Announcer:
You know what that sounds means. It's time for the Michigan DNR's Wild Talk Podcast. Welcome to the Wild Talk Podcast, where representatives from the DNR's Wildlife Division chew the fat and shoot the scat about all things habitat, feathers and fur. With insights, interviews, and your questions answered on the air, you'll get a better picture of what's happening in the world of wildlife here in the great state of Michigan.

Holly:
Hello, and welcome to Wild Talk. I'm your host, Holly Vaughn. And co-hosting with me today is Hannah Schauer.

Hannah:
Good to be hosting with you again, Holly.

Holly:
Yeah. Today's podcast is a great one. We'll be fielding your questions from our mailbag. We'll also be speaking with one of our partners from the Forest Resources Division, Glenn Palmgren, about prescribed burning. We'll also talk about forests and grassland management and the awesome partnership that we have between the Wildlife Division and the Forest Resources Division.

Hannah:
Yeah. And we'll end this podcast talking about how to coexist with bears in Michigan. But first, let's take a look at what's going on around the state.

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Holly:
Well, summer's on its way, and around the state we are planting food plots and improving habitat for wildlife. And we're also conducting important species work like surveys, nest monitoring, bird banding. So what's going on up in the northern parts of Michigan, Hannah?

Hannah:
Yeah. In the upper peninsula and around the rest of the state as well, staff are conducting surveys like the woodcock singing ground surveys and breeding waterfowl surveys. We spoke a bit about the spring breeding waterfowl surveys back in our April podcast. But in case you didn't hear that one yet, staff fly in fixed wing aircraft over lakes, wetlands, rivers, farm fields, and they count ducks, geese, swans, cranes.

Hannah:
And not only do they count how many of those birds there are, they also identify the different species of those birds that are present. The spring breeding waterfowl population and habitat survey is conducted each spring by the US Fish and Wildlife Services Migratory Bird Program. So state wildlife agencies, such as the Michigan DNR and the Canadian Wildlife Service, work with them to estimate the size of breeding waterfowl populations across all of North America. And we evaluate habitat conditions on those breeding grounds.

Hannah:
Once all the data is compiled, biologists then compare that to previous year's information to determine whether waterfowl populations are on par with the long-term average. And biologists hope to see those numbers at or above the long-term average on these flights. And so the other one I mentioned, the wood cock singing ground surveys are also going on in the upper peninsula and other regions as well. In this survey, staff drive around and listen for peenting woodcock. Have you heard a peenting woodcock before, Holly?

Holly:
I have. It's quite a fun sound. It's like, "Peent."

Hannah:
So as part of their courtship behavior, male woodcock exhibit that aerial acrobatic and vocal display each evening. They begin by giving those peenting calls, and shortly after sunset, from the areas that are kind of like their singing grounds, where they're putting on their display. Staff drive to various singing grounds and listen for these peents for about two minutes. And then they drive about a half mile to the next survey site, listening for these peenting noises. And they do this for 10 different survey sites.

Hannah:
The singing ground survey provides an index to the relative size of the woodcock breeding population in North America. It is the most important source of data used to guide federal, state, and provincial woodcock programs, so it's pretty cool.

Holly:
It's very cool. And I got to help out with a survey route this year in Saint Clair County. And it's a lot of fun being out as it's starting to get dark, and hearing all the frogs singing and the woodcock calling. And it's just a cool time of evening to be out listening for these birds. What's really cool is that Michigan is one of the best states as far as breeding woodcock goes, so we have some of the best habitat. And we're actually the number one state for woodcock breeding in the United States, which is something to really hang our hat on.

Hannah:
Yeah. Absolutely. So definitely, if you're into woodcock hunting, you're going to want to come up to Michigan, if you haven't yet.

Holly:
Absolutely. What's going on in the Northern Lower Peninsula, Hannah?

Hannah:
Yeah. In the Northern Lower, staff are starting to plant food plots on state game and wildlife areas. And so these food plots provide supplemental food resources for wildlife, especially when we get into the fall and winter when food can be a little trickier to find. Species like deer, turkey, waterfowl, and others will take advantage and use these food plots. So things like corn, small grains like buckwheat, millet, and sorghum are commonly planted for wildlife. And these food plots often also provide hunting cover, especially for waterfowl hunters in the fall.

Hannah:
In addition to working on those food plots, Northern Lower Peninsula staff are also surveying the jack pine forest for Kirtland's warblers. Dozens of surveyors are out in young jack pine forest listening for the unique song of the male Kirtland's warbler. Kirtland's warblers spend about eight months wintering in the Bahamas. I'm a little bit envious of them. I wish I could do that every winter.

Holly:
Summer in Michigan.

Hannah:
Winter in the Bahamas. When the males arrive back in Michigan, between May 3rd and May 20th, they're arriving a few days ahead of the females. What they do, is establish and defend their breeding territory, and then once the females show up, they start to court them.

Hannah:
We'll play a little bit of the male's song for you. It's rather loud, but low-pitched. It's easily recognized, and we use that to figure out if there's presence of Kirtland's warbler in an area.

Hannah:
(Singing)

Hannah:
So, the Kirtland's warbler census is a tool that managers use to compare population numbers relative to recovery goals, by listening for the male's song. Kirtland's warbler numbers had been very low, under 200 nesting pairs, in the mid-1980s. Michigan became the focus for habitat management, since it has been the primary location for the bird's reproduction.

Hannah:
Additionally, the presence or absence of Kirtland's warblers determines if protection in that area is needed, and allows evaluation of different habitat management techniques. The habitat requirements for Kirtland's warbler are very specific. They're kind of particular little birds. They prefer really large blocks of young jack pine, usually hundreds of acres in size.

Hannah:
The Kirtland's warbler is a ground nester, and they often use living branches of 5 to 20 foot tall jack pine trees to conceal their nests. As I mentioned, very particular, finicky little birds. So these jack pine trees must be actively managed, as you can imagine, since they like them to be 5 to 20 feet tall. It's pretty specific.

Hannah:
These large areas where there are sandy soils are planted with jack pine, and then they get cut, decades later, and it's usually on specific intervals, to achieve these perfect aged-stands for the Kirtland's warbler. Now, the Kirtland's warbler census allows wildlife managers to determine if the number of nesting birds is staying stable, increasing, or decreasing.

Hannah:
Through the census, Michigan has been able to report having greater than the minimum population goal of 1,000 pairs, from 2002 to the present. So, this Kirtland's warbler recovery is an amazing example of great conservation success story through cooperation. Many partners have been involved in this success story. Including the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and more recently, Huron Pines, and the Nature Conservancy.

Hannah:
So, this has been quite the undertaking for these little birds, but it's great to have them make such a comeback.

Holly:
Exactly. And they've made such a comeback that we're considering de-listing them. So, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, they're one of the creatures that may be taken off the Federal Endangered Species List, in upcoming months. That's really exciting for the Kirtland's warbler.

Hannah:
Yes. For sure. All right, what do you have going on in the Southern reaches of the state, there, Holly?

Holly:
In the South, we also are working with some birds that have been, their population numbers are growing, but we're down in the middle part of the century, due to DDT use. We're going to talk a little bit about ospreys, and also about peregrine falcons.

Holly:
Starting with ospreys, we have several osprey nests, throughout the state. And very occasionally, these silly birds build their nests in inappropriate places. We had a nest in Brownstown Township, in Monroe County, just outside Lake Erie Metropark. They built their nest on a power pole.

Holly:
So, that's not only dangerous for the birds, because potentially the nest could catch fire, and potentially destroy the nest, but it could also knock out power to neighbors in the area. So, when this happens, we're really lucky to have a great partnership with DTE Energy, in the area, and we've been able to relocate that nest that was on the power pole, to a manmade platform just inside Lake Erie Metropark. The family has moved in, they're using this new platform, and they're going to be much happier living on this platform, rather than a power pole.

Holly:
In the Southwest, the Southwest region in Mecosta County, we recently had a nest that was built right next to a trout pond.

Hannah:
Good for the osprey, not good for the trout!

Holly:
Right. So, when you have a fish-eating bird living right next to a trout pond, you can imagine what was happening. So, this particular nest was moved from a spot where they were gobbling up all the trout, to a location where they're a little further away, not in direct contact with that trout pond, and they're now in downtown Paris, Michigan. Just down the road from the DNR office. Where they won't be as much of a problem for the local trout population!

Holly:
We also are getting into the months where we're doing some peregrine banding. Summer's the time when we head out to some of these nest sites, around the state, and band birds like peregrine falcons. Just like the osprey, peregrine falcon populations are rebounding from DDT use.

Holly:
DDT caused these birds to lay eggs with very fragile eggshells, that would break under the weight of the parents. And peregrines were actually completely absent, east of the Mississippi River, by about 1960. So, this has been one of the great conservation stories of the last 40 years. We started a reintroduction program in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Holly:
We now have about 56 nest sites around the state, which is even better than the original population of peregrine falcons in Michigan. They are still considered an endangered species in Michigan, and so we do monitor these populations closely. However, there may be a time soon when they are taken off the state endangered species list.

Holly:
We band these birds to help track where they end up, once they leave the nest. And we only band the young birds. Adults are really tricky to catch, so we only do the young ones. And we band them when they're about four to five weeks of age. Before they're old enough to fledge, from the nest.

Holly:
These help us track where they end up, their longevity, so we can track them over their lifespan, and also track their nesting behavior. So, should they end up nesting, for example, one of the birds that we banded a couple of years ago, from the Mount Clemens county building, now nests on the water tower, in Royal Oak. The Detroit Zoo water tower. So, we know that that one came from nearby.

Holly:
But some of our birds travel quite faraway. They've been found in Ontario, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and even Florida. So, some of our birds really go a long way away. So, they get two bands when they're banded, a silver Fish and Wildlife Service band, and then a band that's easier to read from a distance. It usually has two colors on it, and then a letter over a number, or a number over a letter. And we can read that from a distance.

Hannah:
Another great success story, on bringing those birds back.

Holly:
Yeah. So, finally one more story from the Southeast region. Point Mouillee State Game Area, just won, the National American Public Works Association Project of the Year award, in the $5 million to $25 million category. They've just done extensive habitat work on Stony Island, and they won both the National American Public Works Association Project of the Year, and the state award, as well. So, the project of the year for the state and national level.

Holly:
This particular island is a 52-area island in the Detroit River, part of the Point Mouillee State Game Area, and the Friends of the Detroit River applied and were awarded a $7 million grant, to improve wildlife habitat on Stony Island. The grant was funded by NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Holly:
All the habitat improvements that were done, were planned and completed with the approval of the Wildlife Division. Work on this project just wrapped up, and now, similar habitat work is being done on neighboring Celeron Island, which is off the south end of Grosse Ile, and is also part of the Point Mouille State Game Area. Really exciting work that's being done, around there.

Hannah:
Yeah, that's a pretty cool story to hear about! Very neat that they could get such awesome grant funding to be able to do that work.

Holly:
As you can tell, good things are happening for wildlife, all around the state, so thanks for joining us for this segment. But stayed tuned, because next up is our interview with Glenn Palmgren, of the Forest Resources Division.

Announcer:
Almost 100 years ago, the Michigan State Park Commission set the course for visitors to enjoy and explore four seasons of fun at parks. May 12, 2019 officially marks the anniversary of State Parks, and the DNR is planning yearlong centennial celebration.

Announcer:
Join in and help celebrate our rich history and take an energizing look forward, as we mark this milestone year with special events, campfire stories, geocaching, a race series, park events, and much more. To learn all about this hundred year milestone, visit michigan.gov/stateparks100. In addition to finding information on events and programming, there are opportunities to purchase gear and merchandise, watch videos, read historical accounts, listen to podcasts, find volunteer opportunities, and learn about our new Happy Little Trees program.

Announcer:
While you're on the site, explore the memory map made by state park visitors. This online memory map was created for parks fans to add their memories and photos. Share yours at michigan.gov/stateparks100.

Holly:
Welcome back to Wild Talk. Today, in the studio with us, is Glenn Palmgren, Fire Management Specialist with the DNR Forest Resources Division.

Hannah:
Well, welcome Glenn, thank you so much for joining us today!

Glenn:
Thanks for having me.

Holly:
All right, Glenn. Well, we want to know a little bit about you. So, what's your role with the Forest Resources Division?

Glenn:
Okay, my role as a Fire Management Specialist. I work out of Lansing. And it's a statewide position, and there's three primary things that I work on. One of them is prescribed fire. Another one is fire training, to get all of our fire staff trained. And the other one is out-of-state dispatch, when we send people out of state, I work on that a lot, kind of coordinating that aspect of things.

Holly:
Okay. So that's like when, some of our staff, I think, recently were out in California, is that correct?

Glenn:
Yeah, we've had staff in California, Washington, and all over the place. Around the country, doing wildfire control and protection.

Holly:
That's neat that we can help other states, as well.

Glenn:
Yeah. Yeah, we help them, and it helps us by getting those training opportunities.

Holly:
Yeah. So, you're fairly new to this role. What was your DNR role, before that?

Glenn:
I was the ecologist, for the Parks and Recreation Division, for Michigan State Parks, so basically helping with resource management, in state park system. Writing resource management plans, invasive species control, and also helping to work on prescribed burning, in state parks.

Holly:
So really, you've been kind of a habitat guy your whole career.

Glenn:
Pretty much. For sure.

Holly:
That's great. So what kind of led you to this career path, Glenn?

Glenn:
I've always been interested, actually, in birds. That was my first interest in birds, and birding. Got started in that, way back in middle school days. Middle school and high school days. I went to school at University of Michigan, in the Natural Resource Management program, and didn't quite know exactly where I wanted to go.

Glenn:
I just knew I wanted to work outside, and work with birds and things like that, too, and other animals, and plants and everything. I got into the program, took some forestry classes, took some wildlife classes, kind of all across the board. And liked it all, and pretty much didn't want to specialize in just wildlife, or just plants, or any of those things. So I took a little bit of everything, and pretty much called that General Ecology.

Glenn:
I ended up with a degree, a bachelor's and master's degree in natural resource management. Worked on a lot of different things, from plants to animals. My master's degree actually worked on both wildlife and forestry. It was a combination. It was up in the jack pine plains, looking at the occupancy of Kirtland's warbler, and how it relates to the growth of jack pine and northern pin oak, species up there, and how their growth, in turn, relates to the soils and the microclimates. So, it's kind of, a little bit of climate, a little bit of soil science, a little bit of plant biology and forestry, and a little bit of wildlife management, all kind of rolled together.

Hannah:
Cool!

Holly:
That's perfect, for your current job, right?

Glenn:
Exactly, yeah. So, it works out really well. It was great for my previous job, with Parks and Rec division, and it's great for this job, too.

Hannah:
Awesome.

Holly:
So, Glenn. If you had to pick a favorite wildlife species, what would it be?

Glenn:
Oh, gosh. That would be tough.

Hannah:
Holly's coming in with the hard questions!

Glenn:
It's a really hard question! Yeah, it's got to be a bird, to start with, of course. Because that's where I got kind of started in all this. I don't know, probably Kirtland's warbler. Just because it has that background with myself, so it kind of got me started in this career, and everything. So, I think that's probably a good one.

Glenn:
Being a species of Michigan, kind of a symbol of Michigan, in a way. I think that would be my favorite one.

Holly:
Awesome.

Hannah:
Cool!

Holly:
Beautiful bird.

Glenn:
Yeah, for sure.

Holly:
Yeah. We wanted to have you on today, to talk a little bit more about prescribed burning. So, if you could, maybe let our listeners know a little bit about what prescribed burning is, and why we do it.

Glenn:
Sure. Prescribed burning is basically setting fire on the landscape, in a controlled fashion, in a way that's going to meet resource management objectives. The first important thing with prescribed burning is identifying the site that you want burned, identifying what your resource management objectives are to achieve with that burn, and then identifying how you can then accomplish that burn, in a safe manner, to meet those resource management objectives.

Glenn:
Prescribed burning is done all across Michigan, in everywhere from the west end of the upper peninsula, all the way down to, we actually did a prescribed burn a few years ago on Belle Isle, in Detroit, and at Milliken State Park, right downtown. So, everywhere from urban to rural areas, we do prescribed burning, all around the state.

Holly:
Is there a particular time of year that's best, to do prescribed burns?

Glenn:
Prescribed burning can actually be done any time of year, even the middle of the winter, we do prescribed burning, in [inaudible 00:20:40] and cattail stands, and things like that. But primarily, most of our burning is done in the spring. Usually, it starts at the end of March, and it goes through the end of May, and into a little bit of early June, which is the fire season throughout the state.

Glenn:
The southern end of the state would be the early part of that window, and the UP would be the later end of that window.

Holly:
Okay. What factors do you need to take into consideration, when you're planning one of these prescribed burns?

Glenn:
There's a lot that goes into planning for a prescribed burn. We start out with a forest treatment proposal, which is written by the Land Management Division, the Wildlife Division, Parks and Rec Division, or Forest Resources Division. So, once we identify those objectives for the burn, that's done on that Forestry [inaudible 00:21:22] proposal, and identifying the perimeter, basically the boundary, of what we want burned.

Glenn:
That's the initiation part, and one of the most important things that goes in to it. Then, we start writing a burn plan. Somebody who's a burn boss, basically, a person who has a lot of experience in burning, will write the burn plan. Safety is probably our number one, I would say, objective and priority.

Glenn:
We make sure we can conduct that burn in a safe manner, where it's not going to escape. It's not going to harm any property or anything else. Smoke management is a really, really big consideration, too. We don't want to put a lot of smoke on our neighbors, or on sensitive sites, like hospitals or highways, or things like that, either.

Glenn:
We take great care to make sure we're not doing that. So that's smoke management, the safety on the actual fire line itself, making sure the fire stays contained, and the safety of all the personnel on the burn, as well. So everybody can maneuver through the site in a safe way. People aren't going to get hurt, while we're doing the burn.

Glenn:
Timing of the burn is really important. Like I said, we can burn all different seasons of the year. So, a different time of burn in a year, you're going to get different objectives. Or, you're going to be able to meet different objectives. Burning in the dormant season, like in the wintertime, you can remove thatch and biomass, basically. Materials from the ground.

Glenn:
Usually, when you burn in that time of the year, you're not going to hurt actual living plants at that time of the year, because everything's dormant. If you burn into the mid to late spring, around this time of year. In May, and even into early June in the UP, then you can start to affect the plants on the site. So, if there's certain plants that we want to try to kill, and set back, to create more openings, or to try to kill invasive species.

Glenn:
Oftentimes, that can be done towards the later end of the spring burning season. Then, we can also do prescribed burning in the middle of the summer, as well. If the humidities are low enough, and there's a dry enough spell, in the middle of the summer, we can do prescribed burning, and that can also affect different plants in a different way.

Glenn:
So, a lot of it, you have to understand the, what's called the phenology of the plants, which is basically the life cycle of the plant, and when it's going to be most susceptible to fire. Some plants we want to kill, so we want to hit them when they're most vulnerable. Other plants we don't want to kill, just for example, if want we to burn through an oak stand, and we want to maintain the oak, then we don't want to hurt the oaks, but we do want to hurt the other species there. So we have to time things, and work with the plant's biology to understand when the fire's going to do most good on the site, and the least amount of harm on the site.

Holly:
Right. So a lot of different things to consider, when planning one of these.

Glenn:
Yeah. It's pretty complex.

Holly:
Could you tell us a little bit about what you do to keep those prescribed burns from getting out of hand?

Glenn:
Sure. One of the most important things is working with weather conditions, to make sure we're burning during the right time. The site has to be burnable, so we have to burn when it's dry enough to burn, and windy enough to burn, that sort of thing. But we don't want to burn during really extreme conditions, when the first is more likely to escape control.

Glenn:
We have to pick that right window, when we're kind of a moderate fire danger type of a situation. Preparing the site for the burn is really important as well. We have to make sure we have control lines all the way around the burn. Those control lines could be a plow line, it could be a disk line, or a roto-tilled line, that sort of thing.

Glenn:
It could even just be a leaf-blown line through the woods. The idea is to just have bare soil, bare dirt exposed, and a wide enough area that the first can't cross it.

Holly:
What kind of training do the staff have to have, to go out and assist, or work on one of these burns?

Glenn:
That's a great question. The training that goes into fire is multiple levels of training. Kind of like you would with wildlife, where you have wildlife assistance, and technicians, and biologists, and lots of different levels of people with different types of training. The same goes with fire, too. We have different levels of training.

Glenn:
To start out, just to be on the fire line, you have to be something called a Firefighter Type 2. And that's a national level of qualification. Michigan uses the national qualification system that's used by all the federal agencies, and many other states across the country. We follow all those national standards.

Glenn:
And a Firefighter Type 2 has about a week, a little bit over a week's worth of classroom-type training. Which can be done online, or in a classroom. And they have about a day or so of actual hands-on training. And they learn how to use their equipment, their personal protective gear, the Nomex fire suits, and things like that, and some of the basic hand tools, and water pumps, and everything. Learn a little bit about the gear, a little bit of that sort of thing.

Glenn:
About a week's worth of training, and people could be on the ground assisting with prescribed burning. Of course, those folks that are pretty new would be working directly, side-by-side with somebody who has more experience, to start with. And then, as they gain more experience, they can work their way up through the system, as well.

Glenn:
Then we have Firefighter Type 1s, which are a little bit more advanced firefighter. A squad boss, is another name for that title. They have a little bit of leadership experience on the first. They can take people under their wings, some of those Firefighter Type 2s, and show them how to work around the fire line safely.

Glenn:
Then, we have single resource bosses. A prescribed fire and engine boss, would be a good example of that. Someone who's working on an engine to try to hold the prescribed fire in the lines. Those engine bosses have another couple weeks of classroom training. They have all that in-the-field experience that they've been going through, maybe for a few years.

Glenn:
They also have to do a task book, as well. That's one thing, kind of unique to fire training, is that for every one of the fire positions, there's a task book involved. Where pretty much every possible thing you could do, as part of that job, could be 10 pages worth of tasks, in a book. You have to demonstrate, to somebody who isn't qualified in that position, that you can do that.

Glenn:
So, you have to do it on an actual prescribed fire, or wildfire incident, and show that you can capably perform in that position. And then those qualified people sign off on those tasks. Usually, you have multiple people signing off on each task, to show that you can do it, in different situations, different fuel types, that sort of thing. And then you can be certified in that position.

Holly:
Wow. Okay. So there's a lot of different roles, and it sounds like a lot of people are on hand, when one of these burns goes on.

Glenn:
Yeah. Typical prescribed burn, I would say that an average prescribed burn might have anywhere from 10 to 15 people on the burn. Some have a lot more than that, if it's a more complex burn, or larger burn. Some could have fewer than 10, if it's a low-complexity burn.

Holly:
So you mentioned that a lot of times, the burns are conducted to set back woody debris, or to manage certain invasive species. Are there any other reasons that prescribed burns are conducted?

Glenn:
Oh, yeah. Prescribed burning, like you said, it does set back invasive species, controls woody plants. It can also help stimulate the growth of warm-season grasses, native prairie grasses. For places like the Pheasant Restoration Initiative, and some of those sites, even if there's not a lot of woody vegetation in there, you still might want to do prescribed burning, to help keep those native grasses and wildflowers growing really healthy and strong.

Holly:
It's mostly to create good habitat, right? Around the state?

Glenn:
It is, yeah. For habitat management. There's other reasons, too, besides habitat management. It's done, prescribed fire can be used to create fuel breaks, for example. We do that in Forest Resources Division, to try to basically have breaks, where if there's a wildfire that starts, we have predetermined areas that have lower fuel loadings, so that we can better get a handle on the wildfire, if it were to reach those areas. So, in strategic areas, like in the jack pine country, where fires can get really large, really fast, those fuel breaks can be really important to slowing down the spread of the fire and enabling us to get on top of it, and get it controlled.

Glenn:
We used prescribed burning for that reason, as well. It's interesting, in the Parks and Recreation Division, they proposed a prescribed fire for culture resources. At Fayette State Park, it was an old racetrack, that was at Fayette State Park, had a bit of overgrow with juniper, for many, many years, and you couldn't even tell where it was, anymore. Because the site was sensitive, the ground was sensitive, so we didn't want to have a lot of heavy equipment there to basically rip out the brush and the trees, and everything, and cut them all down.

Glenn:
It was decided that the best way to do it was to do a prescribed burn. That burn was just done, I think it was last year, and when that burn was done, it was really successful. It killed back a lot of that juniper, and you could start to see the racetrack exposed now, as well. So it was the department's first cultural resource burn.

Holly:
That's cool.

Glenn:
So, burning can be done for a lot of different reasons.

Holly:
One of the important things that occurs in our department, I think, is that we have really good partnerships between our divisions. You mentioned Forest Resources, and Wildlife, and Parks, all working together to accomplish these prescribed burning goals. Why do you really think that all these partnerships are so important?

Glenn:
I think the partnerships are really important, because without the partnerships, we couldn't get this work done. It takes all the staff. Prescribed burning is an all hands on deck endeavor. I know even when we were scheduling this podcast, this interview, we were trying to do it last Friday, and at the last minute I had to cancel, because we were going out to do a prescribed burn.

Glenn:
Ended up burning 180 acres, up in Verona State Game Area, in the thumb, so it was a really successful day. But their Wildlife Division staff there, as well, that day. We don't have enough staff to do all the burning we need to do, just in Forest Resources Division, either. We rely on some of the [inaudible 00:30:10] Division staff, with fireline qualifications to help out, and Parks and Rec Division staff, and even there's some Fisheries Division staff, that work out of Plainwell, and Bay City, that help out with prescribed burning as well.

Holly:
Where can people learn more about the great work that the Forest Resources Division is doing, for the people of Michigan?

Glenn:
The DNR website is probably the best way to find that information. And one thing I do want to mention to you, is with fire, we always kind of have to plug the wildfire prevention, wildfire control, as well. And there's michigan.gov/burnpermit, that's a really important website as well, we like to get out there to folks, and anybody who wants to do burning on their own property needs to look at that website. That has information about where you're allowed to burn, at any given day. It's updated, every single day.

Holly:
And that would include someone who maybe wants to burn leaves on their property, or have a bonfire?

Glenn:
Exactly. Yeah, debris burning, leaf burning, whatever it happens to be on a property, they can get information on that website. If you look on that website, you can find all the information you need about what you can and can't burn, and when you can and can't burn.

Holly:
We'll be sure to include those links in our show notes. Thanks so much for your time today, Glenn. We really appreciate you talking with us for a few minutes about prescribed burns. Hopefully, our listeners were able to learn a little bit more about why they're so important, and why all the different resource divisions participate and make these happen, throughout the state, for all their various good reasons.

Glenn:
Yeah. Thanks for having me on. Always happy to talk about burning. I did want to make a quick plug, too. This year, 2019, is Smokey Bear's 75th birthday. So, we're celebrating that this year in Forest Resources Division.

Holly:
Happy birthday, Smokey!

Glenn:
Exactly.

Holly:
All right. Well, stay tuned, as we unzip our mailbag and answer your wildlife questions.

Announcer:
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Announcer:
The contest runs from May 1st to July 14th. For details on how to enter, visit michigan.gov/wetlandwonders, and click on the Wetland Wonders challenge.

Holly:
Welcome back to Wild Talk. I'm Holly, and hosting with me is Hannah. We're going to continue this episode by answering some of your questions from our mailbag.

Holly:
My first question is from Tamara. She writes in saying that she has seen a turtle crossing the road, and figures in her area, living near a marsh, she's probably going to see some more, and wondering what to do, should she encounter one crossing the road again.

Holly:
And this is a good time of year to talk about this, because turtles are moving around, either looking for a mate, or moving to a new habitat area. If you do see one in the road, and only if it is safe to do so, you can help it across the road, in the direction in which it's traveling.

Holly:
Use extreme caution, if you're dealing with a snapping turtle, or just let it go on its own. But again, the important thing is, move it to the side of the road, in the direction in which its traveling. Because if you move it to the other end, it's just going to turn around and go right across again.

Holly:
So keeping that in mind, and then, this is also a time of year when you might see, or have, a turtle nesting in your yard. And so, if you do have those eggs in your yard, or a turtle's nest, just leave the turtle be. She'll be there for a day or so, laying her eggs, and then she'll move on. You can't move the eggs or mess with them at all. You have to just leave them be, and hopefully they'll hatch.

Holly:
Although, do keep in mind that turtle nest's success rate is extremely low. So, don't be surprised if they don't hatch. Sometimes they don't emerge until the following spring, as well. Just keep those things in mind, and if you do see a turtle, or snake, or frog, or toad, or salamander, do please report those sightings to the Michigan Herp Atlas, this is a very cool database that we record all of our different herp, or reptile and amphibian sightings, miherpatlas.org, so definitely check that out, if you have any reptile or amphibian sightings to report.

Hannah:
My brother, actually, emailed me yesterday, with a picture of an eastern boxed turtle, that he saw while mushroom hunting with his kids, yesterday. So, I'll have to remind him to report that on MIherpatlas, because that's a species of special concern.

Holly:
Well, this is a little bit somewhat similar to your question, but instead of turtles, it's birds. 'Tis the season for baby birds, and a lot of people find baby birds, out of the nest.

Holly:
Brandy emailed me, saying that she found a baby bird with no feathers on it at all, out of the nest, and she's really worried about it, and wants to know what to do with it. With baby birds that are unfeathered, they have very little feathering on them, you can put that baby bird back, if you can do so safely. Just like you said, for the turtles. Only if you can do so safely. Human safety is number one priority. Do not put yourself in danger for animals.

Holly:
If the nest is fairly low in a tree, and you're not going to break your neck climbing up a tree, certainly put the baby bird back. It's a common wives tale that if you touch a baby bird, your smell will keep the parents away. It's not true in the case of birds. It is true in the case of mammals, if you touch, you can leave some of that scent behind, and mammals have really good sense of smell.

Holly:
But birds do not, so don't worry about your smell being on it. Just tuck it back in the nest, if you can do so safely. If you can't get it back in the nest, if it's really high, up in the tree, or you don't know where the nest is at all, you can contact a wildlife rehabilitator to help out with that bird. There's a list, on our website, michigandnr.com/dlr. And that list is organized by county, and you can find a rehabber near you that might be able to take that bird, and help take care of it.

Holly:
Now, if you find a baby bird on the ground that is feathered, and it might be making a lot of noise and flapping its wings a lot, it looks really helpless, and looks very flustered. Don't worry about that bird. It's a bird that has recently fledged. And by the way, for some species, it can only take about two weeks for the baby bird to become old enough to leave the nest. So, they're still very young. They've taken their first flight, and it didn't go so well.

Holly:
But don't worry, because the parents are close by, they're going to keep feeding it. Just keep any outdoor cats or dogs away from the baby bird, if you can, and just let it be. The parents will keep feeding it.

Hannah:
Excellent advice, especially in the spring and summer months, there's lots of baby animals about, so it should be no surprise that we got a note from Jeff, that said he's been seeing a fawn, hidden right next to his porch, in his backyard. I believe we talked about this last month, as well, but it serves repeating.

Hannah:
With fawns, if you find them in the wild, just leave them alone. It really might seem unusual to us to have a deer, a baby deer, that's left all by itself. But that actually is a survival technique that lots of animals, not just deer, use. In the case of a deer, the fawn is born with excellent camouflage. All those spots help it blend in, on the sunny speckled forest floor.

Hannah:
They also are born with very little scent. So, that combination makes it really hard for predators to find it. It's also very instinctual for the fawn to lay incredibly still, wherever the mom has hidden it. Whether or not the fawn appears hidden to people, is a different story. But the mother thinks she finds a safe spot to hide the fawn, and the fawn's instinct is to stay put, and wait for mom to return.

Hannah:
It is very intentional that that fawn is left there by itself. Mom doesn't want to draw attention to where she's hidden her baby, and she's a fairly large animal, so easy to spot. She also is kind of smelly, so that can attract attention as well. So she gets out of there, to keep her fawn safe.

Hannah:
Baby rabbits nest, same principle. The mom isn't going to hang around and draw attention to her nest. But rest assured that the mother does return, and feed and care for her babies. And eventually, when the fawn is strong enough to accompany the mother, it will move on, and you probably won't see it very often, anymore.

Hannah:
If you do find a fawn, or other baby animal, as Holly mentioned, that does appear abandoned, or in the case of a fawn next to a dead doe, for example. In that instance, it would be all right to contact one of our licensed wildlife rehabilitators. Those folks have the licenses, the permits, the facilities, to adequately care for the animal with minimal human interference, and then return it to the wild.

Hannah:
You can find out more information about what to do if you find baby animals, and also a list of those wildlife rehabilitators, at michigan.gov/wildlife.

Holly:
All right. Thanks, Hannah. So the final letter I got was from Theresa. She noticed around her community, a turkey with an arrow going through its body, near its [inaudible 00:39:46].

Holly:
Of course, that's always a concerning thing, to see wildlife with an arrow sticking out of it. It could be a turkey that someone was aiming at, this spring, and they weren't successful. Maybe even last fall. She was wondering what to do about this poor turkey with an arrow sticking through it.

Holly:
It can be really tricky to know when to step in, and when to help wildlife species. For example, you might see a three-legged deer. Or, like Theresa saw, a turkey with an arrow going through it. It can be really difficult to know when to help, and when not to help.

Holly:
Quite often, I give the advice, if the animal can still get around, and get to food, it's probably going to be tremendously difficult to catch. And it may be very dangerous for that animal. If you see noticeable signs of declining health, that's when you might want to contact a rehabilitator, to try and intervene.

Holly:
But in most cases, wildlife are able to survive with remarkable injuries. We actually found a goose, it's probably been about five years ago now, that had an arrow sticking through it, and we were able to catch it, when we were rounding up geese, for Goose Roundup. And this arrow had been in the goose so long, that everything healed around the arrow. And the arrow was just stuck, in the bird. It was fine. It was healthy. We were able to clip the arrow, and get it out of there, and let the goose go. But this bird was doing just fine, even with an arrow sticking through it.

Holly:
We get lots of phone calls and questions about the three-legged deer scenario, and in that case, they're very resilient animals, and usually it's best just to leave them be, and as hard as it is, a lot of times, we just have to let nature take its course. And sometimes the animal will pull through just fine, like the goose with the arrow through it. Other times, it doesn't always work out, but then they are going back into the food chain, and providing a food resource for something else.

Holly:
It's hard. As people, we really want to try and help all the baby animals that we might see, or the injured animals. And as we zip this segment to a close, remember, if you have questions about wildlife or hunting, you can call us at 517-284-9453. You can email Dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov, or you can stop by one of our DNR offices. And your question could be featured on our next mailbag!

Announcer:
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Holly:
So, the warmer weather is almost upon us, and many of us will be heading north this summer, to cabins, or campgrounds in the Upper Peninsula, and Northern Lower Peninsula, which also happens to be Michigan's bear country. So, in this final segment, we'll talk about ways to be smart when living and recreating in areas that have black bears.

Hannah:
Black bears are mostly located, as Holly mentioned, in the Northern Lower Peninsula, and the Upper Peninsula. And occasionally, we have a bear or two in the southern part of Michigan, as well. Usually, they're young, male bears wandering around, looking for territory, kind of set up shop. I don't think they usually stick around, though, because there's like way too many people in the southern half of the state for a bear's liking.

Hannah:
Michigan black bears range anywhere from 300 to 500 pounds, on the larger scale of things. You could have females that might be 150 pounds. So, they can vary quite a bit, in size. As far as bears go, they're relatively small. Black bears, in particular, which is the only species that we have, here in Michigan.

Hannah:
Even though, the one thing that I always tell kids, when I'm talking to them, you can see a black bear with brown fur, blonde fur, cinnamon-colored fur. You can have a black bear with a white splotch on his chest. All different kinds of colors. But here in Michigan, they're all black bears.

Hannah:
They are omnivores. They eat a lot of different kinds of foods. Surprisingly, for some folks, to know that a black bear's primary source of food, or favorite thing to eat, is vegetation. So, I think it's something like 75% of a black bear's diet, here in Michigan, is vegetation. As far as berries, green, leafy stuff, acorns, those types of things. They also eat a lot of insects. In addition to insects, they might be looking for things like roadkill.

Hannah:
It's also important to keep in mind that while black bears are one of the smaller bears here in North America, they're also pretty timid around people. They're small, and they're not very aggressive, as far as bears go. So, bears rarely will confront or attack people. It's just not something they commonly do. Again, talking about black bears here in Michigan.

Hannah:
So, there are lots of different ways you can be smart, around bears. Or, if you're up camping, or hiking, or visiting bear country, as we call it. So, if you live in the northern portions of the state, or maybe you have a cabin, up in the northern part of Michigan, there's a few things you can do to keep bears from coming up to your house or cabin.

Hannah:
First, make sure you put trash out the day of pickup, and put it in a bear-proof container. That way, the bears have an excellent sense of smell, that's primarily how they find their food, and so any sort of smell, even for a mile or so off, they can smell it, and it will attract their attention.

Hannah:
By leaving trash indoors until the morning of pickup, that's going to reduce the chances of a bear smelling it, and if you have it in a bear-proof container, that's going to make it hard for a bear to break in and find something to eat. If you like to grill outside a lot, make sure that you clean your grills, or put it indoors, and lock it up, so the bears can't be enticed by those smells, as well.

Hannah:
If you have an apiary, or beehive, like to hang out with bees, as I mentioned before, bears like to eat insects, and they do raid beehives on occasion. Electric fencing is a good way to deter the bears. And then, if you've got bird feeders, it's a good time to remove those, in the spring. Especially if you live up in bear country. So making sure that those bird feeders are taken down, because that's just an easy meal, it's high in fat, provides lots of good energy for a variety of animals, and bears will definitely take advantage of those.

Hannah:
Also, this probably seems obvious to some people, but don't try and approach a bear. And don't try and intentionally feed it.

Holly:
Well, if you are camping, or hiking in bear country, and don't want to have encounters with bears, some good things to do are, if you do cooking at your campsite, if you've just been cooking, make sure you don't wear the clothes you cooked in, to bed. You may have some of those cooking smells with you, in the tent, or in the pop-up camper, that the bear might be able to smell.

Holly:
Don't wear those clothes that you cooked in, to bed. Try cooking quite a distance from your tent or your camper, so that smells don't really infuse into the fabric of the tent or the pop-up camper. And of course, never have food, or toiletries, or anything that smells really appetizing and appealing, in your tent.

Holly:
Because you don't want to have a visitor to your tent. And it may not be a bear, it could also be raccoons, or chipmunks, that might also be tempted by your food. So, it's just smart, even if you're not camping in bear country. Don't leave food in your tent. You can put your food, locked safely and securely, in your trunk, or, if there's a bear pole, or a couple of trees on your campsite that you could suspend the food between, that's a good thing to do.

Holly:
Hang your food, or lock it securely, in the trunk of your car. Never leave food out for bears. Remove those easy food sources. Just like at your cabin, or at your house, up north, put trash in bear-proof containers. Parks in bear country are going to have secure, bear-proof containers that you can put your trash in.

Holly:
And then, when you're hiking out on the trails, you want to make as much noise as you can, so you don't startle a bear. That might be perceived as threatening to them, if you surprise them, in the woods. So, make noise, wear bear bells, talk to each other loudly, maybe have a radio going, if you're hiking alone. Make noise, so that you don't surprise a bear on the trail.

Holly:
Of course, just like Hannah was saying, never try to intentionally approach a bear. You might see a bear cub that looks absolutely adorable. You might want to get close, take a picture. Really bad idea. Never try to approach bears, or touch a bear. You just want to be respectful. They are a large, powerful animal, and just like any wild animal, if they feel threatened, they may try and defend themselves.

Holly:
It's usually best just to be respectful, and give an animal its space. So, if you do encounter a bear, talking to it in a loud voice, and backing away slowly, while facing the bear. Don't turn and run. That's kind of a no-no, with bears. Because, as with any predator, it might initiate that predator response, like, "Oh, something's running. I must chase it!" And then, don't play dead, either, because the bear might be curious, as to what this dead thing is.

Holly:
The best thing to do is to talk to it sternly, back away slowly, give it plenty of space, and it will move on. Black bears don't want to be in an encounter with a person, just as much as people don't want to be in an encounter with a black bear.

Holly:
That wraps up this episode of the Wild Talk podcast. We'll see you back here, July 1st, for another exciting episode.

Announcer:
This has been the Wild Talk podcast. Your monthly podcast, airing the first of each month, and offering insights into the world of wildlife, across the state of Michigan. You can reach the Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453, or dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov.