Nearly a full day before the threatened Great Holiday Blizzard of 2012 was to arrive, the wildlife of Northeast Ohio were busy feeding in anticipation of a long lay-over. No nay-Sayers these, the wildlife were fattening up in preparation of hunkering down, a well-documented but little understood natural history phenomena, says wildlife biologists. Deer, especially, on Christmas Day were mowing…
Next time someone tells Steve Myers that Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and E.T. are all alive, well and residing in Ohio the Ashtabula County man will nod his head “yes.” Myers spent the opener of Ohio’s firearms deer-hunting season checking out the hills, valleys and ravines of northwest Guernsey County. On the Sunday before the opener Myers was talking…
Hurricane Sandy likely only be a memory in the minds of firearms deer hunters when their hunting season begin Nov. 26. However, that won’t stop the impact of Sandy’s passage from affecting the harvest. The reason being is that Sandy’s wallop included wind gusts of up to 70 mph along with several inches of rain. Both situations are sure to…
Perhaps not surprisingly, the state has taken note of the spread of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), a virus that commonly affects white-tailed deer. Only this time EHD was discovered in a Portage County cattle herd, officials with Ohio Department of Agriculture have confirmed. That being said, the state agricultural department stresses that EHD poses no threat to human health or…
A pair of the state’s top wildlife biologists are moving up the chain of command. Mike Tonkovich, the go-to point man on all things white-tail deer, will see his Ohio Division of Wildlife duties increases. Under his new duty-expanding role, Tonkovich become’s the agency’s Deer Program Coordinator. His more broad role will now include coordinating all aspects of the Wildlife…
The Ohio DNR has appointed Michelle Welsh as the law enforcement supervisor for the Wildlife Division’s District 5 in southwest Ohio. As such, Welch becomes the first-ever female appointed to a Wildlife Division law enforcement administrator position. Welch began her career with the Natural Resources Department as an intern with the Division of Watercraft in early 2001. She then served…
Persons hoping to take a July Fourth extended weekend trip or a vacation to one of Ohio’s state Forests are advised that recent severe weather has caused extensive damage. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is reporting that all trails for the southern state forests are closed until further notice. This includes the all-purpose-vehicle areas at Pike, Richland Furnace, and…
This news reported by the Ohio Environmental Council hardly can be classified as welcome for the Great Lakes and underscores the urgency for the federal to act quickly to stop the further invasion of the Asian carp. It says that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reporting that of the 2,378 water samples taken throughout 2011 in the Chicago…
Sure environmental groups are trying to make hay out of efforts to expand the practice of fracking within the Grand River watershed. Still, such groups as the American Rivers are spot on in determining that it is this watershed that will reap what the natural gas exploration industry will sow. Last month the environmental group American Rivers announced the country’s…
Selected goose hunters will be left to their own devices at the Mosquito Creek Waterfowl Refuge in Trumbull County. With the exception of maintaining two blinds for disabled hunters, the DNR Division of Wildlife will no longer supply the semi-permanent blinds that have for decades been a waterfowling mainstay at Mosquito. Instead, successful hunters who put in for the annual…
While the expected closure of Akron-based FirstEnergy’s Eastlake coal-fired power plant still up in the air at least for this year the peregrine falcon nesting box remains. And active, too. As does the falcon-nesting box at the utilitiy's Lake Shore plant in Cleveland. In all, eight falcon chicks are being raised in the two boxes and the public has an…
Still chained to its good old boy image, the DNR Division of Wildlife once again has infuriated its customer base over a matter of some significance for the latter. Somewhere along the agency’s chain of command came the hot idea of helping to ensure that Lake Erie fish poachers won’t get away with their illegal catch. To accomplish this goal,…
Prospective anglers (mostly) and even hunters who want to be early birds in getting their 2012-2013 general licenses are finding out that the documents are not yet available.And won’t be until Thursday, March 1, says the Ohio Division of Wildlife.Until this year, prospective license buyers could visit an issuing agent and purchase documents for the upcoming “license year,” starting Feb….
There may be duck and goose hunting in East Branch Reservoir’s future.The Akron Watershed District’s 416-acre reservoir is contained with the Geauga Park District’s 926-acre Headwaters Park in Huntsburg and Claridon townships.Geauga Park leases the site from the watershed district and provides various recreational opportunities that include fishing and boating.However, recently the watershed district approached the parks system, asking that…
Athens, Ohio – According to the DNR Division of Wildlife, 152 black bear sightings were reported in Ohio last year.Of that number, state wildlife personnel confirmed 60 sightings, which is a slight decrease compared to the 64 confirmed sightings in 2010.The 2011 confirmed sightings occurred in 19 different counties and involved an estimated 38 different black bears. Most of the…
With an engineering background, I can well understand the axiom that goes “it seemed like a good idea at the time.”After all, the construction of the 363-mile-long Erie Canal was a marvel of 19th Century ingenuity. As was the building of the massive dam works along both the Columbia and Colorado rivers during the 20th Century.And the dams built across…
Ohio’s deer hunters have some new check-in rules which includes one that demands recording the kill by 11:30 p.m. on the of the animal’s expiration.In the past the Ohio Division of Wildlife allowed hunters to check in their animals the following day, or within 24 hours of taking a deer.Such a change could impact archery hunters who sit in their…
Jason Keller, the state wildlife officer assigned to Lake County, has a better way to replace a lost or damaged fishing/hunting license. And it will legally save someone $4, too, Keller says. However, to do so means that a license holder will have to go online first to purchase his or her permit instead of visiting a license-issuing outlet.Keller says…
Gotta’ give credit where credit is due. U.S. Rep Steve LaTourette, R-Bainbridge Township, is enjoying both sides of the coin flip.A couple of weeks ago he championed a House voice vote that pulls U.S. Environmental Protection Agency support from states like New York and Michigan, which have designed stricter rules governing ballast water discharges into the Great Lakes.LaTourette was heralded…
The cold, snowy winter and (especially) the cool, rainy spring has thus far doomed overnight stays at Ohio state parks.And with rain forecasted for at least two of the three Memorial Day weekend days, don’t expect to see many “no vacancy” signs up at state park campgrounds. This, based on figures supplied by the state.The 2011 to-date campground occupancy stands…
In the ongoing firearms debate regarding whether the gun laws of the United States are contributing to the rise in violent crime in Mexico, verbal shots are being fired on both sides of the border. Here’s the latest take from the National Rifle Association: In another chapter in the ongoing attempt to blame the American gun community for Mexico’s internal…
Steelheaders on Conneaut Creek will soon enjoy an improved pull-off/parking lot near downtown Conneaut. The Ohio Division of Watercraft is working with the Friends of Conneaut Creek and the Central Basin steelheaders in an effort to improve access to the popular trout-fishing stream.Beginning Monday, March 2, a construction crew began leveling off and improving a parking area on Center Street…
Downtown Cleveland will become a port for those recreational boaters looking to tie up and take in a ball game, visit the Great Lakes Science Center, or tour the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded through its Service’s Boating Infrastructure Grant money to build a transient marina at the existing North Coast Harbor…
Professional fishing guides utilizing Lake Metroparks stream access now need to approach the agency for proper paperwork. While the parks system has always had a policy whereby anyone offering a pay-for service must secure a free permit, the issue has seen little daylight. Until now, that is, as Lake Metroparks has built a series of required steps to go along…
Jenny Lynn and I first laid our eyes on one another nearly 12 years ago at the Cleveland I-X Center. It was not either of our intentions to flirt, much less fall in love, though we did both. My wife, Bev, and I had gone to the I-X Center as we typically did back then on the Friday the Cleveland…
In spite of an economy still chained to hard times, improvement is being seen in the number of fishing-related arrests. And while the statistics provided by the DNR Division of Wildlife do not discriminate between the various violation possibilities, the agency’s law enforcement administrator says most of the tickets issued are for failure to buy and show a necessary fishing…
