(Editor’s note: Jack Spaulding is temporarily not authoring this column, as he is recovering from illness. We expect him to be back on the job sometime in the coming weeks; in the meantime, this column will be a collation of outdoors, hunting, fishing and related briefs that are in line with Jack’s usual slate of topics.)

 

Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Keith Creagh last week announced that Bill O’Neill has been named natural resources deputy for the agency, effective Aug. 13. Natural resources deputy Bill Moritz is leaving his position with the DNR to work for the Wildlife Management Institute.

O’Neill has more than 31 years of experience with the DNR. Since January 2012, he has served as chief of the DNR’s Forest Resources Division, except for a brief stint in early 2016 when – on an interim basis – he took on the role of resources deputy while Moritz filled in as DNR director during Creagh’s assignment at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

While with the DNR, O’Neill has taken on many roles, including Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps camp director, land manager for several forest management units, district manager for the Eastern Lower Peninsula District and FRD field coordinator. Each position offered opportunities to collaborate across department divisions, as well as the chance to build relationships with external partners and organizations.

As DNR natural resources deputy, O’Neill will administer the divisions that oversee Michigan’s wildlife and fisheries, state forests and state parks, minerals and law enforcement.

“Bill Moritz has been a thoughtful and tireless advocate for Michigan’s natural resources and the people who enjoy and appreciate them,” said Creagh. “Bill has decades of valuable experience to draw upon, and I know he will provide the right leadership to advance the management of Michigan’s world-class natural and cultural resources.”

O’Neill serves as president of the Northeast Area Assoc. of State Foresters, is on the National Assoc. of State Foresters executive board, and is a Department of Forestry board member at both Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University.

“Our state is home to some of the most magnificent woods, water and wildlife found anywhere in the world, and I am honored to take on this role for the Department of Natural Resources and for the people of Michigan,” O’Neill said.

O’Neill earned a bachelor’s degree in forestry and a master’s degree in forestry with an emphasis on business management from Michigan State University.

 

No bighead carp found in Illinois waterway sampling No silver or bighead Asian carp were seen or caught during two-weeks of intensive monitoring initiated by the capture of an adult male silver carp 9 miles from Lake Michigan on June 22. The silver carp was captured by a contracted commercial fisher below the T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam.

The capture triggered the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee’s Contingency Response Plan. Contingency response becomes necessary when silver or bighead carps are discovered in unexpected places in the Chicago Area Waterway System. With the conclusion of the intensive monitoring event on July 7, barrier defense, removal and monitoring actions will continue to be guided by the 2017 Monitoring and Response Plan.

The plan includes two-weeks of additional intensive Asian carp monitoring in the waterway upstream of the electric dispersal barriers in September.

Crews from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), Illinois Natural History Survey and contracted commercial fishers conducted the monitoring operation.

The U.S. Coast Guard provided notice to mariners of increased activity in the areas above and below the T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam.

The field portion of the operation exceeded 1,950 person-hours. In addition, commercial fishers working with IDNR biologists set more than 43 miles of gill net, while crews with IDNR, USACE and USFWS conducted 365 electro-fishing runs for a total of more than 91 hours of effort.

Four electrofishing crews, three contracted commercial fishers, and a specially outfitted netting boat were deployed daily below the T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam, in Lake Calumet, and in an area from the T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam to Calumet Harbor. The operation covered a 13-mile section of the waterway and Calumet Harbor with intensive monitoring.

Preceding the sampling efforts that resulted in the capture of a silver carp in late June, biologists collected environmental DNA (eDNA) samples at four sites above the electric dispersal barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System. None of the 240 samples, collected the week of June 5, were positive for the presence of genetic material from either bighead or silver carps.

The silver carp captured June 22 was sent to Southern Illinois University for analysis to determine the fish’s age and origin. More information will be shared as it becomes available.

The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee is a consortium of provincial, federal, state and local partners united in their efforts to prevent the spread and establishment of Asian carp in the Great Lakes. For more information, please visit www.AsianCarp.us. Downloadable images of the contingency response are available at www.flickr.com/ACRCC

Fish of the Year and Record Fish applications

Anglers reel in a large fish can now submit their Fish of The Year and Record Fish entries to the DNR online. A new online form allows anglers to fill out data quickly and email a photo and other documentation. It is at wildlife.IN.gov/9453.htm

Indiana tracks big fish two ways. The State Record Fish program documents the largest fish by species ever caught in Indiana. The Fish of the Year program documents the largest fish by species caught in a given year.

Size for State Record fish are determined by weight and length, whereas Fish of the Year entries are judged only by length. More details on the programs, including general rules for submitting applications, is at wildlife.IN.gov/3577.htm Anglers can still mail in the form and all information needed. A form is still provided in the Fish Rules and Regulations Guide. 

 

See a live kestrel, the smallest falcon in North America, during a program at Summit Lake State Park on August 4. The program starts at 8 p.m. at Harvey Shelter. The American kestrel is one of the smallest birds of prey in the world. The species is fairly common in Indiana, but its numbers have declined in recent years. Indiana Audubon Society president Jeff Canada will lead a detailed discussion about the American kestrel and how the public can help scientists research the reasons for the decline.

A live American kestrel will come from Upper Wabash Interpretive Services. The program is free after paying the standard gate fee of $7 per in-state vehicle and $9 per out-of-state vehicle.

For information, call 765-766-5873 or visit stateparks.IN.gov/2967.htm Summit Lake State Park is at 5993 N. Messick Road, New Castle, IN 47362.