Saturday, August 20, 2005

WOCA highlights The Wisconsin Outdoor Communicators Association conference at Trees for Tomorrow last weekend brought a couple dozen writers, photographers and broadcasters together for a full weekend of seminars, networking and fishing. Saturday presentations: -- Anne Sayers, program director for the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, briefed the group on this relatively new lobbying organization whose role is to let state legislators know its members value our natural resources and watch how they vote. Sayers cited voter apathy as a main reason behind the recent passage of legislation that reverses long-established resource-protection laws. About 90% of Wisconsin's voters belong to only one conservation organization, she said. If voters don't hear about an issue from the organization they belong to, they might not know about it at all and might not bother voting in state elections. The WLCV maintains three websites: www.conservationvoters.org; www.conservationvoters.org/pac. WLCV also makes certain resources available to citizens and legislators, including a briefing book, weekly "Conservation NOW" (notices of the week) bulletins; as-it-happens vote trackiing of legislators on key issues; a "scorecard" of state legislators, based on their voting records; and activist networks of citizens who care about resources. The late Gaylord Nelson, honorary chairman of the WLCV, said of the organization, "Wisconsin's environment found its political voice." Launched just over three years ago, WLCV couldn't have come at a better time in state political history. ********* -- Bill Horns, DNR Great Lakes Fisheries specialist, brought the group up to date on Great Lakes issues, from water diversion to exotic species. He touched on the reduced size of chinook salmon, but said the jury was out as to why. Alewives, too, are smaller than they used to be, although no one really notices this decline in size, he said. Alewives may be limiting lake trout recovery, too, he suggested. And double-crested cormorants are putting pressure on Green Bay's yellow perch. "Lake Michigan may be a very different place than it was just 10 years ago," Horns said. One change that is hardly noticed is the decline in diporeia, a native plankton species whose decline followed the introduction of zebra mussels, which may be eating the diporeia. Whitefish are also in decline, he said. Perch may be on the increase in Lake Michigan, thanks to excellent hatches in 1998 and 2004. This fall, the Natural Resources Board will look at proposed harvest increases for commercial and sportfisherman alike. ********* --  Tim Lawhern, co-coordinator of the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) for Wisconsin, briefed WOCA members on this program and played a 10-minute DVD program that traced the program's beginnings in Kentucky several years ago. (I reported on Wisconsin's initial teacher training session back in February in Wisconsin Outdoor News and this weblog.) ********* --  Paul DeLong, who heads up the state's Bureau of Forestry for DNR, made what might appear to be a dull topic quite interesting. Pointing out that Wisconsin is 46% forested compared to 40% agriculture, DeLong said not many people know about the importance of forestry to Wisconsin's history and economy. Forested land is increasing in the state, he said, but our forests are also aging. One key current issue, DeLong said, is that large blocks of industrial forest land are changing hands. Some of those sales are in small parcels to private landowners, who use them for hunting or build a second home. Private landowners own 57% of the stae's forested land. The number of individual landowners is increasing by about two percent every year, but parcel size is decreasing. The average private parcel is now 34 acres, and 35% of those are less than 10 acres in size. Thirty-fove percent of private landowners also reside more than 25 miles from their forested property. Fewer people live on the land today, and landowner values are changing, he said. DeLong cited a couple other interesting statistics. Land enrolled in the Forest Cropland Program is increasing at the rate of about 5% per year. The growth of our forests exceeds the number of trees removed each year, and both growth and removal are increasing annually. Although we do import wood from outside the state, Wisconsin residents consume the equivalent of nearly all the wood rfemoved from Wisconsin annually. No other Midwestern state comes close to meeting the wood demands of its residents. There is not a lot of marketing of forest products, yet we consume an incredible amount of them. For example, Americans consume about four times the amount of paper consumed by Norwegians. DeLong briefed members on several forestry issues: invasives and exotics; rare and declining ecosystems; the importance of forestry to the state economy ($28 billion a year in forest products and foret-based recreation, second only to California.); and forest fires, among others. ************* --  After dinner, Kenny Salwey treated us to a showing of the superb movie featuring his seasonal activities on the Mississippi backwaters. I have reviewed his film on this weblog back in early March. Salwey says he belongs to three organizations: the Alma Rod & Gun Club, the American Legion, and WOCA. He likes WOCA, he says, because its members are genuine communicators. ************* -- Sunday morning, most WOCA members enjoyed a half-day of fishing on local waters. I fished the Sugar Camp Chain for muskies with Gary Myshak, who lives on the chain. We started on a big weed flat on Sand Lake, where I caught a 33" muskie on about my 10th cast on a Little Nellie Exploder Bucktail. We thought that might signal the beginning of a day full of action, but that was the only fish we saw all morning. When we got back to Trees for Tomorrow, we learned that Lisa Goodman, who fished with Judy Nugent and Roger Sabota, caught her first muskie on the Eagle River Chain. I think those were the only two fish caught by our group. Back home again Sunday night. Next out-of-towner: Fishing Has No Boundaries on Lake Winnebago, August 27. Later... 10:28:35 PM    comment []

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