Daily Archives: October 6, 2017

Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and National Wildlife Federation join forces for conservation

During the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) Annual Banquet & Auction on September 13, CSF and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in order to enhance the organizations’ shared goals of advancing wildlife conservation across the country.

This partnership will combine CSF’s ties to conservation-minded federal and state legislators with NWF’s six million members and supporters to ensure healthy fish and wildlife habitats through science-based policies and management.

“The National Wildlife Federation has been committed to safeguarding and improving habitats for fish and wildlife for over 80 years,” said CSF President Jeff Crane. “CSF looks forward to strengthening our partnership and working closely with the Federation and its state affiliates to advance opportunities for conservation funding for fish and wildlife as well as ensuring public access to public and private lands.”

“The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s bold leadership in Congress, with Governors, and in state legislatures has proven that there is no issue with greater bipartisan support than conservation,” said Collin O’Mara, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation President. “The National Wildlife Federation and our affiliates are proud to join forces with CSF on the Hill and in states across the country to expand hunting and fishing opportunities, increase America’s wildlife populations, and promote proactive, collaborative conservation.”

About CSF

Since 1989, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) has maintained a singleness of purpose that has guided the organization to become the most respected and trusted sportsmen’s organization in the political arena. CSF’s mission is to work with Congress, governors, and state legislatures to protect and advance hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping. The unique and collective force of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC), the Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus (GSC) and the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses (NASC), working closely with CSF, and with the support of major hunting, angling, recreational shooting and trapping organizations, serves as an unprecedented network of pro-sportsmen elected officials that advance the interests of America’s hunters and anglers.

About NWF

The National Wildlife Federation is America’s largest conservation organization, with over six million members and supporters and 51 state and territorial affiliates, working to unite all Americans to ensure wildlife thrive in a rapidly changing world. NWF and its affiliates are dedicated to increasing wildlife populations by protecting, restoring, and restoring land and water habitats, transforming wildlife conservation, and connecting all Americans with wildlife, especially children, through outdoor experiences, Ranger Rick magazines, and environmental education.

What happened to the tiny Key deer during Hurricane Irma?

By David Goodhue

Miami Herald

The federally protected Key deer were exposed to Hurricane Irma and authorities will assess their situation when it’s safe to return to the Keys.

Dan Clark superintendent of the National Key Deer Refuge, said his first priority as the massive storm approached was to evacuate National Wildlife Refuge personnel assigned to the area.

“After we receive information from Monroe County that it is safe to return and we can inhabit the Lower Keys, a post-storm assessment of our facilities and residences will be conducted to determine if we can operate,” Clark said.

The small deer, whose estimated numbers range from 800 to 1,000, live mostly on the Lower Keys islands of Big Pine Key and Little Torch Key.

It’s been a traumatic couple of years for the Keys treasures. First, after a nasty infection by the larvae of a parasitic fly called the screwworm began to infest the population in the fall of 2016. Not only did the screwworm take out a significant portion of the already-sensitive local deer population, it killed the animals slowly and painfully.

The infestation was finally eliminated after scientists released roughly 124 million sterile screwworm flies to mate with wild flies. The mating process results in eggs that never hatch. Five months after introducing the lab-made flies, the screwworm problem was over.

Then, earlier this summer, two young men – one from Miami-Dade County and the other from Broward – were arrested in Little Torch Key July 2 after a traffic stop by a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy revealed three live deer stowed in their car. Two does were in the back seat of the Hyundai Sonata, and a buck was in vehicle’s trunk.

The buck was badly injured in the ordeal and wildlife officials euthanized him. The men face charges federal poaching charges.

Now comes Irma, which has raked much of the Keys with its high winds, hard rain and damaging storm surges. The key deer habitat is only about 15 miles east of where Irma’s eye made landfall in the Keys Sunday morning.

What’s become of the key deer is not known. But, Clark said, not much could have been done to protect the wild animals from Mother Nature.

“Since the federal-trust resources on the Keys refuge are wild, we do not have specific plans to collect any deer,” Clark said. “We do not have the capacity to do so and husbandry following the hurricane would be extremely difficult.”

Like all other agencies planning to come back down to the Keys post-Irma, Clark said he and his staff have no idea what types of conditions to which they are returning so they can’t adequately plan their response when it comes to the deer.

“We will assess the status of all refuge resources when it is safe to do so and we have the ability to do so,” Clark said.