[TN-Bird] TWRA will recommend compromise sandhill crane hunting regulations
- From: "Aborn, David" <David-Aborn@xxxxxxx>
- To: TN-birds Birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2013 14:42:21 +0000
From Nooga.com
By Richard Simms <http://www.nooga.com/author/richard-simms>
Published Tuesday, August 20th 2013
Tennessee wildlife officials are hoping a compromise recommendation will quell
some of the controversy on the contentious debate expected Friday, as the
13-member Tennessee Fish and Wildlife
Commission<http://www.tn.gov/twra/comnames.html> votes on whether to allow
hunting of sandhill cranes in Tennessee.
However, opponents to the hunting season may not be in a compromising mood.
Daryl Ratajczak, chief of wildlife for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency,
has provided the wildlife commission-the governing body over Tennessee wildlife
regulations-with a proposal for a sandhill crane hunting season that suggests
the state "not utilize the full guidelines recommended by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service."
The USFWS has ultimate authority over all migratory species and provides
guidelines for states on all migratory bird hunting regulations. The individual
states can choose to be even more restrictive than the federal guidelines, if
they wish. That's what Ratajczak and his peers are suggesting.
The agency will recommend a season length about half of what could be allowed
by the USFWS. Rather than a 60-day season, they will recommend a 35-day hunting
season, running from Nov. 28 through Jan. 1.
"This will provide hunters an opportunity to take sandhill cranes that are
coming into the area before most of the food sources have been depleted,"
Ratajczak said. "It will effectively shut down the season 10 days prior to the
Sandhill Crane Festival."
Ratajczak also said he doesn't think sandhill hunting would have a significant
impact on the number of cranes that use the refuge.
"Duck hunters already hunt and routinely shoot in very close proximity to the
refuge, and it's always been that way," he said. "That certainly hasn't
affected the sandhills so far."
He said they will also recommend issuing about half of the number of permits
proposed by USFWS and reducing the shooting hours so that hunting wouldn't be
allowed in low-light conditions. The agency is also suggesting that any
sandhill hunters be required to pass a bird ID test before their permits will
be issued. They say this will reduce the likelihood of an endangered whooping
crane being accidentally mistaken for a sandhill.
Ratajczak made it clear that none of the compromise recommendations have
anything to do with biology. He said all are "social concessions in an effort
to demonstrate to the general public our willingness to compromise and
acknowledge some of their concerns regarding this sensitive issue. They should
not be construed as being recommended for biological purposes."
Ratajczak told commissioners that TWRA leaders held a conference call with the
leadership of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, the primary opponents to a
sandhill hunting season, to discuss the compromises.
"TOS's continued stance is that they would prefer not to have a season at all,"
Ratajczak told commissioners. "However, they were appreciative of our efforts
to accommodate some of their concerns."
Ratajczak and others are realistic enough to know that anything short of "no
sandhill crane hunting" simply won't fly with many in the anti-camp-a camp that
has garnered some prestigious names. Former President Jimmy Carter, a hunter
himself, wrote a letter expressing concern that a sandhill hunting season might
bring inadvertent kills of endangered whooping cranes.
"I understand that your commission is contemplating opening hunting for
sandhill cranes in Tennessee," Carter wrote. "It is obvious that this will make
it highly likely that whooping cranes might also be killed."
Well-known wildlife researcher Dr. Jane Goodall wrote, "It is clear that the
sandhills foraging and roosting in freedom during their stay in Tennessee,
attracting visitors to view them and other local species, offer a good deal
more all around than if hunters are permitted to kill them."
During the official public comment period, Ratajczak said the agency received a
total of 1,073 comments. He said 888 of those comments were opposed to a
hunting season.
Two years ago, the TFWC deferred the decision, opting to "study the issue" for
two years. Now, it is decision time again. This week's wildlife commission
meeting is likely to be the most well-attended in decades.
It will be a trial by fire for newly appointed commissioner David Watson from
Chattanooga. This highly controversial issue and meeting will be the very first
for the wildlife commission newcomer, appointed to fulfill the unexpired term
of William "Chink" Brown, who was unceremoniously booted off the commission by
Sen. Todd Gardenhire.
The politically astute Watson said he hasn't made up his mind on the issue and
hasn't decided how he will vote. But the avid hunter and fisherman clearly
makes pro-hunting noises in most of his comments.
"From emails I've gotten, there's a lot misinformation out there," Watson said.
"I was surprised to learn how many other states already do hunt [sandhill]
cranes."
For decades, TWRA has sponsored and promoted the annual Sandhill Crane
Festival, attracting tens of thousands of tourists to the area to view the
cranes. Understandably, many-or most-now have an emotional attachment to the
majestic birds and don't want to see them hunted.
Watson said, however, that hunting and watching wildlife do not have to be
mutually exclusive.
"There are other festivals being held now in these other states that are
hunting sandhill cranes, and those festivals are co-existing with hunting," he
said. "If hunting were voted in, there might be an initial emotional backlash,
but I think it would recover."
The TFWC meeting begins Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Knoxville West,
located at 304 N. Cedar Bluff Road. The voting portion of the meeting will
begin at 9 a.m. Friday.
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