Hoosier hunters can help monitor the deer population in eastern Indiana for bovine tuberculosis (TB) by voluntarily submitting harvested deer to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for testing.

The DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife plans to establish a new bovine TB surveillance zone for the area south of State Road 44 and west of State Road 1 in Fayette County, and in the northwestern portion of Franklin County, west of Brookville Lake.

Bovine TB is a chronic bacterial disease primarily affecting cattle, but can be transmitted to any mammal. In 2016, the disease was detected in a deer culled for testing from a Franklin County cattle farm affected by bovine TB.

Surveillance involves collecting and testing lymph nodes from the head and neck of deer harvested by hunters and voluntarily submitted for evaluation. The DNR is asking hunters in the surveillance zone to help collect samples from between 500-1,200 deer. The preference is for bucks aged 2 years or older, but all deer will be accepted for testing.

A biological check station staffed by DNR employees will be located in the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site maintenance facility at 19083 Clayborn Street, Metamora, with additional drop-off locations around the area.

Hunters must check in their deer online within 12 hours of harvest to obtain a confirmation number. Once hunters have obtained the number, they should bring the deer to the biological check station within the same 12-hour period after harvest.

Hunters who submit a deer for testing from the surveillance area will have their names entered into a drawing for an additional buck privilege to be used during the 2018 hunting season anywhere in the state. Ten hunters will win an extra buck privilege.

A larger bovine TB surveillance zone established for the 2016 hunting season resulted in the collection of more than 2,000 samples. None tested positive for the disease.

Because of hunter cooperation, the DNR did not have to initiate a backup plan of using paid sharpshooters to cull additional deer. The plan would have cost an estimated $1.3 million and resulted in additional deer being taken after the normal hunting season.

The DNR hopes for similar support from hunters again in 2017. For more information, or to help, visit the DNR bovine TB webpage at www.wildlife.IN.gov/9320.htm

Fish habitat volunteer day at Raccoon Lake

Help make Cecil M. Harden (Raccoon) Lake a better place for fish during a special volunteer day on Nov. 4. The volunteer day is part of the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Reservoir Aquatic Habitat Enhancement Program (RAHEP), which builds fish habitat in reservoirs where natural structure is lacking.

Volunteers will help assemble 100 wooden structures that will give fish a place to live and hide from predator fish, according to program coordinator and southern fisheries research biologist Sandy Clark-Kolaks. The work day runs from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the DNR office in Raccoon State Recreation Area.

“Volunteers and partners have played a large role in planning this project, including organizing labor and obtaining materials,” Clark-Kolaks said.

Partners in the lake enhancement include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bass Unlimited, Indiana Bass Federation and Cash Concrete in Greencastle. Cecil M. Harden Lake, aka Raccoon Lake, is a 2,060-acre reservoir near Rockville. It was chosen for the program because of the lake’s lack of aquatic vegetation and the property’s strong partnerships with local entities.

DNR and Corps staff will place the structures on the lake bed during the winter drawdown. Once the structures have been placed, maps will be created to show the GPS coordinates, depth and structure type. The maps will be available to the public.

Volunteers should dress for working outside and bring snacks and water, protective eyewear, gloves and cordless drills. “This will be an informal event, where people can come and go as they need,” Clark-Kolaks explained. “Even if people can only help out for an hour we would be happy to have them.”

For more information about RAHEP, visit www.wildlife.IN.gov/7665.htm

Hiking trail opens at Stoutsburg Savanna

A new trail awaits hikers in northwestern Indiana, and it explores a globally rare habitat called sand savanna.

The 1.5-mile Dune and Prairie Trail at Stoutsburg Savanna Nature Preserve has officially opened to the public. Stoutsburg Savanna is a 440-acre property near Wheatfield, in Jasper County, owned and managed by the DNR Division of Nature Preserves.

Stoutsburg is an example of high-quality sand savanna, a habitat once common in the Great Lakes and Kankakee region, but now rare due to land development. Sand savannas occur on extensive areas of sand deposits. They are notable for widely spaced oak trees with prairie grasses and plants growing beneath, giving them a park-like appearance.

The trail also passes through restored prairies, oak savannas and sand dunes deposited by wind at the close of the last Ice Age. Funding partners in the acquisition of Stoutsburg included The Nature Conservancy, Shirley Heinze Land Trust and the Bicentennial Nature Trust.

The development of a trail at Stoutsburg is one way the DNR Division of Nature Preserves is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Indiana legislature passed the Nature Preserves Act in 1967, creating the division, which preserves areas of unusual natural significance for the benefit of present and future generations.

There are nature preserves in 70 of Indiana’s 92 counties. There are 281 dedicated nature preserves in the state, protecting more than 52,000 acres. A dedicated nature preserve has the highest level of protection of any land in Indiana.

Ecologists with the DNR Division of Nature Preserves will manage the Stoutsburg habitat with controlled fire burns.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments may contact Jack Spaulding by email at jackspaulding@hughes.net or by writing to him in care of this publication.