Post by cambygsp on Aug 16, 2005 6:15:24 GMT -5
www.thestarpress.com/articles/0/044821-1630-003.html
State's wildlife strategy behind schedule
By SETH SLABAUGH
seths@muncie.gannett.com
MUNCIE - Indiana is running behind schedule in drafting its comprehensive wildlife strategy, a lengthy document required for the state to continue receiving federal funds for wildlife conservation.
Some 2.4 million Indiana residents and non-residents 16 years and older fished, hunted, or watched wildlife in Indiana during 2001, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, which is taken every five years.
Congress is requiring every state to develop a wildlife strategy by Oct. 1 to continue receiving millions of dollars in federal funding through the State Wildlife Grants Program, the nation's core program to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered.
In Indiana, funding from the program has been used for reintroduction, public education, conservation, monitoring, land acquisition and placement of nest boxes for species such as bobcats, bald eagles, ospreys, bats, peregrine falcons, and river otters.
In April, The Star Press quoted D.J. Case and Associates, a consultant to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, as saying a draft strategy would be ready for public comment in June. It now appears the draft won't be ready for public comment until sometime in September.
Twenty-nine states have posted draft strategies on the Internet.
"I don't remember June (being the goal for completion of Indiana's draft)," said Katie Gremillion-Smith, chief of wildlife diversity at DNR. "I remember July."
The document isn't ready for public comment because "we got a tremendous response to the lengthy questionnaires we sent to technical experts and partners," Smith said. "We got a whole lot of information and data and underestimated how long it would take us to analyze it and present it in a fashion that is readable."
The dozens of experts and partners consulted by DNR included organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society, and scientists at government, non-profit and educational institutions.
Project consultants from East Central Indiana include Red-tail Conservancy land trust, Whitewater Valley Land Trust, Summit Lake State Park, Robert Cooper Audubon Society, and conservation biologist Michael Lannoo, a professor at the Muncie Center for Medical Education.
"I'm not sure there will be any tremendous surprises in this strategy," Smith said. "The finding that the loss of habitat is a big threat to wildlife is not a surprise to us."
Based on the analysis that has been done so far, one surprise is "perhaps the magnitude of what we yet need to do," Smith said. "There are groups of animals we have not studied much. We don't know much about reptiles and amphibians. We've just started doing frog surveys, but there is nothing for salamanders, snakes or turtles. And it's not just Indiana. Historically, as a nation, we don't have good surveying techniques (for those species)."
Phil Seng of DJ Case said: "Oct. 1 is sneaking up on us. And I can't tell you, nor could DNR probably say, when the strategy will be ready to go out for public comment. It depends on their director (Kyle Hupfer) and how long he keeps it. And their staff. It has not even made it to the director yet."
Seng is confident Indiana will meet the Oct. 1 deadline, but he is uncertain how much time will be available for public comment.
Carrying out the strategy will be important to Hoosiers' quality of life, Seng said.
"The public is very interested in wildlife - hunting, fishing and viewing," he said.
Contact news reporter Seth Slabaugh at 213-5834.
Stay tuned
To stay up to date on Indiana's comprehensive wildlife strategy, log onto djcase.com/incws.
State's wildlife strategy behind schedule
By SETH SLABAUGH
seths@muncie.gannett.com
MUNCIE - Indiana is running behind schedule in drafting its comprehensive wildlife strategy, a lengthy document required for the state to continue receiving federal funds for wildlife conservation.
Some 2.4 million Indiana residents and non-residents 16 years and older fished, hunted, or watched wildlife in Indiana during 2001, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, which is taken every five years.
Congress is requiring every state to develop a wildlife strategy by Oct. 1 to continue receiving millions of dollars in federal funding through the State Wildlife Grants Program, the nation's core program to prevent wildlife from becoming endangered.
In Indiana, funding from the program has been used for reintroduction, public education, conservation, monitoring, land acquisition and placement of nest boxes for species such as bobcats, bald eagles, ospreys, bats, peregrine falcons, and river otters.
In April, The Star Press quoted D.J. Case and Associates, a consultant to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, as saying a draft strategy would be ready for public comment in June. It now appears the draft won't be ready for public comment until sometime in September.
Twenty-nine states have posted draft strategies on the Internet.
"I don't remember June (being the goal for completion of Indiana's draft)," said Katie Gremillion-Smith, chief of wildlife diversity at DNR. "I remember July."
The document isn't ready for public comment because "we got a tremendous response to the lengthy questionnaires we sent to technical experts and partners," Smith said. "We got a whole lot of information and data and underestimated how long it would take us to analyze it and present it in a fashion that is readable."
The dozens of experts and partners consulted by DNR included organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society, and scientists at government, non-profit and educational institutions.
Project consultants from East Central Indiana include Red-tail Conservancy land trust, Whitewater Valley Land Trust, Summit Lake State Park, Robert Cooper Audubon Society, and conservation biologist Michael Lannoo, a professor at the Muncie Center for Medical Education.
"I'm not sure there will be any tremendous surprises in this strategy," Smith said. "The finding that the loss of habitat is a big threat to wildlife is not a surprise to us."
Based on the analysis that has been done so far, one surprise is "perhaps the magnitude of what we yet need to do," Smith said. "There are groups of animals we have not studied much. We don't know much about reptiles and amphibians. We've just started doing frog surveys, but there is nothing for salamanders, snakes or turtles. And it's not just Indiana. Historically, as a nation, we don't have good surveying techniques (for those species)."
Phil Seng of DJ Case said: "Oct. 1 is sneaking up on us. And I can't tell you, nor could DNR probably say, when the strategy will be ready to go out for public comment. It depends on their director (Kyle Hupfer) and how long he keeps it. And their staff. It has not even made it to the director yet."
Seng is confident Indiana will meet the Oct. 1 deadline, but he is uncertain how much time will be available for public comment.
Carrying out the strategy will be important to Hoosiers' quality of life, Seng said.
"The public is very interested in wildlife - hunting, fishing and viewing," he said.
Contact news reporter Seth Slabaugh at 213-5834.
Stay tuned
To stay up to date on Indiana's comprehensive wildlife strategy, log onto djcase.com/incws.
