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Ohio WMA's... and their utter lack of management

jagermeister

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Did anyone else read the recent article in Ohio Outdoor News about Ohio's wildlife management areas? It was fairly long read, but here's the gist of it... Surprisingly, the major source was ODOW biologist Jennifer Windus... Ohio's WMAs are being completely (and knowingly) neglected by the Division of Wildlife. Although these lands have the potential to support hoards of wildlife, through succession the land is maturing and habitat diversity is suffering. It's been common knowledge among wildlife professionals since the 30s and 40s that habitat diversity is the key to successful management (an Aldo Leopold reference was even made in the article), yet our public WMAs have been neglected for the past 20+ years... This was admitted by Windus in the article. Not enough slash and burn is going on, not enough clear-cutting is going on... Instead, our forests are monocultures of mature timber.

I know a lot of guys are pointing the finger at the DNR in regards to deer mismanagement, with the general premise being that our bag limits are too liberal... But how about the mismanagement of the land itself? Is it just a coincidence that turkey harvests have also been on the decline in SE Ohio?... an area of the state that's notorious for vast stands of mature timber. How about the lackluster grouse and quail populations?... A direct result of insufficient habitat.

I just found this article to be appauling. It's one thing to actually commit the act of mismanaging... or rather, malmanaging... the land, but to publish an article that admits to it??? I just don't get it. The ODNR keeps buying more land up every year, mainly with Pittman-Robertson monies, but what sense does it make to buy more land if you (supposedly) don't have the resources to properly manage the land you already own? PR funding is supposed to be dedicated to land acquisition AND management of said lands... i.e. habitat IMPROVEMENT. Posting boundary signs and allowing the land to lay stagnant does nothing for the wildlife, and the hunters suffer the consequences. I would much rather have 10,000 quality, diverse acres of land than 100,000 acres of homogeneous habitat.

I know I haven't been 100% on board with the whole "let's show the DNR who's boss" movement in the past few months... But if that movement also questioned the mismanagement of Ohio's public land I'd be all for it. I just read this article yesterday, and I hadn't read anything on TOO about it yet, so I figured I'd bring it up. I can't find a link to it... It's probably not yet posted online. I just think that everyone should know how your hunting-related tax dollars are going to waste. (well, just another example of it at least)
 
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xbowguy

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I read it JB and found it interesting TOO. Why not select-cut some of the timber and put the money back in was my first thought.
 
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jagermeister

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I read it JB and found it interesting TOO. Why not select-cut some of the timber and put the money back in was my first thought.

Oh, they're probably just afraid of all the tree hugger activists out there that think it's a sin to cut a tree down. Obviously, people with that mentality are fuggin morons. But seriously, why do we even have a Division of Forestry?... They're doing next to nothing to manage our state forests anyway. You look at any reputable forester's management plan, and it'll show a rotation of select-cutting... to harvest what's valuable and promote the growth of future valuables. IMO, this isn't happening nearly as much as it should in Ohio.
 

Beentown

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(pinch) Is Jbrown speaking in the negative about the ODNR? (pinch and shake head like I was sleeping/dreaming)

;)
 

xbowguy

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Oh, they're probably just afraid of all the tree hugger activists out there that think it's a sin to cut a tree down. Obviously, people with that mentality are fuggin morons. But seriously, why do we even have a Division of Forestry?... They're doing next to nothing to manage our state forests anyway. You look at any reputable forester's management plan, and it'll show a rotation of select-cutting... to harvest what's valuable and promote the growth of future valuables. IMO, this isn't happening nearly as much as it should in Ohio.

They'll say some BS about funding. Cutting is Funding....... And if cheap physical labor is needed....Let some of the 20,000 Prisoners do the work.
 

brock ratcliff

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They could cut as most private land owners do... Private loggers and splitting profits. No expense in that. Pike State Forrest has more mature, huge, valuable timber than I have ever seen anywhere...cut it!
 

mrex

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One BFC member used the Indiana Bat to successfully delay the SR 33 Nelsonville bypass for over 3 years. Every time the USFS or the DOF tries to cut a blade of grass on public property, these assholes chain themselves to trees and file a lawsuit in federal court.
 

jagermeister

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One BFC member used the Indiana Bat to successfully delay the SR 33 Nelsonville bypass for over 3 years. Every time the USFS or the DOF tries to cut a blade of grass on public property, these assholes chain themselves to trees and file a lawsuit in federal court.

This is what I've heard, too. What I don't understand is how does a state department let a bunch of ignorant radicals beat them in a game of logic and reason. The longer this goes on, the harder it's going to be to change these idiots' minds. What dumbass judge rules against an organization of land and wildlife professionals for the sake of pleasing a group like the BFC? Can't someone at Fountain Square come up with a way to subdue the tree huggers and get shit done, the way it needs to be done?
 

brock ratcliff

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The concept of renewable resources is lost on these people. I say let the cutting begin, and when they start their public out cry, use the media to explain the flaws in their line of thinking. Many foolishly believe when a tree is cut, the forest is gone forever. Perhaps if it were explained broadly that trees are just like corn (just slow growing), and needs to be harvested to expand diversity and health of all things wild, the concept may take hold even with the currently ill informed.

Mike, you could use the pictures you have of your wooded hills from the turn of the century to drive the point home...
 

jagermeister

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The concept of renewable resources is lost on these people. I say let the cutting begin, and when they start their public out cry, use the media to explain the flaws in their line of thinking. Many foolishly believe when a tree is cut, the forest is gone forever. Perhaps if it were explained broadly that trees are just like corn (just slow growing), and needs to be harvested to expand diversity and health of all things wild, the concept may take hold even with the currently ill informed.

Mike, you could use the pictures you have of your wooded hills from the turn of the century to drive the point home...

Couldn't have said it better, man. I just don't know why this concept is so hard for these ridiculous organizations to comprehend.
 

hickslawns

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This isn't about some Indiana Moon Bat. It is about money. Kill all the bats you want. Problem is the state would have to just walk up to the EPA and pull out their checkbook saying "Okay, we want to do this, it is going to kill "x" number of moonbats, how much is it going to cost us?"
 

Beentown

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Couldn't have said it better, man. I just don't know why this concept is so hard for these ridiculous organizations to comprehend.

They "know" the concept (at least part of them) but choose to ignore it because their donors (emotional thinkers) can't get the concept because they can't literally see the forest through the trees. lol

Emotional thinkers tend to also fixate on the worst case scenario. If gas drilling and selective harvests are allowed then we will surely cut down every tree and spill sludge over every corner of the State. The sky is falling...
 

Milo

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This isn't about some Indiana Moon Bat. It is about money. Kill all the bats you want. Problem is the state would have to just walk up to the EPA and pull out their checkbook saying "Okay, we want to do this, it is going to kill "x" number of moonbats, how much is it going to cost us?"
i wish it was but it is not... i have dealt with this issue many a time and its"legit" but there are parameters you have to work around.
 

hickslawns

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Some friends in business deal with this all the time. They used to try to appease the radicals and create new habitat, etc. They jumped through so many loops they never got anything done. When they just started to walk in there with their check book opened, they got a lot farther. "How much to kill off 2000 bats? Okay. Here is your check. Thanks. We have work to get done." Might not always work this way, but it worked for them. Going through the procedures, hoops and loops, and trying to appease the radicals just drew out the process. Permit after permit was filled out. Finally, they got tired of all the permits and protocols and said, "In the end, this is all about the money. We are going to get our work done one way or another. How much?"
 

Hoytmania

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So who paid the final bill? It was obviously just another line in the expense.column for them. Who did they pass the new expense to?
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
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Some friends in business deal with this all the time. They used to try to appease the radicals and create new habitat, etc. They jumped through so many loops they never got anything done. When they just started to walk in there with their check book opened, they got a lot farther. "How much to kill off 2000 bats? Okay. Here is your check. Thanks. We have work to get done." Might not always work this way, but it worked for them. Going through the procedures, hoops and loops, and trying to appease the radicals just drew out the process. Permit after permit was filled out. Finally, they got tired of all the permits and protocols and said, "In the end, this is all about the money. We are going to get our work done one way or another. How much?"

me thinks your friends were pulling your leg...JUST sayin