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Outlook dim for goose hunters The outlook for Canada goose hunting this fall is dim if preliminary spring survey results for the Mississippi Valley population hold. The spring population estimate was 468,600, a 56 percent decrease from a year ago. The estimated number of nests (176,584) was 5 percent lower than last year, and it is believed most of the decline occurred in the estimate of non-breeding birds. The fall flight forecast is 697,142, down 46 percent from the 2000 forecast. The fall forecast also represents the second lowest forecast during the past 13 years, second only to the 1998 prediction of 651,796. "Numbers of non-breeding birds were down drastically from last year's numbers. Breeding pairs were similar," said DNR Director Brent Manning, noting that there were widespread nest losses last year along the Hudson Bay coast, evidenced by the fact that few flocks contained any goslings last summer. While harvest numbers are not yet available, biologists believe heavy snowfalls in parts of the wintering range may have contributed to above-average harvests throughout the Mississippi Flyway this past winter. If these numbers hold, Illinois could be facing a goose season even more restrictive than 1998 and one that is dramatically reduced from the last two liberal seasons hunters enjoyed. Illinois' statewide quota for Canada geese in 1998 was 40,800 compared to last year's 127,000.
Are you a shutterbug? Entries for the second annual OutdoorIllinois photo contest will be accepted until 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31. The four categories include wildlife, backyard/urban wildlife, scenic/flora and recreational activities. A grand prize package consisting of weekend lodging at Illinois Beach Resort, Zion, and the Illinois Conservation Foundation's framed limited edition print, "Jumping Mallards" by Maynard Reece, will go to the entry judged "Best of Show." First- and second-place winners in all categories will receive three-year and two-year subscriptions, respectively, to OutdoorIlinois and an opportunity to have their winning photos published in the February 2002 issue of the magazine. Details of contest guidelines were published in the May issue of Outdoorlllinois and can also be obtained by contacting Liz Pensoneau at (217) 782-7454 or emailing editor@dnrmail.state.il.us. River otters have expanded their range Trained DNR staff members, looking for signs of river otters, beavers and minks along stream sections in 75 counties from the late winter to early
spring, found evidence indicating that otters now are present in all parts of Illinois. The annual Furbearer Sign Survey, conducted in February, March and April, found indications of otters on 29 percent of stream sections surveyed, while signs of beavers were found on 85 percent and signs of minks were found on 69 percent of the stream sections surveyed. Sightings, tracks and scat are the most common means of detecting the presence of targeted wildlife species in sign surveys. In surveys conducted between 1999-2001, river otters were detected in all major watershed areas and in 86 percent of the state's wildlife population management areas. The widespread presence of otters is good news to those involved with follow-up monitoring of the state's river otter reintroduction program, which began in 1994. The latest findings provide positive evidence of otter distribution and reproduction. These and other scientific data guide decisions about the otter's status. Encouraged by recent improvements in their range and abundance, the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board upgraded the otter's status to that of a threatened species in 1999. Removal from the state's threatened species list is a possibility if current trends continue.
Phone-in system planned for goose hunting The Department of Natural Resources intends to implement a Canada goose hunting permit and phone-in system for all hunters in the four Southern Illinois Quota Zone (SIQZ) counties of Alexander, Jackson, Union and Williamson during the 2001-2002 regular Canada goose season. All Canada goose hunters in the SIQZ will be required to obtain a free Canada goose hunting permit when they purchase a state waterfowl stamp. Hunters taking a Canada goose will be required to mark on their permit the date the goose is taken and the zone in which the harvest occurs. Hunters will also be required to phone in that harvest information to a toll-free number on the same day the goose is taken. The new SIQZ permit and phone-in system will be a pilot program and will be evaluated annually during upcoming hunting seasons. It is the same reporting system used by hunters in the Northern and Central Illinois Quota Zones since 1994. Hunters harvesting geese on private land, public land and at commercial hunting clubs in the SIQZ will be required to phone in their harvest information. As in the past in the SIQZ, hunters at commercial clubs must still report their harvest for club reporting purposes. Commercial clubs in the SIQZ still will be required to report their harvest data to the DNR during the 2001-2002 season as part of the transition to the new phone-in system. "The rationale for this new hunter reporting requirement is to provide the same method of quota zone reporting in all parts of the state," said DNR Director Brent Manning. "It will allow us to monitor the harvest more accurately and avoid exceeding our quota for Canada geese." Using the previous system of commercial club harvest reports and non-commercial estimates, the SIQZ exceeded its quota by 3,505 geese in 1999 and 2,915 geese in 2001. The hunter reporting system used in the Rend Lake Quota Zone will remain unchanged for the 2001-2002 season. However, the department is considering eliminating that zone (Franklin and Jefferson counties) as early as the 2002-2003 season. Franklin and Jefferson counties would become either non-quota zone counties in the South Zone, or part of a larger Southern Illinois Quota Zone. Canada goose harvest in Franklin and Jefferson counties has declined from 15 percent of the state's total when the zone was formed in 1986 to just 3.7 percent of the state's total, based on the most recent three-year average. The smaller percentage no longer justifies a separate quota zone for Franklin and Jefferson counties. Since the Rend Lake Quota Zone will remain intact for the 2001-2002 season, a closure of the remainder of the South Zone to Canada goose hunting during the upcoming season would occur only when both the SIQZ and Rend Lake Quota Zone reach their quotas, as regulations have required since 1994. High school sends gift to SIU wildlife experts Students at Sesser-Valier High School have sent a $4,000 thank-you gift to graduate students and wildlife professionals at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Scientists and graduate students from the university's lab provided scientific and technical support for a year-long deer tracking project undertaken by 14 high schoolers in Gene Morgan's biology II class at Sesser-Valier. "The gift is our way of saying thank you for the unbelievably long hours Al Woolf and his grad students spent during this past school year helping a group of young rural high school students they'd never met before," Morgan said when presenting the check. Woolf, director of SlUC's Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, and a handful of graduate students put radio col-
lars on a pair of deer at the Rend Lake Conservancy District, which encompasses perfect deer habitat and is a neighbor to the high school. Wildlife experts then taught the high schoolers the fine points of global positioning systems, radio tracking techniques and how to decipher data on the land's carrying capacity, ideal deer habitat, home ranges, wildlife ecology and herd management. Most of the results are posted to a Web site, http://deertrack.siu.edu, available to students everywhere. Funding for the project came from a Technology Literacy Challenge Fund Grant. Woolf said the gift will go into a grants-and-awards fund that helps pay for such things as student travel to professional conferences, new computer software to aid in the latest wildlife projects and other forms of research support. "It was just so thoughtful," Woolf said of the unexpected contribution. "We were just pleased they thought enough of our efforts to support our program and its students with this generous gift." Illinois quail management workshop set Landowners, sportsmen, and others, who want to see bob-white quail numbers improve, are invited to attend a free Landowner's Quail Management Workshop, on Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Marathon Ashland Petroleum facility near Martinsville in dark County. The Marathon Ashland property is 1 mile west of Martinsville on Cumberland Road (Old U. S. 40) or 4 miles east of Casey. Follow the quail workshop signs and enter at Gate 3. The workshop will include a morning program at 9 a.m. followed by a habitat tour and a free lunch provided by Quail Unlimited. The event, the eighth annual, is jointly sponsored by Illinois Quail Unlimited, North Pork Quail Unlimited Chapter, Marathon Ashland Petroleum, Illinois State Habitat Stamp Fund, Mill Creek Conservancy District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Southern Illinois University, Clark County Soil and Water Conservation District, University of Illinois Extension and the Department of Natural Resources. The workshop will focus on improving quail habitat and accessing state, federal and private programs to implement various wildlife management practices. Resource agency speakers will discuss improving land for the benefit of quail and other wildlife through the use of native grass and forb planting, cool-season grass planting, tree and shrub planting, prescribed burns, food plots and strip discing. Register in advance for this free workshop by sending your name and the number attending to Quail Workshop, Soil and Water Conservation District, 1001 N. York, Martinsville, IL 62442 or by calling (217) 382-4123, extension 3. Everyone is welcome, but those who pre-register will have their names entered in a drawing for a shotgun donated by Quail Unlimited.
Agencies join forces to battle kudzu A coalition of state and federal agencies has approved an action plan to prevent the spread of and eliminate from the state populations of kudzu, a fast-growing, high-climbing exotic vine that threatens to do significant damage on public and private property in Illinois. The Illinois departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Transportation, along with the U.S. Forest Service (Shawnee National Forest), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service have joined in the unique partnership to eradicate kudzu in Illinois before the federally listed noxious weed becomes a major economic and wildlife habitat pest. "Many exotic species plague our state, and kudzu may be the only one we have a better than even chance of eradicating," said Brent Manning, director of the Department of Natural Resources, whose agency is coordinating the action plan. "If we act now in cooperation with landowners and these agencies,
while the kudzu population in the state is relatively small, we have a fighting chance." Manning said a three-year survey found fewer than 100 populations of kudzu in Illinois covering less than 400 acres, mostly in the southern one-third of the state. Biologists fear that the Illinois kudzu population may be entering what is known as an "exponential spread phase" seen in other states and could begin to spread rapidly. Kudzu covers more than seven million acres, primarily in the southeastern United States, and is spreading at a rate of 120,000 acres per year. It causes more than $300 million in damage each year to agricultural and forested lands, resulting in substantial losses of wildlife habitat and biodiversity. In Illinois' neighboring states, Missouri officials are beginning to address the growth of kudzu there, while kudzu has become so pervasive in Kentucky that officials believe eradication is not an achievable goal. Five selected to enter Outdoor Hall of Fame Five individuals, each acclaimed for a lifelong commitment to natural resource protection and outdoor recreation in Illinois, have been selected for induction into the new Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame, a program of the Illinois Conservation Foundation. "These five individuals, each in his own way, have helped make Illinois a better place to live, work and play through their dedication to the outdoors," said DNR Director Brent Manning, who serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Illinois Conservation Foundation. "We can all draw inspiration from their efforts in protecting, promoting and enhancing the natural wonders of our state." The inaugural class of Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame inductees includes: • Frank C. Bellrose, Havana, one of the world's foremost authorities on waterfowl and wetlands. His research career spanned more than 50 years with the Illinois Natural History Survey. His books Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America and Ecology and Management of the Wood Duck both received Wilderness Society "Book of the Year" honors. He also is the namesake of the INHS Frank C. Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center near Havana. • Jack Ehresman, Hanna City, outdoors columnist for the Peoria Journal-Star for 30 years until his retirement in 1997. During his 45-year sportswriting career at the newspaper, Ehresman wrote more than 7,500 columns on outdoors activities and issues and received numerous state, regional and national awards for his insight into the needs and interests of hunters, anglers and conservationists. • The late James Helfrich, Hammond, a 33-year employee of the Illinois Department of Conservation, who served as the agency's assistant director from 1977 until his death in 1986. A former state police trooper, Helfrich championed conservation education, preservation and expanded outdoor recreation opportunities as a Department of Conservation staff writer, administrator, legislative liaison and assistant director. The Department of Natural Resources' Helfrich Wildlife Propagation Center near Lincoln is named in his honor. • The late John Husar, Willow Springs, award-winning sports-writer and columnist for the Chicago Tribune. From 1984 until his death in 2000, Husar was among the nation's premier outdoors writers. Through his columns and through personal contact with policymakers, he was a forceful advocate for wildlife restoration, hunting and fishing access in Illinois, natural resources protection world-wide and the life-enhancing value of spending time outdoors. • Gene Morgan, Sesser, high school biology teacher and founder of the Sesser-Valier High School Outdoorsmen's Club. Morgan engages his students in conservation education through bird, plant and forestry management activities, wildlife research and recycling initiatives. His Outdoorsmen's Club members provide outdoor recreation opportunities to people with disabilities through activities, including an annual deer hunt and participation in special events for youngsters in southern Illinois. The five were selected from among 41 nominees for the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame submitted by citizens from throughout the state. They will be inducted during ceremonies at the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday, Feb. 1, 2002, at Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The banquet also will feature a raffle, a 200-item silent auction and a live auction. Auction items will include a Triton bass boat, motor and trailer; a Tracker walleye boat, motor and trailer; a camouflage waterfowl boat with motor and trailer; a state parks lodge tour including accommodations and meals; and a variety of hunting and fishing trip opportunities. For more information on the banquet, contact Ron Alien, Illinois Conservation Foundation, 524 South Second St., Springfield, IL 62701-1787, phone (217) 785-9371, or check the ICF web site at http://www.ilcf.org. The Illinois Conservation Foundation, an IRS 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit corporation established in 1995, has raised more than $10.4 million to support DNR programs. Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. For more information, contact Executive Director John Schmitt at (312) 814-7237.
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