The double-crested cormorant has been an enemy of fishermen for centuries.
They’ve eaten salmon on the Atlantic coast, catfish in Missouri and game
fish in the Great Lakes. Fishermen complain the cormorants are bad for
business. And last summer, fishing guides on Lake Ontario made their point
by killing more than two thousand birds. A year later, they’ve been caught
and arrested. In the second of a two part series, the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports the effect of those killings is still being
felt:
Tag: wildlife management
Problem Geese Headed for Soup Kitchens
Canadian geese can easily be found alongside roadways or in suburban
neighborhoods at numbers far greater than a decade ago. Each year
millions of the birds migrate north through the Mississippi Fly-Way
settling in the Great Lakes region, leaving states grappling with ways
to control hordes of geese. In Ohio, a new plan is underway to use
so-called problem geese as food for soup kitchens. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Natalie Walston reports:
Wolf Killed by Government Order
A timber wolf has been shot by a federal officer in Wisconsin. For the
past twenty-five years the wolf has been listed on the federal
endangered species list. But now the wolf’s status is being changed from
endangered to threatened making it easier to use lethal force on problem
wolves. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Nick Van Der Puy has more:
Reintroducing the Otter
A coalition of industries, institutions and individuals is making sure
that a piece of their state’s natural heritage is returned. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Flynn reports on the
three-hundred-thousand dollar New York River Otter Project:
Air-Drop Fights Raccoon Disease
Ohio health officials are using airplanes and helicopters in a
battle against raccoon rabies that could affect all states west of their
border. The potentially-fatal disease invaded Ohio from Pennsylvania in
1996. Since then, officials have been air-dropping tons of biscuits
laced with vaccine to try to keep the disease walled off just inside
Ohio’s eastern border. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Cohen
reports:
Prairie State Losing Its Prairie Chickens
From a bird blind, Ronald Westemeier observes Greater Prairie Chickens on the booming ground. He spent his career trying to save the bird in Illinois.
The Greater Prairie Chicken was once common throughout the Great Lakes
region, but now it’s disappeared from states like Pennsylvania, Ohio,
and Indiana. While some flocks have survived in Minnesota and
Wisconsin, Prairie Chickens in Illinois are in trouble. Several
management plans have failed and now conservationists are actively
working to save the few remaining birds. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Lester Graham has the story:
Are Peregrine Falcons Still Endangered?
In the 1960’s, the peregrine falcon population was virtually wiped out.
Today, there are about 2 hundred pairs living east of the Rocky
Mountains. The federal government says the species is no longer in
danger. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports,
biologists who work with these birds disagree:
Cormorant Control
Federal fish and wildlife officials will most likely let New York state
reduce the number of double breasted cormorants on Lake Ontario… but
not by euthanizing the birds. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Elizabeth Christensen reports:
Living Next to Wild Neighbors
People moving out to wooded lots in the suburbs are finding those lots
are already inhabited. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham
reports some homeowners are battling nature, but others are finding
ways to live in harmony with it:
Whooping Cranes Find a Home
Wisconsin could become the first state in the eastern U-S to host a
nesting area for migrating whooping cranes. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Chuck Quirmbach reports: