Montana’s Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission will meet Feb. 11 at the State Capitol Old Supreme Court Chambers beginning at 8:30 a.m.

The commission will make final decisions on 2010-2011 hunting seasons, including the:

deer, elk and antelope license and permit allocation process,
deer, elk, antelope hunting seasons and HD boundaries,
moose, sheep, goat hunting seasons and HD boundaries,
black bear hunting seasons and HD boundaries,
biennial quota ranges,
bison hunting seasons and HD boundaries,
lion hunting seasons and HD boundaries,
upland game bird regulations and turkey quotas,
hunting season dates,
game damage management season quota authorizations.
The commission will also decide on the proposed commercial fishing regulations for Canyon Ferry Lake and Lake Helena.

FWP ensures its meetings are fully accessible to those with a disability. Individuals with special needs may request arrangements by contacting FWP at: 406-444-3186.

The full agenda and additional information on the topics to be discussed may be found on the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov under the FWP Commission icon.

The Internet makes it easy to participate in the world around us—even the outdoor world. It may sound ironic, but the Internet is a great way to become a more interactive wildlife viewer or even a citizen scientist. Here are some of the possibilities.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Discover Montana’s Ecosystems learning tool at fwp.mt.gov is full of vivid images and wildlife film clips that youngsters and adults will love. Choose an ecosystem you’ll visit soon or one where you live—for example, montane forest or shrub grassland. Click to see a movie of this habitat and the wildlife species at home there and hear their natural sounds! To view vibrant images of the mammals, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles of this ecosystem, expand the slide file.

One caution—visit this site after dark to avoid burning up time you’d spend in the outdoors. There is so much to explore you will return here time after time.

Citizen scientists, who like to observe and report on the wildlife they see, now have a fun new way to put their discoveries to work on the Internet. The Montana Natural Heritage Program’s Tracker at mtnhp.org allows people to register with the site and then log their wildlife sightings—mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians—into the state database where biologists can use them to track the distribution and well being of Montana’s many wildlife species. The MTNHP serves as the state’s information source for animals, plants, and plant communities.

The reported wildlife sightings are also accessible on Tracker to interested wildlife viewers and others. Or, go to the Montana online Field Guide, a joint product of FWP and MTNHP, at fieldguide.mt.gov, to see these observations summarized in charts and on maps for each species. For example, the pygmy rabbit’s relative density is mapped based on 1,221 individual field observations.

Today, Montana’s databases contain nearly 850,000 animal observations compared to 120,000 in 2005 thanks to Tracker and a growing attention to wildlife communities as a whole, including the many nongame species that are essential to a healthy, fully functioning habitat.

While hunters’ and anglers’ pay license fees that support the management of fish and wildlife, there are no similar fees associated with wildlife viewing that could help support nongame species management. That is where the Nongame Wildlife Check-off on the Montana income tax form comes in. Taxpayers can check the box next to the eagle to donate. Surprisingly, less than one percent of Montanans do so, although nearly half of the state’s population identify themselves as wildlife viewers.

In the 20 some years since its inception, the Nongame Wildlife Checkoff has generated nearly $500,000, with annual contributions ranging from $16,500 to $34,000. FWP stretches these contributions by matching them to federal, private and in-kind contributions, including the time of numerous volunteers.

To learn more about nongame wildlife work and how you might become involved as a donor or volunteer, or to learn more about wildlife viewing, visit the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov under the Wild Things tab for Nongame Check-off .

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Side Bar:

DETAILS ON THE MONTANA NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM TRACKER

The folks at the Montana Natural Heritage Program say Tracker is an extraordinarily sophisticated Internet application. It provides direct public access to the extensive MTNHP databases with information on the location of Montana wildlife and other species—and enables the public to log in and report sightings.

Tracker, at mtnhp.org, requires a fast Internet connection, so those with slow Internet access might want to explore Tracker at the public library or other site that offers a faster connection. The MTNHP Web site also provides individuals with access to a simple observation form for plants and animals or an excel spreadsheet to track sightings. To find them, click on Submit Observations on the mtnhp.org home page.

A curious wildlife viewer can read the observations stored by Tracker by clicking on a specific species under Reports and selecting Generalized Observations. A click on Display calls up a map of the sightings, then use the zoom tool to draw a box around a particular locale and click on Charts & Data at the bottom of the map. Choose Observation Details to read the reports on individual sightings.

Wildlife, however, doesn’t have that option. Antelope and members of the deer family in Montana have to tough it out. Most do through a variety of methods. But severe winter weather can tax even the hardiest critters.

Big game survive winter through four main adaptations: an insulated coat, reducing their metabolism (up to one-third of what they need to meet basic life functions), remaining bedded for long periods during bad weather and relying on stored body fat.

Up to 30 percent of a deer’s winter energy requirements can be met through body fat. By the way, don’t believe the old hunter’s tale of predicting a winter’s severity by the amount of body fat on a deer, or elk. The amount of fat says more about the animal’s ability to find adequate food in the late summer and fall than the upcoming winter.

“For deer, their condition going into winter is important,” says Tom Stivers, Fish, Wildlife and Parks wildlife biologist. “East of the Divide, elk will go to where ever they can find some grass. And antelope, if it gets really tough, they’ll move to try to find sage and forbs.”

Both mule deer and whitetails will move to find food, too, often to winter habitats the species has used for a millennium. When winter hits the Rocky Mountain Front, for example, mule deer will move down in elevation to ridges and foothills along the front.

The same holds true in the Missouri River Breaks, Stivers says.

Winter represents a downhill slide for big game, even with migrational movements.

“Mule deer on core winter range and habitat will do okay,” Stivers says, “but deer have evolved to lose weight in the winter.”

One scientist likened a deer’s year to sledding on a brushy hill. Through summer and fall the animal climbs the hill, adding body fat. The winter and early spring are the downhill slide. Grass, shrubs and plants can slow the descent, but if the bottom of the hill is reached before spring plant growth starts, the animal dies.

“Elk are big body animals,” Stivers says. “They can eat grass in the winter and get that internal engine running and produce a lot of heat, like cattle. But deer have to process higher nutritional food. So they seek tips of browse.”

Of course plants need to be in good shape going into winter, too, or browse, like willows and chokecherry, won’t have the necessary nutrition.

Deer and antelope and elk do die each winter. Sometimes it’s from age, sometimes it’s malnutrition, and sometimes it’s predators. More than likely death comes from stress caused by a combination of factors rather than just weather.

In fact, an early winter may have little consequence on animals because most have fat reserves to draw on. But as an animal’s energy supply dwindles, usually later in winter, stress factors will start to kill the young, the old and the weak.

One remedy suggested periodically is to feed the deer or elk. It almost always doesn’t work for several reasons. But that’s a topic for another day.

Now it’s time to put another log on the fire.

This critical part of the hunting season cycle provides the information that wildlife biologists and managers need to estimate the annual wild game harvest and to recommend quotas for upcoming hunting seasons.

FWP biometrician Robin Russell in Bozeman said that about 80,000 Montana households are generally contacted over the course of the survey. Survey interviewers collect information on big and small game — including deer, elk, antelope, moose, turkey and upland game birds.

This year the survey calls will be made from calling centers in Bozeman and Helena. The simple telephone survey generally takes about five minutes to complete.

Council members will meet Monday, Feb. 1, at 1 p.m. to determine priorities and begin to work on identified issues. The meeting will continue Tuesday from 8 a.m.- noon.

The 15-member council, made up of landowners, outfitters, hunters, anglers, legislators, and an FWP Commissioner, is appointed by the Governor and charged with reviewing FWP hunting and fishing access programs, offering recommendations to help achieve program goals, and addressing issues related to private land and public wildlife.

Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting and observe council proceedings. A public comment period is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 1.

For more information about the PL/PW Council, contact Alan Charles, FWP Coordinator of Landowner/Sportsman Relations, by phone: 406- 444-3798, or by email: acharles@mt.gov . Or, visit the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov on the Hunting page under hunter access

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks reaches thousands of kids each year with its angling education program, including winter courses on ice fishing.

“When we take a classroom of kids ice fishing we are as concerned about teaching them about ice safety as we are teaching ice-fishing,” said Dave Hagengruber, FWP’s angling education coordinator.

Hagengruber said ice that is four to six inches thick should be safe for a single person. For a family of anglers he is more comfortable with six to eight inches of ice, and for a full classroom he likes to have at least a foot of good, clear ice.

“There are rules of thumb on how thick ice needs to be, but people need to be aware that on every body of water the ice varies in thickness and its strength is affected by a lot of different factors,” he said. “Reservoirs can be especially challenging because the water levels vary over time as water is released and there may also be currents created as water flows into the reservoir.” Currents within a large body of water will cause the ice to be thinner where they flow.

Hagengruber said the strongest, most dependable ice forms on lakes and ponds early in the season when water and cold air come into direct contact to form a layer of clear, thick ice. Wind, snow cover and deep water are factors that may slow the formation of ice.

Underwater springs are a factor that may weaken the ice in certain areas, and pressure ridges create potentially dangerous situations.

“Pressure ridges are created when ice expands and the pressure pushes the ice together and up into a ridge,” Hagengruber said. “Where the ice buckles it may form a ridge several feet high with areas of open water nearby.”

“Under the best of circumstances ice is risky. Reading the ice is even trickier during warming spells,” he said. “We tell our angling classes that if you are in doubt stay off the ice. No fish is worth taking a chance with your life.”

Hagengruber makes a point of erring on the side of safety when working with kids. He tells them:

never go out on river ice, and
never be the first person on the ice.
Someone has to be the first person on the ice, just don’t let it be you!

State agencies, cities, counties, angler groups and others interested in sponsoring a project may apply.

Grant applicants must provide a minimum of 30 percent of the costs associated with the project and may match the grant funds with in-kind contributions such as heavy equipment time, construction materials, labor, engineering services, and more.

The Community Pond Program has provided funding since 2003 for projects that benefit young anglers and their families and that provide locations to teach angling skills to those of all ages.

For a fact sheet and grant applications form, go to the FWP Web site at fwp.mt.gov and look on the Habitat tab for the Fish Habitat page, or call FWP at 406-444-2449.

Applications are accepted annually and must be submitted by Feb. 1. All applicants are encouraged to work with a local FWP fishery biologist on planning the project.