Announcer:
You know what that sound means. It's time for the Michigan DNR's Wildtalk Podcast. Welcome to the Wildtalk 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. 

Katie:
Hello, and welcome to Wildtalk, the first wildlife division podcast. Today I'm your host Katie [inaudible 00:00:37].

Hannah:
And I'm Hannah [inaudible 00:00:38] and we're so excited to be bringing you this awesome Wildtalk podcast. Today's podcast will feature a chat with Chief Russ Mason of the wildlife division and we'll be taking some time to answer your questions in our mailbag.

Katie:
And we'll end this podcast with some updates about Michigan's oak, but before we get started let's give a little background about the wildlife division.

Hannah:
The is divided up into different divisions and so we've got forestry division, fisheries, law enforcement, parks and recreation, marketing outreach, minerals, and of course wildlife division. So we all focus on our specific subjects of expertise and then we also reach out to one another in all those places that we overlap. So wildlife belongs to everyone in the state of Michigan and the wildlife division is managing those wildlife resources on behalf of all Michiganders. And so wildlife impacts and benefits us in a variety of ways. It impacts our economy, attracts tourists, it also provides different recreation opportunities, and of course ecological benefits.

Katie:
Conservation and management in Michigan comes from hunting and license fees in addition to an excise tax that's on different sporting equipment. So it's a user pay system at this time that benefits all of the wildlife in Michigan. And we've had great examples of success. Animals that have been virtually eliminated in Michigan in the early 1900s, which is really hard to imagine a deer today, a black bear, or even a wild turkey being hard to find. So it's a really good example of success of conservation and management.

Announcer:
The elk and bear hunting application period has come to a close, but you still have a shot at hunting elk and bear as well as the opportunity to take home a hunting prize package valued at over $4,000. With the Pure Michigan hunt, not only could you win the elk and bear tags and take home that prize package, but you also get licenses for antlerless deer, spring and fall turkey, and first pick at a managed water fowl hunt area. Pure Michigan hunt applications are just five dollars each and you can enter as many times as you like. Visit michigan.gov/pmh for more info or to buy.

Katie:
So during this segment of the show we're gonna share some of what we're working on to help fulfill our wildlife mission across the state. We're gonna start in the southwest. Hannah, any news to share?

Hannah:
Yeah. Back in April, the DNR along with the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy celebrated a newly added 355 acre parcel purchased from the [inaudible 00:03:19] family. It's the largest addition to the Barry State Game Area in its history. It's got farmland, forests, wetlands, and also a segment of the Glass Creek, which flows north into the Thornapple River. This property contains the headwaters of the Glass Creek watershed, which we've been involved with protecting for decades. So this is a pretty large withholding within the game area. 

Katie:
It sounds like a great place to go out and explore. How was this parcel paid for?

Hannah:
Well, it was paid for through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, [inaudible 00:03:52], and the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. So [inaudible 00:03:56] and her late husband Wayne have worked very closely with the DNR on several conservation projects in the past, such as trapping and relocating turkeys and participating in the hunter access program. So this addition of this land really ensures more of those wild spaces for everyone to take advantage of and enjoy.

Katie:
So let's to back to that hunting access program. So what is that?

Hannah:
The hunting access program, or HAP, is a land leasing program where private land owners can lease their land and allow public hunting on it. Now the private land owners who enroll can specify what types of hunters are allowed on their property, how many at any given time, and what types of game they're allowed to harvest. So for those property owners who might be interested in participating in the hunter access program, they can find out more about enrolling their property at mi.gov/hap and if you are a hunter looking for some private land that's open to public hunting, particularly in the southern part of the state where there might not be as much public land available, you can also visit mi.gov/hap and find out where these properties are. Katie, what do you have happening in the Upper Peninsula?

Katie:
So the Upper Peninsula, or what we call the UP, we have staff that are wrapping up several surveys that they had been working on throughout the winter months. Many surveys take some time to be able to complete and you might think that spring and summer is the best time for surveys, but not always. The winter months are great for tracking because of the snow. Also, we can really see whatever it is we're looking for in contrast against that white snow. And then, finally, the leaves are off the trees so we can get a good look if it's anything from the air to be able to find that critter.

Hannah:
Well, that's great. So what kind of surveys have they been working on?

Katie:
Well, a couple of them would be the winter wolf survey, the winter bat hibernacula survey, sharp tail grouse occupancy, and even a fawn to adult deer survey. So not every survey is done every year, and many times we have other organizations that help us because it's so much time to be able to do across the landscape. So we've gotta give a good shout out to all of those groups that have helped gather all this information over the years or maybe just this past winter. We could not do it without you.

Hannah:
Tell me a little bit more about the winter wolf survey.

Katie:
So the winter wolf survey is a track survey and we're able to get a good population estimate by looking for those tracks and being able to figure out where wolves are in the Upper Peninsula. So winter time, again, we're able to find the tracks, we're able to follow them by air to determine how many or how many packs. And this survey is done not every year again. It's every other season.

Hannah:
And what about the grouse survey you mentioned?

Katie:
The sharp tail grouse occupancy survey is pretty important because it's a way we can measure whether hunting has had any impact on the population and what we've seen over the life of this survey to date is that hunting is not impacting that population. So, Hannah, let's head on over to the southern part of the state. What's going on?

Hannah:
We've also got some surveys happening down in the southern part of the state. So down in the southeastern region they're participating in the spring breeding waterfowl population and habitat survey. This is part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service migratory bird program. This is where our staff will fly over lakes, wetlands, farm fields, rivers in airplanes and they're looking for ducks, geese, swans, and sand hill cranes.

Katie:
Why do we do such an intense survey?

Hannah:
Well, this is to estimate the size of the breeding water fowl populations across North America. As I mentioned, it's part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service program and so this helps us evaluate habitat conditions on the breeding grounds and then the biologists compare the data to previous years' data to determine the waterfowl populations are on par with the long-term population average goals. They hope to see numbers at or above the long-term average on these flights that they're conducting. So it looks like we've covered the southern portion of the state and the Upper Peninsula. What about the northern part of the Lower Peninsula, Katie?

Katie:
Well, the northern Lower. Basically, put out the mitten and you're looking at the knuckles north. We're in the midst of something called the bear hare snare survey. Say that three times. And we're just wrapping up the American woodcock routes, too. So both of these surveys help us to get an estimated population on these two animals, which they're both game animals, meaning they're open to regulated hunting. So with the bear hare snare, basically we have baited locations with barbed wire surrounding them and we're trying to capture some bear hare to be able to send back for DNA analysis. And with the American woodcock routes, we're listening for peenting males. It's a sound that they make that more than likely you've heard, but maybe never realized it was a woodcock. So that's our springtime way we can estimate the males that are here that actually come here to breed and Michigan is one of the leaders of the amount of young that are produced as a result of the breeding.

Hannah:
Gotcha. I'm curious what sort of bait do you guys use for your bear hare snares?

Katie:
Now, we try to use something that they don't normally have or else it wouldn't be a bait that's drawing them in. So at this point we're using bacon and then also donuts. 

Hannah:
All right. So along with the bears, have you been getting many spring bear calls?

Katie:
Yeah, the northern Lower region definitely takes a good share of calls, walk in, emails about bears in the spring and actually even throughout the summer. We live in an area where we have lots of black bear and so we give recommendations on what land owners, business owners, and even communities can do to not encourage bear into their area. It's a real important message for us because we need to keep wildlife at a distance, which means removing those food rewards that are out there, like bird feeders. Now, I think as we wrap this up let's do a quick mention about our chronic wasting disease, or CWD, meetings that we held across every region of the state.

Hannah:
Yeah, we held 11 meetings in total throughout April and May and the purpose of the meetings was to collect input from pretty much everybody. So we're looking for hunters, community members, other people who are just interested in regulation and management for deer. So these were all to get their input and thoughts on what we could do as far as regulations for deer hunting and management of chronic wasting disease within Michigan's deer population.

Katie:
So CWD, or chronic wasting disease, is a hot topic right now for everyone so we had great attendance numbers. About 650 people were actually in attendance at these 11 meetings. Now, of course, if people could not attend or even wanted to review it again, they could look at the entire presentation online and still get that information about chronic wasting disease. And the big thing was is we wanted to get input back, so we had surveys filled out both online and in person for people to share their thoughts with us on what they think about CWD in Michigan and the deer herd.

Hannah:
Yeah, we really appreciate everyone who took the time to either come to a meeting or share their thoughts with us as well as those who shared thoughts via the online survey, even folks who gave us a call or sent us a email with their thoughts and concerns. We really appreciate hearing all that feedback and getting everyone's input on this issue. So that's all from around the state. Stick around. Next up is our interview with Chief Mason. 

Hannah:
All right, well, today in studio with us is wildlife division Chief Russ Mason. Welcome Russ. Thank you so much for joining us.

Russ:
Oh, it's wonderful to be here. Thank you for having me.

Katie:
So, Russ, just to start things off we thought it would be fun to put you in a situation. So let's just say you're on your way home and you stop at the grocery store, but of course you got that DNR shirt on and someone asks you, "So you work for the DNR? What do you do?" So what do you tell people that your role is with the department?

Russ:
Well, it's an interesting question because I don't wanna lead off by saying, well I'm the wildlife chief. Actually when I get those questions I'll ask them what do they wanna know? What is it I can help you with? And, frankly, I get a fish question as much as an invasive species question as much as a wildlife question and I'll try to answer it as best I can. Often I'll invite them back. 

Russ:
For example, just to use one, the other day I was flying to the UP to go to a meeting in [inaudible 00:13:02] and I was sitting with the pilot in the front of the plane 'cause there wasn't enough room in the back and we got to talking about his instruments and he said he had some questions about wildlife and I ended up inviting him back in. He's coming in this week and we'll sit down in my office and talk about a few things. I've been able to gather things from when I'm at the grocery store. I try to point people toward the right resources, but more important, to show them that we, everyone of us, truly care about the resource and truly are interested in relating people to those resources because ultimately the strength of the department and the strength of our natural resource programs depends on that public support to feel that we are always operating in their best interests and trying to understand their perspectives. 

Katie:
It's great to see when people recognize that DNR logo. How long have you been with Michigan's wildlife division, Russ?

Russ:
Well, I have been here in Michigan for almost 10 years. It'll be 10 years this August, which makes me the second longest serving wildlife chief in the history of the department. Before this, I was the wildlife chief in Nevada. Before that I was the science advisor to the Association of Fish and Wildlife agencies. And before that I had a 17 year career with USDA wildlife services. So I came to Michigan with a wide background. The best part of coming to Michigan is Michigan is one of those places where people truly care about the resources, the natural resources in the state are here primarily because of expert management over the last 120 years. And the people here are as well-trained or better trained than any agency that I've worked with so it's a wonderful working environment. It's also a spectacular place to try to conserve and protect our natural resources.

Hannah:
So along those lines, for conserving and protecting our resources here in the state, I know we have a lot of partnerships with various organizations here in Michigan. Could you tell us a little bit about why those partnerships are so important for wildlife conservation?

Russ:
Well, they're important on a number levels. The straight forward answer is that that allows us to expand our reach beyond what we're able to do with our own staff and our own resources per se, but it's more than that. When you sit down with stakeholders or you're working with them on a field project or you're talking about various things or you're sharing responsibility, that gives folks a feeling of ownership. And that proprietary ownership that people feel about their natural resources is absolutely key as we figure out how we're gonna protect, conserve, and grow our natural resources in the 21st century.

Russ:
People have to feel like they are their resources, not our resources. The last thing you want is somebody working with you in a I demand it and you either give it to me or refuse it. I demand it again and back forth and back and forth. That up and down kind of a relationship is anything but beneficial because it leads to an unhealthy codependent cycle where people aren't working together, they're just perpetually mad at one another over some issue, which is then supplanted by some other issue when they get tired about talking on the first one. So that's why partnerships are important. Both to protect our resources, but also to build the collaborations upon which conservation and the feeling of conservation absolutely depend.

Hannah:
I love that feeling of conservation. So expanding our reach.

Russ:
It's less into the future than it is looking about where conservation came from in the first place. If you look at the early 20th century and you look at the achievements that Teddy Roosevelt accomplished, they were accomplishments that were driven by a number of groups, but primarily Boone and Crockett, the Audubon Society club and the New York Zoological Association that happens to be today Wildlife Conservation Society.

Russ:
So one of those groups was strongly hunting, one of those groups was kind of iffy about it, one of those groups was anti-hunting and they put aside their petty differences on the relative use of gunpowder and moved forward to do a whole variety of things. They established the first national wildlife refuge, the [inaudible 00:16:59] act, the fur seal act, the bison act. They protected game species and other wildlife in the national park system. And they did that all in 10 years by putting things aside, so when we reach out in this collaborative, this is joining together hunting groups, groups that are less interested in hunting together and looking at the really important things that matter like how do we provide habitat for species and for all wildlife into the 21st century.

Russ:
Everybody needs to be involved in this. Our models where hunters were paying license revenues and that's paired up with excise tax on the sale of hunting related equipment, that's an effective model, but slowly but surely over time it's getting weaker. We need to reach out and create this new alliance, which in fact looks like the old alliance, to move forward to assure that conservation is as we want it to be for our children and our grandchildren.

Hannah:
Could you elaborate a little bit more about Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative, GEMs or grouse enhanced management sites that are throughout the state, those partnerships and the role they play with conservation here in Michigan.

Russ:
All of these really are designed to do two things, three things. One is to work with partners on those things that they are most interested in. So the GEMs, that's really rough grouse and Rough Grouse Society, that waterfowl stuff reaches out to DU and Michigan Waterfowlers and others. The pheasants actually is a broader collaborative because it brings in all of these groups whether it's National Wild Turkey Federation, Quality Deer Management, Pheasants Forever, whatever, and brings them together. It provides that opportunity for stakeholders to get to know one another just like, by the way, the [inaudible 00:18:43] does, which is something they don't do. 

Russ:
It's interesting if you look at the history of American conservation, one of the things that is most troubling, from my perspective, is that all of these NGOs become businesses. And by businesses they are going to look to protect a market share, to compete with others. So the pheasant guys'll say, "I do this better than you guys do." And the grouse guys'll say the same and Audubon says the same and whomever says the same. Point being instead of talking about how each of them is better than anybody else, let's find these higher issues, whether that's healthy young forests, or oak and grasslands, or wetlands and bring all of the groups together, bring all of their forces together so on some higher plane they're all talking about a single shared interest and not competing with one another. That's been a great possibility. 

Russ:
As well, if you look at things like the Pheasant Restoration Initiative, it's an interesting opportunity and when we first started it, I was interested in grasslands. But what I discovered is that there are a huge number of hunters out there and others, but hunters primarily, that remember the 50s, 60s, and 70s when pheasants were king in the state of Michigan. 

Russ:
In fact, the year that we started that I was at a MUCC meeting and I saw a bear hunter on the other side of the room and he looked at me, he pointed at me, he started over with his brother and I thought, "Oh, here we go. What is it this time?" And he walked over and he shook my hand and he said, "That Pheasant Restoration Initiative is the best thing I have ever seen. That is something I remember doing when I was a kid. This is something that we can invest in together." So these things have an opportunity to bridge differences. Maybe not on a topic that they most often talk about, but bridge differences and bring people together to do things that are good. 

Russ:
The Pheasant Restoration Initiative also is an opportunity to bring together hunting and non-hunting folks and try to partner them. And each one of these things, whether it's GEMs or turkey tracks or pheasants or something else, these are opportunities to reach out as well to the non-hunting community who's species of interest, I suppose you could say, also benefit by these management efforts. 

Katie:
That's really great. So it's good to know that all these different partnerships and efforts that we're putting forth kind of bridge that gap between the different groups and really bring wildlife management and this conservation to the forefront of everyone's mind, that larger goal of keeping these resources around for generations to come.

Russ:
We need to build a community. For too long we've talked about a wildlife community as though it existed. These are all opportunities to create a true community that acts together and is aligned and coordinated to move forward this notion of wildlife and wildlife conservation, which is terribly important for me in terms of the recovery of Michigan economically and also for those things that I think are truly important, more important perhaps. I admit that I am a member of a small minority, but wildlife conservation to me is more important than just about anything else because it sort of represents the salvation of what's really important in America.

Katie:
Michigan has so many different organizations. When we start seeing those listed out it's just amazing. We have so many groups that care just like you said and the community that could get build.

Russ:
Now what we need to do is figure out how we reach out to people that don't join groups. We need partnerships with people that you will never see at a commission meeting or a PF meeting or somebody else's banquet or participating in a raffle or whatever. There are large numbers of younger people and not just hunters. It could be hunters, fishermen, or bird watchers, it doesn't matter. That literally don't join anything. So how do we essentially create that virtual community that will actually together, will act, stand up act, say something, contribute something on behalf of wildlife. That's the next challenge that I think is in front of us.

Katie:
Sounds like a great challenge.

Hannah:
Yeah, let's take it on.

Russ:
Giddy up.

Hannah:
So what do you think about this new way to communicate to our customers. This is our first Wildtalk podcast.

Russ:
I think it's a great idea. Obviously, if you pay attention to our culture and you pay attention to the way that people communicate, the way that they're portrayed communicating on television, the way that they're portrayed communicating in the news, this is an approach that has the potential to reach out to people that would not, as I say, otherwise join. They're not going to a banquet, they're not showing up in a meeting, they're not ... I don't know ... doing other things. This is a way to reach out to those folks and in that sense I think we need to try every new method because I have no objection to finding every conceivable way to proselytizing when it comes to wildlife and wildlife conservation.

Katie:
Well, thank you so much for being with us today, Chief Mason. We really appreciate it and we hope to have you on again soon.

Russ:
I would look forward to it. Nothing I'd rather do. Thank you.

Hannah:
Thank you, Russ.

Announcer:
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Hannah:
All right, welcome back to Wildtalk. I'm Hannah and with me today is Katie and we're gonna continue this episode by unzipping the mailbag and answering some of your questions. 

Speaker 5:
One, two three.

Katie:
So one of the first questions we're gonna talk about is a hunting season that just wrapped up. The spring turkey hunting season. And I just got an email the other day from Mike who was a successful turkey hunter. He got a bird. And he wants to tell us about the hunt. So the best place any spring turkey hunter, whether you harvest it or not. So whether you got the bird or you didn't, if you got the license, you purchased a license, we wanna hear about it. You can go to mi.gov/turkey. You can scroll down and give us your hunting report, your hunting harvest report. We wanna know what turkey management area you were hunting in, when you harvested, just lots of information about your hunt that helps us determine the harvest for that year and also that level of satisfaction we're looking at for hunters.

Katie:
The spring turkey hunting season is pretty unique be it's staggered, which means we have multiple openers. We wanna spread those turkey hunters out so we don't interfere and effect each other's hunt. Spring turkey hunting, all turkey hunting's a lot different than deer, so we can't all be out there at the same time. We gotta spread it out to get that good satisfaction. So make sure to tell us about your hunt, whether it's successful or not, at mi.gov/turkey.

Hannah:
Awesome. Well, we'll definitely have to check that out and report our success for turkey season. Another spring question that we get quite often this time of year is about fawns. So I had an email from Julie who said, "I found two fawns. They only appear to be a couple weeks old." And she found them in her backyard. She says the mom comes by in the morning and again in the evening and she's kind of wondering when those fawns are gonna be expected to leave and she said someone suggested that she put the fawns outside the backyard fence and that the mother would show up and they'd be on their way. But she wasn't sure with them being so small if putting them outside the fence would leave them vulnerable until the mother returns and also she asked if handling them would keep the mother away. 

Hannah:
And so this is an excellent question and we get this very often where people have spotted a fawn that appears to be all by itself or they might have a fawn in their backyard and are kind of wondering how long is it gonna be there? So the important thing here is to not touch the fawns. Leave them alone. It's actually a defensive strategy that the deer use. They leave their fawn, they hide it in a secluded location or what they think is a secluded location. It might not appear so to us, but they've hidden their fawns and they're doing that because the fawns are fairly well camouflaged and they also have very little scent. 

Hannah:
So this makes it particularly challenging for a predator to find a fawn. So the mother isn't gonna hang around and advertise where she's hidden the fawn. She will come back periodically to nurse it, but that's it. Then once the fawn is old enough and able to keep up with its mom, then it will start accompanying her and you probably won't see it very often. So deer leave those fawns kind of hidden and unattended on purpose.

Katie:
Spring in Michigan. It's always something. Another email that I just got the other day, and I actually get calls about this, too, so I thought it would be great to mention, is people are planning those trips up north and maybe for one reason or another they just discovered that we have black bear in northern Michigan. And they're looking to either camp, hike, just get out and enjoy the outdoors and they wanna know what to do.

Katie:
So the best thing in any situation is to be prepared, to have thought out what you would do and how you should behave. Basically, bear can hear, see, and smell us before we know that they're there. And many times that's all it is. You never even get to see the bear. The bear's kind of ID that there's a human and they're gone. It's kind of when we see each other, we might surprise each other, that it gets a little exciting. 

Katie:
So the first thing we can do is when you're out and about, make noise, travel in groups. Again, giving them that warning that there's something in the area and that there's no surprise. So people can sing or whistle. They could maybe carry a bell on them or their pet. They could then carry things to make themselves also feel comfortable like maybe a whistle or one of those small, like a marine air horn, but they make a smaller version for hiking, backpacking, and hunting. It just is a loud and obnoxious noise rather than you yelling. You could do that. 

Katie:
Some people might even carry bear spray to be comfortable, but these are just things you can think about to make yourself feel comfortable, but then also when you're outdoors just making all those noises. Because, like we said earlier, we've got thousands of bear in northern Michigan, but we also have lots of people who live and work and play in northern Michigan and it's very rare to have any type of human/bear interaction. But just know what to do.

Katie:
So, say you see that bear, if you're kneeling or on the ground stand up. You wanna appear as large as you can. If you have anything in your hands, you can make it above your head so you appear larger. And stop that forward motion. So if you were running or walking, stop your movement and directly face the bear. So if you have to make any movement, you back away slowly. You could also talk to it in a loud, stern voice and just maintain your calm. Maintain your cool. And just put yourself into that situation and then tell others around you of what to do if you were to see a bear.

Katie:
Now, our goal again is to keep wildlife at a distance. It's that fear that wildlife can lose with that food source is what we don't want. So a typical bear that hasn't been fed or trained is gonna have a natural fear of humans. Now when you're camping you also gotta keep in mind your food and the clothes that you cooked your food in. So if you're out camping, store that food in your trunk or locked car with the windows rolled up. And if you're cooking bacon in your flannel shirt, take that flannel shirt and put it in your vehicle to don't have it in the tent with you. You just don't want to attract bear to your location.

Hannah:
Gotcha. Well, that's good to know. That's probably why I never see any bears when I'm out hiking 'cause I'm way too loud. 

Katie:
Yeah, same with my family. We don't tend to see much 'cause we're loud.

Hannah:
Yeah. Well, another question that I get often in springtime, which you probably hear about too, Katie, is that people have found either eggs or baby birds or even a bird's nest and are kind of wondering what to do. Some of those can be put in some odd locations. But I got a question from Karen the other day and she found a robin's egg near her home and she didn't know what to do with it because she couldn't see a nest where it may have come from and so she wasn't sure what to do and she was pretty concerned about the egg and its safety.

Hannah:
And so the thing with eggs or even if you find a baby bird that's fallen on the ground is it's really best to just leave it be. As I mentioned with the fawns, the best place for them is wherever you found them at. Just leave them be. Wildlife needs to remain in the wild 'cause that is really where its best chance for survival is. Now, unfortunately, we do have eggs that might get blown out off a nest or a predator knocked them out or some other circumstance which they ended up on the ground and there's not really a whole lot we're gonna be able to do to help that situation.

Hannah:
But with, say, baby birds that have fallen out the nest or fledglings, they're just starting to maybe learn how to fly and so they don't have all their flight feathers so it's really common to find those baby birds hopping around on the ground. The good news here is the parents will continue to care for it and feed it even when it's on the ground so you don't need to worry about that piece. And if it's a sparsely feathered baby like maybe got blown out of the nest in a windstorm or something and you know where the nest is and it's safe for you to get to, fairly low to the ground or something where you don't have to climb a precarious distance or anything like that, you can put it back in the nest. Some people hear about the, oh, if I touch a baby bird the parents will abandon it and that is a myth. Most birds don't necessarily have the greatest sense of smell so they don't really care what their babies smell like.

Katie:
So you mean what my mom was telling me all those years wasn't true?

Hannah:
Right, it wasn't true. It's still a good practice if you find a baby bird just not to touch it at all, but just know that your scent is not gonna make the parents abandon it. But it is best to leave it be just because if you do move it the parents might not be able to find it to care for it. So it's only if you know exactly which nest it came from and can reach it safely. And if you do find a baby bird and you've been watching it for a while and you don't see the parents coming to take care of it and you're really concerned that way, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator can take in abandoned or injured wildlife. So those are folks that have gone through training, have licenses and proper facilities to take in wildlife and they are the only ones who are licensed to do so.

Hannah:
So if you find a baby animal that appears to be abandoned and you're fairly certain that's the case, you can contact one of those folks and they might be able to provide some assistance. And we have our full listing of everyone who's permitted in the state at mi.gov/wildlife. You can also call any of our customer service centers and they can help you get some numbers for folks in your area, but the list is always available online. Again at mi.gov/wildlife. 

Katie:
So we have one more item down in that mailbag and it's about bear and elk hunting applications. So the application period just wrapped up and now people are wanting to know when am I gonna know my result? So those results are posted online on June 25th. So you can go use your driver's license number, which is how they are tracked, and find out if you were successful in the bear or elk hunting drawing. Now, if you don't have access to the computer, you can always give us a call. You can stop by. You can ask us to look you up and we'll let you know if you're successful. Give us a call at (517)284-WILD and we'll let you know. Don't forget either if you forgot to apply this last application period, let's not let that happen again. If you text 64468 with the line MIDNR space huntaps. So that's MIDNR space huntaps, you will get text reminders throughout the application period. So we'll let you know when it starts, when it ends and we'll even give you a reminder in the middle to just don't forget to get your applications in.

Hannah:
That's great because I'm always forgetting what I've got going on, so I appreciate getting those reminders so I know when I need to apply so I don't forget.

Katie:
So we're gonna zip this segment to a close and remember if you have questions about wildlife or hunting, call us at (517)284-WILD or email us at DNR-wildlife@michigan.gov. Or even just stop by one of the offices and maybe your questions will be featured on the mailbag. 

Katie:
All right and finally we're gonna take the last few minutes of Wildtalk to talk a little bit about elk in Michigan. So 2018 is a pretty historic year for elk and that's because 100 years ago, in 1918, Michigan's elk population was reestablished. So Michigan was known to have elk across the state prior to settlement, although when large settlement started a lot of things were changing quickly. So when we think about the forests that we have today, many of those were being cleared on large scales to build communities, we needed product, we needed wood, we needed to build homes. And then also we had to feed families and make money.

Katie:
So elk had no protections at that time, just like any wildlife. You could take as many as you wanted, whenever you wanted, however. So if you can imagine you could feed your family and make money by harvesting an elk. So folks were harvesting a lot of elk. Something like that is called market hunting, when you receive money for a harvest. Something that's illegal today, but that could be done back then. Same thing with that regulated take. Today we have lots of regulations about how you can harvest animals and that's because we want wildlife to be around forever for everyone and to be healthy.

Katie:
So what was going on in the late 1800s for the most part are not happening today because of changes that have been made in conservation. So those seven elk were brought to Wolverine, Michigan from the western United States to reestablish a population here. So what we have today, our population of elk we have in the northern Lower Peninsula, has all derived from those seven elk brought 100 years ago.

Hannah:
So, Katie, can you tell me why we picked northern Michigan as a location to reintroduce the elk. Why there? What's special?

Katie:
Elk are a huge herbivore. So basically think about deer and we all know that deer in your garden or your hostas around your house can be affected. Elk are the same way. They eat a lot of vegetation. They're a huge animal. So they're a member of the deer family. So in Michigan we have white tailed deer, we have elk, and we have moose. Moose are in the Upper Peninsula in pretty low numbers. Elk, again, we only have in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. But we have to control where they go because it's such a large animal and they eat a lot. So you think of our forests up in that northeast part of the state. It was thought to be a great location 'cause lots of food is available. So the Pigeon River Country state forest is up in that area of the state and we do a lot of timber management up there today. 

Katie:
And when we say management, that means it's well thought out where we're cutting, how much is cutting, and acrost a 10 year scale. That's because back at 100 years ago or more, the forests were cut on large landscapes all at once and so we know today that those practices need to be better managed, better controlled and thought out. And so timber is kind of like a win-win because by cutting it, a renewable resource, we're providing excellent wildlife habitat, not just for elk, but great places to live for lots of animals because you're creating young, thick forests and that means it's vegetation they can eat, they can reach it, and they can hide, they can have cover from predators, and we do that by cutting timber. And then all of the sudden we have industries and we have products that are coming out of that. So it's a win-win.

Hannah:
Right. So it's really incredible to think about if you're looking around whatever room you're sitting in right now all the different paper products or products from wood, from the timber industry. And it's really incredible to think that we have that industry right here in Michigan and it contributes so much to our economy. 

Katie:
Yep. To economy and wildlife habitat 'cause it's creating young forests acrost our forest. So in 2018, we're celebrating 100 years so it's a pretty cool success story of habitat management, increased law enforcement, and a healthy and abundant population that is actually now hunted for control. But, again, it's regulated hunting. It's a lot different than it was over 100 years ago. We always wank elk to be around for everybody. And something that we're doing this year to help celebrate this 100 year celebration is the DNR license plate is now an elk. The common loon had been on the plate since it had began and so it was thought that with this big celebration of elk in 2018, let's finally change that image on the plate to help celebrate this anniversary. And so people can get that elk license plate. They can show that elk pride by putting it on their ride.

Hannah:
That's awesome. I'll have to check that out when my birthday rolls around. Now, if I wanted to figure out where I could get this license plate, I assume the Secretary of State and online at mi.gov/elk. I imagine we can learn a little bit more about elk and the license plate there. Now, where does the funding from this license plate, 'cause it's one of those fundraising plates, where does that money go to?

Katie:
Yeah, all of the specialty or fundraising plates have special places that the money goes. So for our plate, for the wildlife, for the DNR plate, that money goes to the Non-Game Fish and Wildlife Fund. So the funding model has not changed. We simply have a new fresh image to help pick up the sales of that Non-Game Fish and Wildlife plate and then also to help that celebration and to just let everyone know in Michigan that we have wild elk here. So by going to our website, mi.gov/elk, you can click on the link that will take you straight to the Secretary of State page. You can also download viewing maps if maybe this fall you wanna get out and see if you could see or even better yet hear an elk 'cause elk have an amazing bugle that they will sound out to communicate to each other. So visiting that website you can learn all about Michigan's elk.

Hannah:
Fantastic. All right, well, this has been Wildtalk. Thanks for joining us. Again this is Hannah, with my co-host Katie, and we hope you enjoyed this episode.

Announcer:
This has been the Wildtalk 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.