Daily Archives: May 12, 2016

Outdoor writers challenge to benefit disabled veterans

The Outdoor Writers of Kansas (OWK) organization recently donated $1,000 to help purchase hunting and fishing licenses for Kansas disabled military veterans. OWK challenges all organizations to match or beat their donation.

Each fiscal year, the Kansas Legislature appropriates funding to the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) to provide hunting and fishing licenses for Kansas military veterans with service-related disabilities of 30 percent or more. Initially the funding was adequate, but as the number of veteran license applications has increased, the funding has run out before the end of the fiscal year. When that happens, KDWPT uses donations to pay for licenses. Currently, there are several hundred unfilled veteran license applications awaiting funding.

Anyone can donate, and hunters and anglers who purchase licenses online can check a donation box. Any individual or organization interested in helping can mail a donation made out to WildTrust, specifying the Disabled Veterans License account. Checks can be mailed to KDWPT, c/o WildTrust, 512 SE 25th Ave., Pratt, KS 67124. Visit www.ksoutdoors.com/License-Permits-Veteran-Hunting-and-Fishing-Licenses for more information.

OWK is a nonprofit professional organization made up of members dedicated to communicating about Kansas’ hunting, fishing, and other outdoor and wildlife-related recreation. Members meet twice a year and raise money to send youngsters to the Kansas Wildlife Federation’s Outdoor Adventure Camp, purchase equipment for the KDWPT Pass It On youth program, the Steve Harper OWK/Kansas Wildscape scholarship, as well as other outdoor programs.

Leave wildlife wild

It’s human nature to “save” a young animal that appears abandoned or lost. However, when a person with good intentions picks up a baby bird, squirrel, or deer, the young animal is usually as good as dead. The best option is always to leave them alone and let nature take its course, even though it’s not always pretty. Often, the young animal is still being cared for by its parents and will have a better chance of surviving if simply left alone.

Unless you’re a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, it is not legal to possess live wild animals. And it can be dangerous because they may carry rabies or distemper. Wild animals commonly have fleas and ticks, which can transmit blood-borne diseases, and they carry bacteria, roundworms, tapeworms, mites and other protozoans that     could infect humans and their pets.

Unfortunately, fawn deer are commonly “saved” by people who find them alone and assume they’ve been abandoned. Most of the time, the doe is nearby, but the mother instinctively stays away from her newborn except at feeding time to avoid drawing the attention of predators. Fawns are scentless and survive by holding absolutely still, even when humans approach.

Storms may blow young birds out of their nests. If the young have feathers and can perch, place them back in a tree or shrub, away from cats or other pets. The parents will still care for them. And don’t worry, they’ll care for them even if you touch them. Birds have a very poor sense of smell and human touch won’t drive the parents away. If you find a nest with featherless nestlings, place it in a plastic bowl and back in the tree. This will be their best chance of survival.

Enjoy watching wildlife this spring, especially if you see youngsters. But make a pact to leave them alone. Let nature take its course and know they have the best chance of survival by staying wild.

U.S. won’t appeal court rulings on lesser prairie-chicken

Fish and Wildlife Service to reassess status of species

By The Associated Press

The U.S. government said May 11 that it won’t appeal recent court rulings in Texas that stripped the lesser prairie-chicken of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The Fish and Wild Service said in an emailed statement that the Justice Department filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss its appeal of rulings in September 2015 and February 2016 by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. That court ruled that the Fish and Wildlife Service failed to make a proper evaluation of a conservation plan from affected states when the agency listed the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said despite seeking to drop the appeal, it “intends to reassess the status of the species based on the court’s ruling and the best available scientific data.”

“The USFWS will continue working with states, other federal agencies, and partners on efforts to conserve the lesser prairie-chicken across its range,” the statement said.

Oil and gas groups had opposed the threatened listing. The Permian Basin Petroleum Association said it would impede operations and cost companies hundreds of millions of dollars in oil and gas development in one of the country’s most prolific basins, the Permian Basin in the Texas Panhandle and eastern New Mexico.

The lesser prairie chicken’s Great Plains habitat has shrunk by more than 80 percent since the 1800s, and its population by 99 percent. It lives primarily in Kansas, but also in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado. About 95 percent of the bird’s range is on private lands.

In an effort to keep the bird off the endangered species list, the five states organized their own conservation program, offering economic incentives to landowners and companies that set aside land. Still, the Fish and Wildlife Service last year designated the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened, one step beneath endangered status. The classification means federal officials think the bird soon will be in danger of extinction.

Kansas Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, who has long opposed listing the bird for federal protection, noted the Fish and Wildlife Service’s intention to reassess the bird’s status.

“We have certainly not seen the last of the Obama administration’s regulatory agenda,” Roberts said.

The Center for Biological Diversity, which filed a lawsuit in 2014 seeking to force the federal government into more aggressive steps to preserve the lesser prairie chicken, said it was disappointed with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“My fear is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has gotten into the routine of bending over backward to do whatever conservative Western states want it to do to such a point that it cannot appeal court orders won by those states against it,” Kieran Suckling, executive director of the nonprofit environmental group, said.

He added that the agency’s statement that it will review the bird’s status is “just an excuse to pretend they’re still taking action” and that a review can take years and even decades.

Scientists put bees on the menu

A study proposes eating pollinators as a sustainable protein source

By John R. Platt

from takepart

The next great food crop for small farmers could be…bees?

That’s right, bees. Those little black-and-yellow insects could be a valuable, nutritious, and sustainable food source, according to a new paper published in the Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology. The study found that bees at all stages of their lives are high in protein, while bee larvae and pupae also contain high levels of fatty acids, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Larvae and pupae also lack wings and exoskeletons, making them easier to prepare.

The paper concludes that harvesting bees not only would provide a sustainable food source but also could create new income streams for beekeepers, who already sell honey, royal jelly, and other bee products. The bees could be sold whole or ground into powder to be added to other foods, especially during times when bees were not pollinating or producing honey. This, the researchers wrote, would turn bees into a year-round cash crop instead of one that could only generate profit during certain times.

All of this might seem a bit unusual to Western taste buds, but bees are a dietary staple in many parts of the world, including Korea, where the study originated.

The study also ties into a growing trend toward eating crickets and other insects as valuable and sustainable sources of protein and nutrients. Insects, many researchers have said, could provide more food at a lower carbon cost than beef or other meats. A 2013 report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization includes bees among a long list of edible insects—including moths, beetles, and stinkbugs—that could be important for meeting the world’s need for food and food security. That report didn’t mention edible bees, but it placed high value on honey and other hive products.

How does the idea of edible bees fit into a world where bee populations have become increasingly threatened? Beekeepers in the United States lost 44 percent of their hives over the past year, according to a study released this week by the Bee Informed Partnership. Well, this study focused on a widespread bee species called the Italian honeybee (Apis mellifera ligustica), which probably isn’t at risk. “I’m most concerned about our non-Apis pollinators, in terms of extinction risk,” said Sarina Jepsen, director of endangered species for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. “I don’t think that there is any indication that the honeybee is likely to go extinct, although commercial beekeepers have seen dramatic colony losses in the past couple of decades.”

Still not convinced? The website Girl Meets Bug, which is devoted to edible insects, notes that bee larvae “taste much like mushroomy bacon” and that roasted adult bees can be ground “into nutritious flour.” Author Daniella Martin’s recipe page notes that she primarily eats drone larvae, which have no role in pollination. Interestingly enough, she adds a few drops of honey to her bee larvae recipe, bringing the whole idea full circle.