Tagged: game and fish

Starting on April 15, all boats entering Wyoming will have to be inspected to ensure that they’re not carrying any aquatic invasive species.

Until now, inspections were only required for boats that had been in waters that were known to be infested. But Beth Bear with the Game and Fish Department says they were worried that boaters could be in infested waters without knowing it.

She says invasives like zebra mussels can cause major problems.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department plans to remove non-native fish from a stream in the Bighorn National Forest, in order to restore a native fish that has nearly died out.

The agency would use a chemical to kill off brook trout and then re-stock the stream with Yellowstone cut-throat trout, which are native to Wyoming.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking state legislators to vote on two bills that would add funding to the agency in 2014. The first bill would raise license fees for hunters and anglers. The second bill would establish a raffle for big game and trophy hunts.

The Department’s Eric Keszler says they’ve already cut down their budget where they could.

It’s hunting season, and in northwest Wyoming it’s also the time of year when bears – especially grizzlies – are more active as they prepare for the winter.  Because of this, the Wyoming Game and Fish office in Cody is urging people to be cautious about bear encounters. 

Spokeswoman Tara Teaschner says people should hunt with a partner, and if they get a kill, they need to be especially alert.

Starting next year, all boats that enter Wyoming will have to be inspected, to make sure they’re not carrying any aquatic invasive species.

Until now, boats had to be inspected if they passed by an open inspection station, or if they had been in a body of water that was known to host invasive species. But Beth Bear with the Game and Fish Department says under that system, many boats went un-checked.

Bear says Game and Fish is trying to make it easy for boat owners to comply with the new rules.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is asking all Wyoming residents to report dead sage grouse they find so the birds can be tested for West Nile virus.

Sage grouse have low resistance to the disease and it usually kills infected birds.

Tom Christiansen with Game and Fish says there is no sign yet of an outbreak in the state this year.A recent limited survey in the Powder River Basin detected only low numbers of a particular type of mosquito known to carry the disease.

The Game and Fish Department has found a new invasive species in Wyoming. It’s an alligator snapping turtle, which is native to southeastern states and can grow to be more than 200 pounds.

Lucy Diggins with the Game and Fish office in Green River says a fisherman caught the turtle on a lake near Pinedale over the weekend.

“He snagged what he thought was a turtle, using a lure, and quickly realized that this huge, armored turtle, with huge jaws and a long tail, probably was not a Wyoming native species,” Diggins said.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission has approved the state’s wolf management plan.  It allows wolves to be shot on site in most of the state, with hunting seasons scheduled for an area in northwest Wyoming.

Governor Matt Mead says they are awaiting another peer review by scientists, but they have made some adjustments to hunting regulations that he hopes will make the plan more palatable to critics. Mead remains hopeful that Wyoming’s congressional delegation will keep the management plan from being delayed by the courts.  But he believes the plan will stand up to any scrutiny.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission will meet this week in Casper to consider setting a hunting season for wolves for the coming fall.

The commission is scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday in Casper. It has been holding public meetings around the state on the proposed gray wolf management hunting rules.

Seasons and license quotas for all big game species, including wild bison, will be established. In addition, the commission will set seasons for upland and early migratory birds and small game as well as turkey seasons for the fall 2012 and spring 2013 hunts.

The Game and Fish Department has drawn up a new management plan for mule deer in the Platte Valley. The herd there has been declining for some time, and the management plan is aimed at reversing that trend.

The plan includes measures to limit mule deer hunting, improve the animals’ habitat and curb predation by bears and lions.

Regional Wildlife Supervisor Rick King says currently, an unlimited number of mule deer licenses can be sold.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is pushing to allow baiting of big game animals to allow hunters to lure deer herds away from towns.

The Legislature's Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee is sponsoring a bill that would allow the state Game Commission authority to bait deer into places where they could be killed safely.

Sen. Bruce Burns of Sheridan is co-chairman of the legislative committee. He says towns in the region would take advantage of the new law to allow hunters to thin out the herds of whitetail deer.

The Wyoming Department of Game and Fish wants hunters to properly dispose of animal carcasses in landfills and not in the wild.

A Wyoming man was bitten by a weak, old grizzly bear while hunting near Cody last week.

Denny Hammer of the local Game and Fish office says the bear was unable to hunt and had dragged discarded carcasses to a dense area of willows where it made a day bed. The hunter surprised it when he passed, and the bear bit his leg. The man remained hospitalized for two days. Hammer says Game and Fish trapped and euthanized the bear.

Federal wildlife managers are soliciting public comment on a plan that could see an end to federal protections for Wyoming wolves as soon as next year.