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)
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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