A look back could help us move forward Burbot rebound
Like many people this time of year, I recently opened a new calendar.
I flipped through the pages, admired the beautiful photos and noted the hundreds of empty squares.
What's going to fill them?
I have no shortage of ideas and wishes. But to be honest, I don't have a clue what the year will hold. I'm still whipsawed by the events of the last nine months.
Once the coronavirus pandemic set in, it made it far more difficult to make plans. Will the border be open to Canada? Will the conference be held? Will the resort be closed?
On the positive side, the health crisis has highlighted the value of resilience, the need to follow science and the benefits of the outdoors.
According to the Chinese zodiac, 2020 was the year of the rat, a sign known for being inquisitive, shrewd and resourceful. That last quality, especially, came in handy.
I know we're all hoping for positive change in 2021.
The new calendar made me think about what's to come, and also to reflect on Wisconsin outdoors stories that helped shape 2020.
Here's a handful of stories that stood out for me, some of which will continue to play out in the new year.
Deer research study to end
In late January I joined Department of Natural Resources wildlife technicians Wes Ellarson, Matt Hunsaker and Dana Jarosinski near Dodgeville for a day of field work in the Southwest Wisconsin CWD, Deer and Predator Study.
It was part of the final year of deer capture and collaring in the landmark project.
The study captures deer, takes biological samples, attaches GPS collars, releases the animals and follows their movements for the rest of their lives. Hopefully, too, it determines what caused their deaths.
Although similar studies have been conducted in western states, this Wisconsin work is the first research in a whitetailrich habitat to examine the effects of CWD on the deer herd.
Studies in Wyoming and Colorado have estimated CWD-linked declines in some deer and elk herds. The Wisconsin study began in 2016 and as of last January 319 deer fawns, 796 deer ages 6 months through adult, 41 bobcats and 69 coyotes had been collared.
Preliminary results showed CWD-positive deer in the study died at significantly higher rates (three times greater in 2017 and two times greater in 2018) than animals without the disease.
A final report is expected in 2021 or 2022. I applaud the DNR for taking on this labor-intensive, expensive project. Deer management must be based on the best science and studies related to CWD are critical to inform the public and state wildlife officials.
WCC holds all online vote
When Larry Bonde and his fellow members of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress began exploring online voting several years ago, they knew such a technological option would allow more participation in the annual spring hearings process.
But they didn't expect they would have to rely on it entirely.
That's what happened last April, when the coronavirus pandemic caused all inperson meetings to be canceled.
Thanks to its years of study and preparation, including a trial run in 2019, the WCC was ready.
It resulted in a record-setting 64,943 responses to the 2020 Department of Natural Resources Spring Hearings and Wisconsin Conservation Congress County Meetings. The annual process provides an opportunity for the public to weigh in on a wide range of natural resource-related topics.
The previous high was 29,938 voters in 2000, the year the DNR proposed legalizing a hunt for mourning doves in Wisconsin.So COVID-19 was no match for a Wisconsin tradition of conservation and democracy.
The WCC and Bonde, its former chairman who was instrumental in shepherding the change to on-line voting, deserve a tip of the cap.
Wolf delisting announced
On Oct. 29 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the gray wolf no longer needs protections of the federal Endangered Species Act and announced its intentions to delist the species in early January.
The decision will return management authority to Wisconsin and certain other states.
It clears the way for the use of lethal control measures, including killing of wolves that cause depredation at farms as well as implementation of wolf hunting and trapping seasons.
This year the Wisconsin wolf population was estimated at 1,195 animals and 256 packs, according to the DNR, both modern-era highs for the species in the state.
During the last period of delisting, Wisconsin held three hunting and trapping seasons, killing 117, 257 and 154 wolves, respectively, from 2012 through 2014. The DNR expressed its objective at the time to “put downward pressure” on the wolf population but did not have a stated population goal.
Years have passed and the wolf population has increased, but the agency has yet to establish a target or new plan for the species.
Surveys in Wisconsin (2014) and Minnesota (2019) showed a majority of state residents supported maintaining a wolf population at current levels.
Wolf management arguably represents the most challenging issue facing the DNR in 2021.
Among the varied parties, American Indian tribes are against any wolf hunting and trapping seasons. Meanwhile, some county boards in northern Wisconsin have passed resolutions calling for wolf numbers to be drastically reduced.
Environmental and animal protection groups have vowed to sue the USFWS over the delisting, too.
The DNR announced its plan to start the next wolf hunting and trapping season Nov. 6.
Much work remains to be done before then, however. To uphold its public trust responsibilities, the DNR should first conduct another public attitude survey toward wolves, complete its wolf management plan with an updated statewide population goal and reconvene its wolf stakeholders group.
That's a lot. But management of a keystone native species demands nothing less.
Fish All Fifty
In November Daniel Balserak and Luke Konson, both 18 years old and of Oakton, Virginia, visited Wisconsin as part of their "Fish All Fifty" quest to catch the official fish in each state.
The anglers were scheduled to be roommates last fall for their freshmen year at Clemson University in South Carolina. But when the school switched to a virtual format, the men opted to defer their admission and concocted a customized gap year of epic proportions.
"With things except for the outdoors shut down during the coronavirus pandemic, we wanted to combine travel with fishing and put a goal to it," Konson said.
Wisconsin is the only state with the muskellunge as its official fish. Famously tough to catch, the men were able to boat four muskies – including three in one day on Pewaukee Lake with local guide Erik Lennartz – and tick Wisconsin off their list.
At the end of December, the angling duo had completed 28 states and were home in Virginia for the holidays.
They had travelled 22,000 miles through the eastern, midwestern and southern U.S.; a Honda Odyssey minivan with about 170,000 miles on it is serving as chariot and sleeping quarters for the trip.
In January they plan to set their sights on western states, Konson said Friday in a text message.
The 18-year-olds' audacious quest to carefully fish their way around the country during the pandemic helped buoy my hopes during a dark time.
I hope it did yours, too.
On Dec. 17 I stopped down at the Milwaukee lakefront to wet a line. Nothing unusual about that.
But in a happy switch, I had plenty of company. Dozens of fishermen congregated along the Milwaukee River in the stretch below I-794 extending east to the red light house at the river's mouth.
Not since the early 1990s – when yellow perch were still in good numbers – had I seen such a concentration of shore anglers in Milwaukee.
But these fishermen were after another native species, the burbot.
Also known as eelpout, lawyer and freshwater cod, the burbot is a top predator fish in Lake Michigan. But its population collapsed between 1930 and the early 1960s after sea lampreys entered the lake.
Once sea lamprey control was implemented, burbot began a comeback. Burbot have demonstrated flexibility, too, now eating heavily on round gobies, an aquatic invasive species.
In recent years burbot have provided a modest shore fishery in Milwaukee and other harbors, especially in winter when the fish gather to spawn. The crowd of anglers in Milwaukee on that December day bore witness to a lesson of survival and resilience.
I'm hopeful the story of the burbot can inspire us to tackle whatever is ahead in 2021.