fisher
•Coyote
Sighting records
-Black Bear, Bobcat
& Fisher
Monitoring Large Mammals
Sighting records
• Based on reports collected
from the public and from
hunters from 1996-2002
Moose have been present in
up to 25 towns in
Connecticut.
• As of 2006, at least 100
moose occupy CT.
• Research Project initiated
in 2007.
Mid-Winter Bald Eagle Survey
• Occurs every year
on the 2nd Weekend
in January.
• Volunteers assist
Wildlife Division to
count the number
of individuals
throughout the
state.
• Provides an index of the species’ winter use of CT
• Numbers can be compared from year to year
• In 2006 66 eagles were counted
• In summer 2006 9 breeding pairs, 6 nests produced 12 chicks
Grassland Bird Survey
•The grassland bird survey is part of a statewide
initiative to more thoroughly inventory CT’s grassland
bird population using techniques that have been
standardized by Partners in Flight for grassland bird
research projects throughout the northeast.
•The majority of species considered “grassland birds”
are already listed as endangered,
threatened, or species of special
concern under the Connecticut
Endangered Species Act and are
quickly disappearing from historic
sites due to habitat changes.
Bird Surveys
•The Wildlife Division
coordinates a number of bird
surveys annually:
• Woodland Raptors
• Wetland Callback
• Owl Surveys
• Whippoorwill and
Nighthawk surveys
• Barn Owl Surveys
• Shrubland/Grassland
Surveys
Woodcock surveys and research
Mosquito Sampling – W.H.A.M.M.
EEE & WNV
HUNTING is an
important wildlife
management tool.
Regulated hunting helps
keep populations at the
carrying capacity of the
habitat and at a level
compatible with people’s
use of the land.
Data collected at
check stations
provides important
information for
wildlife managers.
Herd Assessment:
Distribution
Age
Weight
Sex
Antler beams (Yearlings)
Excellent: 20.0 mm +
Good:
18.0 to 19.9 mm
Fair:
15.5 to 17.9 mm
Poor:
12.0 to 15.4 mm
Biological data collection
Fawn
Last cusp of 3rd
molar not fully erupted
and unworn
3rd premolar
not fully erupted
1 yr. 7 mo.
(6 teeth)
Yearling
Adult
Deer Population
Connecticut’s Deer
Population Trend
76000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
19000
3000
1896
1936
1974
Year
2000
. . . What is the State doing?
-Annually monitor and assess population size
-Modify
hunting seasons to increase efficiency
Extended
Extended Season Season - Jan
Replacement Tags
Zone 11
1000
800
4
600
400
11
200
Zone 4
0
1996
1997 1998
1999 2000
5 yr period
2001
Marking
Techniques are an
important tool in
wildlife research.
Waterfowl Banding
occurs every fall
Allows wildlife managers to
trace local movements,
estimate population changes
and determine a species’
lifespan.
Resident Canada Goose Study
•A four year study allowed us
to determine the movements
and survival of adult and
juvenile resident geese.
Banding of State Listed Species
Each year young Ospreys, Bald
Eagles and Peregrine Falcons
are banded by DEP biologists.
In 2006 we banded 12
Peregrine chicks and
10 Bald Eagle Chicks.
Telemetry plays an
important role in
wildlife research.
Raccoon with collar
Used to determine
Home Range and
Movement Patterns
of Animals
Rattlesnake Project
Took place from 1998-2001 to track rattlesnakes implanted with
radio transmitters. It was found that snakes move quite a distance
from the wintering dens throughout the summer. Movement
patterns mapped by this project are helping DEP land managers
prioritize land protection efforts where the snakes are found.
Tree-Roosting Bat Project
Tree-roosted bats such as the Red Bat, the Hoary Bat and the
Silver-haired bat are all species of Special Concern in Connecticut.
Very little information
exists regarding their
roosting habitat
requirements
therefore, our
biologists have been
trying to track the
movements of these
species.
Deer Management Projects
OBJECTIVES:
– Determine Population size and
distribution
– Look at effects and distribution
of Deer vehicle accidents
– Determine Home range size,
movements
– Determine Perception of deer
population by people
– Acceptability of removal
methods
– Are there Incentives to harvest
more female deer?
– Perceptions and experiences
New England Cottontail & Eastern
Cottontail Project
•Initiated in January of 2002.
•The purpose is to assess movements, home range use, habitat
needs, survival and causes of mortality of both the New England
and Eastern cottontail rabbits in Connecticut.
Black Bear Project
Wildlife Division Biologists have been
trapping, marking, radio collaring and
releasing bears to determine population
size and their home range.
Last year we went in on
the dens of 12 radio
collared sows. The
average litter size was
two cubs.
Technical Assistance
Nuisance Wildlife Control
Operators (NWCO)
•Trained & Licensed to remove
animals in, on or around homes
Wildlife Rehabilitators
•Trained and appointed to care
for sick, injured and orphaned
wildlife
Nuisance
Beaver Control
Crop Damage Permits
•Provide technical assistance
and permits to farmers
experiencing deer damage.
•Provide technical
assistance and
volunteer trappers
for individuals that
have beaver
damage.
Living with Wildlife
Master Wildlife
Conservationist Program
•The Wildlife Division provides adult volunteers with eight
weeks of training in wildlife conservation, ecology,
management and interpretation.
•Upon completion of the coursework, the candidates have one
year to complete their volunteer service agreement by leading
interpretive walks, library programs, school presentations,
habitat enhancement projects or
assisting wildlife biologists with their
research.
•Contact Laura Rogers-Castro at
860-675- 8130 or [email protected].
Connecticut’s Landowner
Incentive Program (LIP)
What Is LIP?
The Landowner Incentive
Program (LIP) is a
technical assistance and
cost-sharing program
designed to benefit
species at risk. LIP will
fund habitat projects on
private land containing
priority habitats that
support species at risk.
Priority Habitats
Supporting the Majority
of Connecticut’s At-Risk
Species
• Early successional stage
habitats – grasslands, old
fields, shrublands,
seedling/sapling habitat.
• Wetlands – tidal and
freshwater.
• “Imperiled Communities”,
especially those within
these habitats.
Connecticut’s Comprehensive
Wildlife Conservation Strategy
Questions?