Announcer:
You know what that sound 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, Happy New Year and welcome to Wild Talk. I'm your host Holly Vaughn, and my co host today is my good friend and colleague, Kristin Wildman. Kristin and I have known each other for about 20 years. We've worked together not only in the DNR Wildlife Division, but we also work together at a tiny little zoo in Traverse City, Michigan, way back in the 1990s.

Kristin:
Yes, the late 1990s. 

Holly:
We also studied fisheries and wildlife biology together at Michigan State University, and we've had a lot of fun over the years, and we're going to have a lot of fun hosting this podcast. 

Kristin:
Absolutely, so today's podcast will include your questions from our mailbag, and we'll be talking with our DNR Wildlife Action Plan Coordinator, Amy Derosier.

Holly:
We'll end this podcast talking about winter wildlife viewing and wildlife tracking, but first, let's take a look at what's going on around the state.

Announcer:
Now is the time to apply for your spring turkey hunting license. The application period begins January 1 and runs through the 1st of February, with drawing results available online March 4th. The comeback of the wild turkey is one of the greatest wildlife conservation success stories. Since the 1980s, the efforts of the DNR, along with many partners, has resulted in a restored turkey population in Michigan. Visit mi.govs/turkey for more info or to apply for your license.

Holly:
Wildlife Division staff are going to spend many hours in a plane this January. Moose, elk and waterfowl surveys are all occurring this month, and those surveys are conducted in small airplanes. 

Kristin:
That's right Holly. In the northern Lower Peninsula, the winter elk survey is underway in January. This is when DNR staff will climb into a little four seater plane, usually a Cessna, and they fly transects, which is like an imaginary grid pattern over the North to Northeastern Lower Peninsula, looking for elk. When there's no snow on the ground and leaves are off the trees, the elk are really easy to spot from the sky and once elk are spotted, the plane circles around and biologists are able to determine how many cows, calves and bulls are present. The bull elk still have those majestic antlers that they're sporting at this time and the elk population survey estimate helps us determine future harvest quotas and it lets biologists also know where the elk are wintering.

Kristin:
Last year's survey gave us an estimated population of around 1,200 elk.

Holly:
That's really cool, flying around in the sky. Isn't it true Krissy that your grandfather was once a pilot? Didn't he fly one of these little Cessnas?

Kristin:
Yeah, he had a little Cessna, and when my twin sister and I were about eight to 10 years old, he'd take us up, then fly us around and do his little roller coaster move. We kept begging for it and he's like that's enough, so shout out there to my grandpa for getting me used to flying in these tiny little planes.

Holly:
That's awesome.

Kristin:
In the Upper Peninsula, the winter moose survey's also happening this month, and they'll be using these small Cessna planes. The moose survey is completed every other year, and it's the primary way of monitoring this unique population that's only found in the UP. Like the elk survey, it's done in a small plane flown by DNR pilots over areas of the core range in Marquette, Baraga and Iron counties where the highest density of moose and their most favorable habitat, boreal or conifer forests are found. Observers will locate moose, identify their sex, and even their approximate age. 

Kristin:
Today, moose are only found in the Upper Peninsula and just like elk, moose numbers declined when settlement occurred, and by the late 1800s, moose were absent from the Lower Peninsula and only found in small numbers in the UP. Back in the mid 1980s, moose were successfully reintroduced into Marquette County and today's estimated moose population in the core moose range in the western UP is 420 to 470 animals, and in the eastern UP, population numbers are fewer than 100 moose.

Holly:
That really sounds like a fun adventure, counting animals up in the sky.

Kristin:
Yes.

Holly:
Biologists in Southern Michigan are also going to be taking to the skies to count waterfowl, especially on Lake St. Clair and Western Lake Erie, Lake Michigan and then other smaller inland lakes and rivers and wetlands too, assuming they're not frozen, which they can be this time of year but they also will be checking farm fields for wintering Canada geese, wintering sandhill cranes and other waterfowl that might be hanging out in those fields. In the winter, these ducks and geese tend to congregate in the same area year after year, and especially in these big open pockets of water, in some of our deeper lakes like Lake St. Clair and Western Lake Erie. 

Holly:
The Wildlife Division cooperates with other states and with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to survey local migrant and wintering waterfowl populations to determine the status of the population and also trends in habitat use by these waterfowl. The January winter waterfowl survey is part of a continent wide waterfowl survey that must be completed during the first week of January at those places where waterfowl tend to congregate, and then the results of this survey help to set hunting regulations and determine population trends in the Mississippi flyway, which Michigan is a part of. 

Holly:
Now we're coming back down out of the sky back down to the ground, and these next few updates are from the ground level, terrestrial level.

Kristin:
Thank goodness. You know, every year, it gets harder and harder for me to fly these surveys and I think when you're getting older, it just hits you a little harder. I've been asking the pilot, can we open the window just a little bit?

Holly:
I haven't been brave enough to try it myself but maybe someday.

Kristin:
We need the young ones to get up there and fly these things.

Holly:
In the southeast region of Michigan, staff at the Holly Wildlife Field Office had a really fun time back in November with an enthusiastic group of fourth and fifth graders from Holly Elementary School. Together with partners from Pheasants Forever, the kids learned about pheasants and grass and wildlife and pollinators like bees and butterflies, and they learned how important grasslands are to these animals, and then afterwards, the kids got to visit the recreation area itself to see some grassland habitat, and then they also help to plant a pollinator meadow. The kids really had a fun time and now they can say they had a part in conservation and they they were able to plant some wildlife habitat, which is really, really cool.

Kristin:
It's such a great opportunity for youth to just get interested in real conservation issues and they don't even know they're learning because it's so fun. 

Holly:
Absolutely. I love things like this, so much fun. In the southwest, a reception was held at Maple River State game area December 3rd to kick off the Adopt a Game Area Program. Maple River State game area is between St. John's and Ithaca, Michigan just off of 127 so when you're traveling north or south on 127, you've probably driven through the state game area time and time again, so it's really beautiful. You've probably noticed the marsh habitat like on either side of the the road. It looks like a big lake with cat tail sticking out of it, really beautiful. I love when I'm driving past to look for ducks and geese and sandhill cranes and bald eagles when I drive past. It's one of my favorite places. 

Holly:
Anyway, the Adopt a Game Area program is a really great partnership between the DNR, Pheasants Forever, The Hal & Jean Glassen Foundation and many other conservation organizations, businesses and individuals. It allows these individuals and organizations to sponsor grassland habitat projects on state lands that they use and appreciate. People that live around Maple River and use the game area regularly have contributed to some of these projects like local conservation organizations and conservation districts and other businesses as well. There are over 20 properties in southern Michigan that you can sponsor. You can visit mi.gov/pheasant to learn more and to contribute to the game area in your community today. 

Holly:
Kristin, do we have any news from headquarters here in Lansing? 

Kristin:
We sure do. We still have educators signing up for the wildlife curricula. Several great wildlife base lessons are available to teachers and they can use them in their classrooms. We have several lessons for kindergarten aged learners up through high school students. Our Elk University program, for example, is for high school students, and as part of Elk University, students will learn about elk biology and how the DNR manages healthy elk herd, so if you're a teacher and you're interested in talking to your students more about Michigan wildlife, you can still get these free lesson plans and information to use this year. All the curricula are developed with the current state education standards in mind, and so to learn more or to register for these free curricula, visit mi.gov/dnreducation and click on Wildlife Classroom Curricula.

Holly:
Yeah, these lesson plans are excellent, so I highly encourage teachers and educators to sign up for these programs. They're a lot of fun. Is there anything else going on in Lansing?

Kristin:
Absolutely. Well, some deer seasons are still going on in January. The bulk of the deer hunting in Michigan is done, and throughout all the deer seasons, the Wildlife Disease Lab has been busy processing samples from Chronic Wasting Disease and bovine tuberculosis testing. At the height of firearm season, staff are processing thousands of samples per day. It's a huge undertaking, and we really appreciate all the hard work from our lab and our field staff. We also want to thank all of you who submitted deer for disease testing to help us achieve surveillance schools throughout the state. If you'd like to check your results, please visit mi.gov/dnrlab and you can also find the most up to date CWD testing goals and results, including the total number of deer tested by visiting mi.gov/cwd. Bovine tuberculosis testing data are also available at mi.gov/bovinetb.

Holly:
Isn't it true that we've done something like, we've processed something like 22,000 deer heads through the laboratory?

Kristin:
Yes but we really have the hunters to thank for it because these are important things that we need to understand and our hunters, without that data, without those samples, we would know a lot less.

Holly:
Yeah. Thanks so much everybody for your participation. As you've heard, lots of great work is happening in all corners of the state. Stick around. Next up is our interview with Amy Derosier.

Announcer:
Is it time to renew the license plate on your car or truck? When that moment arrives, show your support for Michigan elk and conservation by getting the Wildlife Habitat plate at the Secretary of State. 2018 was the 100th year since the reintroduction of elk to the state of Michigan, and while the elk have been here for over a century, this plate is only available for a limited time so don't miss out. Visit mi.gov/elk, and click on the license plate for more information.

Holly:
Today in studio with us, it's DNR Wildlife Division Action Plan Coordinator, Amy Derosier. Welcome, Amy. Happy New Year. Lots of woman power on this show today. 

Amy:
I know. Thanks for having me.

Holly:
Thanks for joining us.

Amy:
Hey, thanks for having me. I'm excited. 

Holly:
First of all, what is a wildlife action plan coordinator and what is your role with the Wildlife Division? 

Amy:
I think I'll answer the second question first. My role with the division is more of a planner. I work with people to develop plans and then to figure out how to implement them, and so as the Wildlife Action Plan Coordinator, I've worked with our staff and partners to develop the Wildlife Action Plan, which is basically the state's plan for rare species conservation to basically say, what's really important for us to work on, what are today's priorities so that we can have those wildlife around for tomorrow.

Amy:
I really look at my position as working with partners and people in state and out of state to look at how we can save and conserve wildlife in Michigan together.

Holly:
It sounds like a really exciting and kind of diverse sort of role that you have, like always changing.

Amy:
It is, and it's one of those things that I got into this field because I love wildlife and I love being outdoors, and I am never rarely, rarely, rarely outdoors, at least for work anymore but for me, working with partners and helping them achieve their goals and helping them figure out what's important in their area and where they can really contribute to conservation is really important and really fun. I get to work with different people across the state. I've also been really lucky and I get to work with people, other wildlife action plan coordinators in other states and across the country because every state has a wildlife action plan, and so these plans are really unique in that every state has a wildlife action plan. They were developed in 2005, and in 2015, we did an update. All the states did updates. 

Amy:
When you knit those plans together across the country, it really sets up a national conservation strategy for keeping wildlife around and to help rare wildlife. 

Holly:
You mentioned that you love wildlife. You're very interested in wildlife. How did this interest kind of start in your life? How did you come to be really interested in wildlife? 

Amy:
I have probably a little bit of a different background than a lot of folks, so I'm from out east. I'm from Massachusetts originally, and none of my family are outdoorsy types, and so I don't know. It's always been something I really liked. I like to spend time outside, catching frogs in the pond across the street, catching tadpoles. For me, it wasn't an external thing that, I didn't have many friends that were interested in it. We didn't have any adults that really did outdoorsy stuff? For me, it was really just stuff that I did around my house, and I grew up going to the beach and so I was really interested in really getting to tidal pools and really looking at critters that way too. 

Holly:
Awesome. Now you're here in Michigan, how long have you been with the Wildlife Division? What are some of the different places you worked before that? What kind of led you here to your current position?

Amy:
Yeah, so my path here has been pretty, it's been a meandering path. Let's see, I've been here for about 20 years in Michigan, and I've worked for the department for 10. Previous to that, previous to working with the division, I worked for Michigan Natural Features Inventory and did some mussel surveys, and did a lot of lake work, both fish and bugs. Before that, I went to grad school and actually, what brought me out here to Michigan was grad school. I came up for grad school and I worked on sea lamprey, and then before that, I worked in Maryland. I worked with U.S. Geological Survey and I worked with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service doing more kind of water quality work. 

Amy:
Actually before that, I worked out in Massachusetts on the coast and I worked on commercial fishing vessels. I was a fishery observer, and so I go out with fishermen and kind of see what they were doing, see what kind of fish they were catching and keep track of stuff for NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and National Marine Fisheries Service. I bounced around quite a bit. I've done a lot of different types of work, a lot of fisheries work and a lot of in the field work and so when I came on with the wildlife division, that was when my focus really shifted away from doing field work and more working with people to help people make better decisions and really focus our work to see where we can be effective and where we should be really putting our resources, what are the real priorities to focus on and ensure that we're using those limited resources well and that we're working together and kind of growing the same boat. 

Holly:
I think that's such an amazing journey, Amy. I mean, it's always so interesting to hear how people got interested in this field and got started in this profession and your journey has been a very impressive one, I think. One of the things that a lot of our public kind of perceive is that the DNR is really only involved in game species management, hunting regulations and habitat management for game species, but with your experience with the WAP, would you say that that's true? It sounds like it's not.

Amy:
I think one of the cool things about the department is that we're really here for the public trust of helping and ensuring that wildlife is around for people to enjoy and on the landscape and for people to be able to interact with in different ways. We do a lot of habitat management and that habitat management for species that are hunted also really helps lots of other wildlife as well. Every so often, there are wildlife that we have to put some more focus on and attention on because their needs aren't being particularly met, and so they're in decline. Oftentimes those critters are really good, maybe flagships or kind of those canary in the coal mine to let us know that something's not quite right out there. Then if we let it go, then for the game species, they could be in trouble too. When we go out, we do lots of habitat management and with certain tweaks, we can hit those non game or those rare species and help them while helping lots of other different wildlife.

Holly:
Definitely, so how does the Wildlife Action Plan, can you give an example of how the action plan has benefited game and non game species, maybe something that is kind of targeted for non game species but has benefits for all species?

Amy:
Yeah, so one of our priorities in the plan is large grasslands. That priority came about really because there's quite a few grassland birds that are declining, Henslow's sparrow and dickcissel. They're in decline but so are some of our game species like pheasants, and so when we were working on the plan, we had both people that were interested in the songbirds as well as people that were interested in pheasant for hunting. When you look at our plan, the needs outlined there are really targeted for the songbirds but we've also chosen places to work that overlap with the Pheasant Restoration Initiative. Over the last couple years, we've worked with different partners to get grants where we bring additional funding to Michigan to do work on grasslands. 

Holly:
Ultimately, all wildlife is important, right? Even those that maybe we'd rather not have around?

Amy:
Yeah, for me they are. I mean, I think wildlife is the kind of, especially in Michigan, I mean the tapestry that we have of different types of wildlife in different habitats in Michigan really makes Michigan what it is. I think a lot of people come here because of the nature and because of the wildlife and they all interact and we don't always know how they interact maybe until it's too late. I think it's important for us to look at the breadth of different wildlife to kind of help us think about how do we keep that diversity and that natural heritage that we have in Michigan because it's really unique and we're really fortunate to have it.

Holly:
Totally, totally agree with that. Michigan is one of the best states around absolutely, as far as wildlife goes. Once a wildlife action plan is written, what happens next? 

Amy:
Yeah, so the wildlife action plan, we develop that plan with partners. We had Department of Natural Resources staff at the table as well as partners from across the state at the table and we work together to develop the plan to say what our priorities that we should be working on over the next 10 years and what's important for us to do. Once it was written, one of the things that the department gets is that we we have additional funding that comes in because we have a plan, the wildlife action plan, so we get state wildlife grant funding that comes into Michigan to help us implement that plan. 

Amy:
We use that to do surveys and things like that, to help us know whether we're moving the needle. We also work with partners to figure out how can we help them do more work that's needed that has been identified in the plan. We've worked with partners in the past to develop grants to bring additional funding in and then we'll work with those partners so that we can get funding in their hands so that they can do management or they can do some land acquisition and improve on important places for rare wildlife. 

Holly:
We've heard a little bit about this Recovering America's Wildlife Act or RAWA. I love the acronym RAWA. What is it, and how would this ultimately benefit wildlife? 

Amy:
RAWA, Recovering America's Wildlife Act, I think is one of the most exciting things that has come around in the last over a decade. It's really about thinking about how do we fund wildlife conservation because the majority of wildlife conservation is currently funded through excise taxes on shooting gear or fishing gear and then license sales from hunting and fishing licenses. This is really looking at a way to help fund species that are not hunted and are not endangered yet but that are, we don't want them to become endangered. It's really looking at proactively conserving wildlife and really putting effort towards things to ensure that they stick around and that they don't become endangered and more costly and more difficult to manage and more difficult for everyone. 

Amy:
Recovering America's Wildlife Act has been a bipartisan effort, this is at the national level. It's bipartisan and has been moved forward. Representative Dingell from Michigan is one of the co sponsors on the House bill. There's also been a Senate bill introduced and this is looking at basically using funding from offshore oil and gas revenues on federal lands and reinvesting it back into natural resources. They're looking at dedicating $1.3 billion annually to go to states to conserve and to help prevent at-risk wildlife from becoming endangered. 

Amy:
It's really about helping states preserve their species and keep species from becoming endangered. In Michigan, that would mean $30 million annually towards conservation in Michigan. It's really focused on the wildlife action plan in rare species, but you get so many other benefits and all sorts of other species benefit. The other really cool part about this act and the potential funding is that it provides funding for outreach and education and it also provides funding for recreation, and so looking at the potential of really trying to expand some of our birdwatching and our other wildlife watching opportunities would be so amazing. When we really dedicate resources and effort and we bring partners to the table, we can really be successful. I mean, we've been really successful in things like reintroducing elk and elk are great, a great opportunity and a great wildlife viewing opportunity in Michigan now. For Kirtland's warbler, we've been really successful there as well, and Michigan was like the only place that they were breeding for years and years and now they're starting to expand.

Amy:
We're looking to take them off the federal endangered species list. I mean, when we put resources towards things, we can be really successful.

Holly:
That's awesome and it's really necessary right now. The times that we have right now, with hunter participation declining and revenue funds kind of becoming less plentiful, this could really, really help us to extend our reach and to do more for all wildlife in Michigan. It's a really exciting prospect. How can people get involved with this Recovering America's Wildlife Act?

Amy:
You can talk to your legislators. This is a national effort and so talking to your representatives about what's important to you and your values, talking to them about that. 

Holly:
If people wanted to take a look at the wildlife action plan, and read some of your hard work, where can they find that?

Amy:
I would love for people to do that. If you go to our website michigan.gov/dnrwap, so DNR WAP, you can find our plan. The way we've set it up is it's really trying to be helpful in helping you kind of delve into it. We've outlined different priorities, and so if you're interested in wetlands, you can choose that chapter. If you're interested in streams, you can choose that chapter and so you can pull that up and and there's PDFs and you can check those out. We really try to show linkages between what game species are being get helped when we do work on this as well as the rare species. We also talk a little bit in the plan about the value and kind of what that habitat and what those kind of ecosystem services that those habitats provide, and it provides a little bit of information about our focal species and those species that are really priorities for the next 10 years and kind of where they are, how they're doing, what types of habitats they're linked to and so you can really get to learn more about Michigan's really unique wildlife when you go through the plan.

Amy:
Then as you go towards the back, there's more information about different types of actions and threats and it gets a little bit more detailed and for some people may be a little bit boring, but that first part of the plan really does provide some really interesting tidbits about wildlife and their habitats in Michigan.

Holly:
Well, thanks so much, Amy. I have to say that I love how this plan is organized and it's a great resource. I mean, if you're interested in wildlife and interested in wildlife habitat, it really is worth getting online and taking a look at those chapters. Well, Happy New Year to you, Amy, and thanks again for your time. Stay tuned as we unzip our mailbag and answer your questions. 

Announcer:
The Wetland Wonders Challenge begins October 13 and runs through February 14, 2019. Winners take home a duck hunting prize package, including a $500 gift card for duck hunting gear, a custom Zinc Duck Call and a golden ticket good for one first choice, pick at a non reserved managed waterfowl area drawing. You must hunt at least three of the seven areas to qualify, but each additional area you visit gets you another contest entry. Visit mi.gov/wetlandwonders for more info.

Holly:
We received an email from Bob, who says I've been deer hunting in Michigan for over 30 years. And I can honestly say that this was the best hunting season I've ever seen. I harvest a big 12 point buck that had to have had weighed at least 200 pounds and I saw plenty of deer every day that I hunted. Just wanted to let you know what a great experience I had this year. Thank you, Bob. 

Holly:
We love getting emails like this ad congratulations to Bob on his 12 point buck, but we also love to hear from hunters that didn't have such a great experience as well. We always appreciate hearing from hunters and we want to understand how the season went for the bulk of Michigan's deer hunters. We hope that you'll also take a moment to provide input on how your hunting or trapping season went in 2018 by filling out a harvest survey. The harvest surveys are mailed out to a random selection of hunters and trappers so if you receive a survey in the mail, please fill it out and send it back to us. It is part of a study. Survey responses provide valuable information and give you the opportunity to provide feedback about your hunting or trapping experience. If you didn't get a survey in the mail and you still want to provide us comments in the survey, you can respond to surveys online. Visit mi.gov/wildlifesurveys to let us know about your experience. 

Holly:
On the Wildlife Service page, you can also find harvest survey reports from past years, which are always really fun to read.

Kristin:
Absolutely, and they're not only harvest surveys for deer, but you can also fill them out for bear, fall turkey, and also your fisher and marten harvest. Again, it's super helpful for us to hear from you regardless of whether you successfully harvested an animal or not, let us know what you're thinking and we appreciate your participation. 

Kristin:
I got an email from Alex, who asked, I heard there's an archery season this year in January in Oakland County. Where can I hunt during the season? That's a great question, and yes, there is an extended archery deer hunt in Wayne, Oakland and McComb counties from January 1 to January 31. This special season is held to help reduce deer numbers, especially in those communities where deer populations are high and where hunting ordinarily isn't allowed, especially in our urban centers and where those human deer conflicts are really common like car deer collisions, deer eating people's gardens, the usual dear complaints that you hear. 

Kristin:
This hunt is open on both public and private lands but not all public and private lands are open to hunting. Many cities and townships have ordinances prohibiting hunting but some cities and townships have established special hunt opportunities in public parks and open spaces for their special hunt. Contact your city government to see if a special hunting opportunity might exist in your area for this special archery hunt, and of course, you can always hunt at a state game area and most state recreation areas are also open to hunting in January, and you can find a list of those state game areas on our website mi.gov/hunting. You can click on a map and there's hunting lands listed around the state so you can check out our state game areas. You can check out the MyHunt hunting app. That's another great way to find state lands that you can hunt in those counties for January. 

Kristin:
For this hunt, a deer license, a deer combo license or an antlerless deer license are valid and all archery season rules apply. You can check out the 2018 Hunting Digest for more information. That can be found at mi.gov/dnrdigests.

Holly:
We also get a lot of folks contacting us about selling or donating their lands. I was asked what's a common question that we get from a public land matters standpoint, because that's what I do. I'm a public land matters biologists for the Wildlife Division and one of our more common questions has to do with selling or donating land to the DNR and reasons for this might vary, but most people seem to be interested in keeping the land that they own and need to sell or just can't have anymore. They want to keep it undeveloped or in a natural state for generations to come. 

Holly:
That's one of the reasons that we get people asking us this but the big question is, what is the DNR looking for in land that we purchase? We prioritize our properties that we're interested in purchasing across the state by division, and the Wildlife Division is looking for properties that have a number of characteristics. The first thing that we're really looking for is, is it next to or surrounded by a game or wildlife area that's already established? That's something of interest to us, or is it a piece that's close to 250 acres on its own, something that might be big enough to be a standalone game area and for parcels like this, we would prefer that it's located in an area that we refer to as a cold spot, so areas where there are fewer acres of public land available per capita. 

Holly:
In general, the Wildlife Division would like to see huntable public land within 15 miles of population centers statewide. Those are some of the characteristics acreage wise and location wise that we're looking for. We also are looking for properties that have good access for the public to the properties, so maybe road frontage or some sort of way to get back to it maybe already through established public land, no buildings, the cleaner the slate, the better, quality wildlife habitat and an area that's feasible for habitat management potential and a parcel that's got recreation or conservation value. Then finally, we're always going to look for local government support if we're interested in purchasing land and adding to the public land base in an area. Those are all things that we're kind of looking for when we're purchasing and prioritizing acquisitions. 

Holly:
If you have land that you'd like to see become part of state game area or its own game area, we'd love to hear from you. There's just a few other things to remember. We can only offer fair market value. That's it, we can only offer fair market value. The acquisition will have to compete with other proposals for funding and the process can take a long time, we're talking years so if you're in a rush, we don't usually have the ability to pull something off like that. If you're interested in donating land to us, we still do have to follow the same acquisition procedure but we won't have to wait on funding because you're giving it to us, so the process is quicker if we choose to accept your generous offer. That's kind of a common question that comes up every now and then. Are you guys interested in buying our land and that's just kind of a brief overview of what we're looking at.

Kristin:
That's awesome. Clearly, you have a lot of experience with questions like this. Thanks for clearing that up and sharing it with us. Our final question is from Karen. She writes, I love feeding the birds in my yard. I heard that feeding wildlife is prohibited in Michigan after January 31 this year. Is that true? If so, can I continue to feed my birds? Well, on January 31, a ban on baiting and feeding of deer will go into effect in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. This includes mineral blocks and salt licks in addition to apples, corn, carrots, et cetera. We want to limit the opportunity for deer to pass diseases to one another, like Chronic Wasting Disease and bovine tuberculosis. Both diseases can be spread through nose to nose contact or through saliva. When you have several deer all feeding over a big pile, this increases the likelihood that an infected deer could spread disease to healthy deer, so baiting and feeding will be banned in the Lower Peninsula on the 31st of this month. 

Kristin:
The ban does not, however, prohibit the feeding of birds, Karen so you can continue to feed the birds but there are some things to remember about bird feeding, especially if you get plenty of deer that also visit your bird feeders. Again, we want to limit that possibility of spreading disease among deer. Using hopper or a tube type feeder, hung up pie as opposed to like a tray or a platform feeder closer to the ground can keep deer out of the feeders and you might also want to keep the ground, you definitely do want to keep the ground around the feeders as free of seed as possible, again to keep deer from congregating around that seed and potentially passing diseases nose to nose and then fencing around your feeders can also keep those deer away from your bird feeding setup. 

Holly:
Don't forget to clean your feeders regularly too, so that we can keep those birds healthy as well.

Kristin:
Absolutely, great reminder Kristin. As we zip this mailbag segment to a close, remember if you have questions about wildlife or about hunting, you can call 517-284-WILD or email dnr-wildlife@michigan.gov or you can stop by one of our offices and your question could be featured in our next mailbag segment. 

Announcer:
Check yes for the Recreation Passport when you renew your license plate at the Michigan Secretary of State. The Recreation Passport is just $11 when purchased with your license plate registration renewal, and is your key to visiting more than 100 state parks, accessing staff public boat launches, parking for rustic forest campgrounds in hundreds of miles of trails, attending free family outdoor events and classes and protecting our natural resources for the next generation. Visit michigan.gov/recreationpassport for more information.

Kristin:
Well, the weather is certainly wintery outside in Michigan but that doesn't mean that you can't get out and enjoy wildlife in our great state. 

Holly:
Absolutely. There's no reason to sit indoors. I love winter time, and there's plenty to see out there in the wild. 

Kristin:
Even if you don't see wildlife, you might see the evidence that they've been around, left behind in the snow. Winter is a great time for perfecting your wildlife tracking skills. Wildlife tracking is fun for all ages and you really don't need that much to get started, and one of the best things is you can do it just about anywhere, even on a city trail. Grab a field guide from your local bookstore or print out some information from a tracking website and bring a ruler with you so that you can measure the size of the tracks that you see. Other helpful items to carry along are a camera, maybe some coins or key to put something, to put next to a track for size reference if you're going to take a photo, a notepad and a pencil for sketching tracks, and making notes and other observations and bring some binoculars.

Kristin:
Binoculars are really helpful if you're going to follow a trail that leads to a nest or a den. It allows you to get a closer look without bothering the animal. Please do not bother animals. Just enjoy watching them from a distance and to identify animal tracks, first, look at the overall size and shape. Take a photo of the track or draw a picture in your notebook. Determine whether there's just one track or multiple tracks and if there are multiple tracks, what's the pattern look like? That can kind of give you some clues. Next, look on some details in the track, including the number of toes and whether there are toenail marks or toe pads and if the footprint looks like hooves. On a single foot, animals like deer have two toes, while rabbits and foxes have four and skunks and raccoons have five and squirrels and mice have four front toes and five hind toes per foot. 

Kristin:
Finally, observe what kind of habitat you found the tracks in and whether there are other wildlife clues around like scat or nests or burrows. These features might reveal something more about the animal like what kinds of food it likes to eat, where it lives or even how it died. Some of these wildlife signs are the same ones that biologists use to learn more about what types of animals are using habitat types in a given area and also to learn more about animal behavior. There's lots of fun to be had out there looking for wildlife tracks so if you're kind of getting the blues and you're tired of being cooped up inside, just get dressed appropriately for the weather and go out and have some fun looking for wildlife. 

Holly:
Yes, so much fun to be outside in the winter, and of course, there are always opportunities for wildlife viewing in the winter. Plenty of animals stay awake all winter and stay active during the colder months, especially birds, my favorite. I love birds. Waterfowl like ducks and geese seek out pockets of open water so the trick to finding them is often locating that open water. Check moving water bodies like larger deep water rivers and river outlets where they flow into lakes, as well as open water pockets on the Great Lake Shore. These pockets are always changing due to the winds and currents and stuff so it often pays to search for those little pockets of water when you're out and about. Ducks, swans and geese will also forage in agricultural fields and feed on leftover grains during the day, so when you're within a few miles a big water, be sure to watch local agriculture fields for waterfowl gatherings too. Sometimes you can see some interesting rare geese in the winter, like snow geese that we don't really see in Michigan or greater white fronted geese mixed in with the Canada geese that are out there. 

Holly:
This winter has been really great for eruptive migrant finches too, like evening grosbeaks and pine grosbeaks, redpolls, pine siskins, purple finches. Those eruptive migrants are bird species that migrate unpredictably, so they're here in some years, not in others, and usually it's in response to changes in their food supply somewhere else in their range. Food shortages in the far northern parts of their ranges have pushed some of these birds down into lower Michigan where they're normally not seen and evening grosbeaks is kind of the, they've been the poster child for this eruptive migration this year. They've been reported in several locations in the Lower Peninsula, including Southern Michigan, which is normally unheard of. People in Grand Rapids and Detroit suburbs are seeing evening grosbeaks at their feeders, which is pretty remarkable. 

Holly:
Some of these reports have been the first on record for some of these areas or the first sightings in a good long time, like 20 or 30 years or so or more. Winters like this are super unique. Don't miss your opportunity to see these birds close to home, because ordinarily you have to travel up to Grayling, or even into the Upper Peninsula to see some of these birds, so really cool to see them in Southern Michigan. These finches can be found at people's bird feeders. They really love sunflower seeds, thistle seeds and things like that, and sometimes they can be found on fruiting trees like mountain ash and crab apples that have fruit all through the winter and they can be seen together in small flocks on these trees or at your feeders too. 

Holly:
Get outside with those binoculars and enjoy the birds.

Kristin:
It's so exciting, Holly. I think one of my favorite things about wildlife viewing opportunities, especially with birds and winter bird watching is that anybody can do it anywhere and it's a great way to get people interested and exposed to wildlife. 

Holly:
I agree and you never know what you're going to see when you're out there and that's the exciting part.

Kristin:
Yeah, so we'll all see you out there this winter. Thanks so much for joining us for this January episode of Wild Talk Podcast. It was so much fun hosting with you, Holly. 

Holly:
It was. Let's do it again sometime in the future.

Kristin:
Yes. 

Holly:
Thanks again, everybody for joining us and have a very happy and healthy 2019. 

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.