olliek
02-02-2006, 02:07 PM
I`ve been waiting for someone to respond, but I`ll give it a try!
The meeting was moderated by Glen Mathews, the district manager for this area. Also in attendance was Rod Clute, Elaine Carlson and Dave Smith-District Biologists- and CO`s Albert and Bashore.
First, the attendance was fantastic! I quit counting at 280+ and I`m sure it reached over 300. Glen said it was the 2nd largest crowd out of the 20 or so meetings held so far.
Most amazing was the decorum of the people responding. I was expecting quite a shouting match but every single speaker was polite but firm in their convictions and presentaions!
Mostly the disscussion was concerning low deer numbers and the effect on hunters and the impact to the bussiness community.
Also, there was much discussion of TB and the results of the resrictions on baiting and feeding in the area.
Deer numbers and projections for antlerless permits were to remain at currant levels according to Matthews and Clute.
Interestly, DRIP funds were discussed and according to Matthews, very little has been applied to NELP. BUT, here is a rub---Portions of salaries are paid to DNR personel when planning or discussing DRIP programs whether the plans are implimented or not! This brought a large hoot fron the crowd, as to using those funds for salaries but not towards the resource.
Also mentioned, The NELP is 1/3 public land and accounts for 25% of the overall harvest.
TB final figures will not be released until the end of Mar, but so far there has been 15 suspect or positive cases reported to date. Suspect does not mean much until all tests have been completed.
Baiting and feeding, although reduced, is still prevalent in the area and the DNR is still making fly-overs to try to control it.
In all, it was an interesting and informative meeting and I believe the DNR got the message from this area that most of the people are not happy with the currant deer population. The Alpena News had a front page article on the meeting and gave it a favorable review. thealpenanews.com
Hope all this makes sense because I`m not very good on the keyboard or at making reports. Dave.
The meeting was moderated by Glen Mathews, the district manager for this area. Also in attendance was Rod Clute, Elaine Carlson and Dave Smith-District Biologists- and CO`s Albert and Bashore.
First, the attendance was fantastic! I quit counting at 280+ and I`m sure it reached over 300. Glen said it was the 2nd largest crowd out of the 20 or so meetings held so far.
Most amazing was the decorum of the people responding. I was expecting quite a shouting match but every single speaker was polite but firm in their convictions and presentaions!
Mostly the disscussion was concerning low deer numbers and the effect on hunters and the impact to the bussiness community.
Also, there was much discussion of TB and the results of the resrictions on baiting and feeding in the area.
Deer numbers and projections for antlerless permits were to remain at currant levels according to Matthews and Clute.
Interestly, DRIP funds were discussed and according to Matthews, very little has been applied to NELP. BUT, here is a rub---Portions of salaries are paid to DNR personel when planning or discussing DRIP programs whether the plans are implimented or not! This brought a large hoot fron the crowd, as to using those funds for salaries but not towards the resource.
Also mentioned, The NELP is 1/3 public land and accounts for 25% of the overall harvest.
TB final figures will not be released until the end of Mar, but so far there has been 15 suspect or positive cases reported to date. Suspect does not mean much until all tests have been completed.
Baiting and feeding, although reduced, is still prevalent in the area and the DNR is still making fly-overs to try to control it.
In all, it was an interesting and informative meeting and I believe the DNR got the message from this area that most of the people are not happy with the currant deer population. The Alpena News had a front page article on the meeting and gave it a favorable review. thealpenanews.com
Hope all this makes sense because I`m not very good on the keyboard or at making reports. Dave.