Cause of Deer Die-Off Confirmed
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries and the USDA Reference Lab in Iowa have confirmed that malignant catarrhal fever – also known as ovine herpesvirus-2 – is the cause of a recent die-off at a deer farm in North Alabama. MCF is a potentially fatal viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals like cattle, deer and pigs.
The outbreak, which began in May, has been contained to the one farm, and now that the cause has been determined preventative measures to stop the virus from spreading to the remainder of the whitetail herd have been taken.
Domesticated sheep that were not symptomatic, housed in a pen adjacent to the deer, initially had the virus that spread to the deer. Herpes viruses are widely distributed in nature, and long-lived infections can occur in multiple animal species. The herpes virus associated with sheep is the predominant cause of MCF outside of Africa and is a cause of disease in domesticated animals and whitetail deer in the United States.
According to Alabama State Veterinarian Tony Frazier, "This isolated incident reminds producers how important it is to have strict bio-security measures in place. Diseases like MCF that are asymptomatic in domestic animals can be devastating to native wild animals."
Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries John McMillan said, "This case shows how critical the working relationship is between our agency and the (Alabama) Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The cause of the die-off was concluded, and both agencies assisted the facility owner with the determining the best course of action."
Conservation Groups Urge Non-Lethal-First Reaction to Wolves
Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife has until early August to respond to eight conservation groups' request to require ranchers to take nonlethal efforts to protect their livestock from wolves before they can be compensated or wolves are killed for depredation., Matthew Weaver reports in "Capital Press: The West's Ag Website."
Amaroq Weiss, West Coast wolf organizer for the Center for Biological Diversity, said the groups want the state to establish the expectation of nonlethal tools to prevent wolf-livestock conflicts. The rules would specify the conditions the agency could consider killing wolves in response to chronic depredation of livestock.
Weaver writes that the petition proposes that ranchers must properly employ appropriate non-lethal conflict prevention methods for "a meaningful period of time" before requesting compensation or a depredation would count towards killing wolves that are preying on livestock. Under the proposal, a wolf could be killed if there were four separate incidents of confirmed wolf depredations on four separate days within a four-month time span that resulted in dead livestock, non-lethal measures are in place but failed to prevent livestock deaths, and the agency finds that depredations are likely to continue and there's no evidence of intentional feeding or "unnatural attraction" of wolves.
2014 NRA Youth Education Summit Under Way in D.C.
Forty-five high school students from across the United States have arrived in Washington, D.C., for this week's 2014 NRA Youth Education Summit. The week-long expenses paid educational experience visits locations around the nation's capital, teaching the significance of the American Constitution, the Bill of Rights, our federal government and the importance of being active in civic affairs. Scheduled stops include the Capitol Building, Manassas National Battlefield Park, Marine Corps Base Quantico, the National Archives, the Newseum, NRA Headquarters and more.
YES provides opportunities for students to develop their leadership, public speaking and debate skills during the week. The summit's closing banquet on Saturday will award $15,000 in college scholarships to participants who have excelled in the week's activities. An additional $15,000 in college scholarships will become available through the YES Grand Scholarship, a nine-month project following the summit encouraging students to promote NRA programs, such as Eddie Eagle GunSafe or Refuse To Be A Victim, in their communities.
Any high school sophomore or junior with at least a 3.00 grade point average is eligible to attend YES. This year's class was selected from hundreds of applicants. Each prospective attendee completed an extensive application process comprised of essays about the Second Amendment, personal statements, transcripts and three personal recommendations.
The National Rifle Association launched YES in 1996 to encourage America's youth to become active and knowledgeable citizens at both the national and local levels. Funding for YES is provided through the NRA Foundation from monies raised by Friends of NRA, a grassroots fund-raising program in support of the shooting sports.
Tread Lightly! Releases New PSAs for Equestrians
Working with the horseback riding community, Tread Lightly! has released two new print public service announcements as the latest addition to a growing assortment of PSAs in its Respected Access is Open Access campaign. These PSAs were funded with a grant through Stewards for Trails, Education and Partnerships, a program of the America Quarter Horse Association funded by Tractor Supply Company.
"Tread Lightly! was urged to produce these PSAs at the request of concerned equestrians to help raise awareness of the consequences of riding wet trails," said Lori McCullough, Tread Lightly! executive director. "Traveling on wet trails not only causes resource damage, it also tends to increase conflict among trail users."
Brandon Black, manager of recreation and ranching programs at AQHA, said, "This issue is certainly not exclusive to horseback riders. By partnering with Tread Lightly! to create these educational pieces, we're helping our community lead the way in demonstrating a higher standard of restraint and stewardship of our shared trails."
Joe Meade, director of Recreation, Heritage and Volunteer Resources at the U.S. Forest Service, said, "With the extreme weather patterns we are experiencing across the country, it is important to increase all trail users' level of awareness about this specific issue."
Respected Access is Open Access is an issue-specific campaign aimed at protecting and enhancing access and opportunities to enjoy outdoor recreation by increasing individuals' awareness of minimum impact principles and heightening their sense of good stewardship. Now with 18 PSAs in the collection, the Respected Access campaign addresses a variety of issues such as litter, property and resource damage, illegal dumping and respecting private property. The current lineup of PSAs was developed to resonate with a wide variety of outdoor enthusiasts in the recreation community ranging from recreational target shooters to snowmobilers and now equestrians.
Tread Lightly! hopes equestrian-oriented magazines, websites and retail outlets will help get the message out. The PSAs can also be printed as posters for use at trailheads and information centers. The entire campaign, including web banners, can be downloaded in several sizes, free of charge, from treadlightly.org.
Tread Lightly! is a national nonprofit organization with a mission to promote responsible recreation through ethics education and stewardship programs. The program aims to balance the needs of the people who enjoy outdoor recreation with our need to maintain a healthy environment
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QDMA Plans for Hunter Games at National Convention
The Hunter Games, QDMA's first-ever outdoorsman's challenge which will be held on Saturday of the July 24-27 Quality Deer Management Association national convention in Athens, Ga., will give attendees the chance to show off their skills, win bragging rights and take home prizes.
The outdoorsman's challenge is slated to include: Ground Blind Challenge, in which participants must assemble a ground blind, get in it and shoot a target in a timed event; Fishing Challenge involving fish identification and casting; Deer Challenge, which will give participants the chance to prove how well they can score and age deer in the field, from trail-camera photos and through jawbones; Treestand Challenge, which will time participants in putting on a safety harness, securing it to a lifeline, climbing a ladder and pulling up a bag of gear; Marksmanship Challenge, which will be a Crossman air rifle event.; Hunting Challenge, which will be laser shot evaluation of participants' reaction time and responsible decision making; Survival Challenge, which will ask participants to shoot a slingshot until they hit a target and then start a fire with a flint.