Idaho Fish and Game Notebook
Fish and Game seeks big game seasons comments
Anyone interested may review and comment on Idaho Fish and Game's 2013 big game season proposals online at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov.
Fish and Game public meetings around the state to discuss big game seasons and fishing seasons and rules also continue this week.
Panhandle Region. Open house meeting from 4 to 8 tonight. Best Western Coeur d'Alene Inn.
Comments taken at the meetings will be summarized and presented to the Idaho Fish and Game Commission at the March 19 meeting in Boise when big game seasons are set.
Though all comments received through March 17 will be made available to the commissioners for review, comments received by the end of the day on Sunday, March 10 will be most useful to developing final recommendations and will be included in the summary provided to the commission.
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Spring black bear results available online
Results for the spring black bear controlled hunt drawings are available online
Hunters who applied for spring black bear controlled hunts can find results on the Fish and Game Web site at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/licenses/controlledHunts/?getPage=81.
Successful applicants also have been notified by mail. It is the responsibility of hunters to find out whether their names were drawn in these hunts.
For drawing odds, go to http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/licenses/controlledHunts/lookupOdds.cfm.
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Fish, Game Commission to meet in Boise
The Idaho Fish and Game Commission will consider proposed big game seasons for 2013 during a meeting Monday and Tuesday, March 18 and 19, in Boise.
A public hearing begins at 7 p.m. March 18. Members of the public who want to address the commission on any topic having to do with Fish and Game business may do so at the public hearing. All testimony will be taken into consideration when the commission makes decisions on agenda items at the meetings.
Routine agenda items include a legislative update; season setting for deer, elk, pronghorn, bear, mountain lion and wolves; briefing on rules for game animals; and an update on Chinook salmon.
Other agenda items include proposed rules for capturing wild peregrine falcons for falconry; and updates on the elk management plan revision and predator plan.
For a complete agenda, go to the Fish and Game website at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/public/about/commission/?getPage=184.
Individuals with disabilities may request meeting accommodations by contacting the Idaho Department of Fish and Game director's office at 208-334-5159 or through the Idaho Relay Service at 1-800-377-2529 (TDD).
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Fish and Game revises elk management plan
Idaho Fish and Game has launched a revision of its long range plan for managing elk.
Idaho's current plan is more than 12 years old. Starting in late 2011, Fish and Game launched an effort to revise and update that plan. Strategies in the plan will be driven by public expectations and changes in elk populations.
The 1999 plan divided the state into 29 elk management zones, each made up of a group of units dependent upon habitat similarity, management similarity or distinct populations. Objectives were established for each zone based on elk herd movements, habitat potential, harvest opportunity, depredation concerns, population and survival.
Revisions being considered are based largely on a survey of Idaho elk hunters in the spring and summer of 2012, and in part on changes in habitat, predation and agricultural depredation conflicts.
Preliminary information sheets on elk status compiled for each elk management zone are being distributed at open house meetings on 2013 big game seasons.
A series of open-house meetings is being planned for later this spring. Meeting dates and locations will be announced when they are set. Comments may also be submitted to wildlife managers at regional offices, by e-mail to [email protected]; or by mail to Elk Plan Comments, P.O. Box 25, Boise ID 83707.
A draft plan will be made available for public review and comment this summer before it is considered for adoption by the commission. Public comment will be solicited through public meetings and online.
To stay informed anyone interested may track the elk planning progress online at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/elkplanning.
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Dead Burbot Raise Concerns for Fish and Game
Several dead burbot, sealed in a plastic bag, were recently discovered along Highway 16 south of Emmett.
No edible portions had been removed from any of the fish.
Idaho Fish and Game staff is looking for information about where the fish came from and how they ended up in a roadside ditch hundreds of miles from their native waters.
Eel-like in appearance, burbot are a freshwater cod. In Idaho, burbot are found only in the Kootenai River drainage in the northern portion of the state. Because of population declines, Idaho burbot are fully protected, and no harvest is allowed. Efforts continue to rebuild native stocks.
In surrounding states, such as Wyoming, Montana and Utah, burbot populations are stable enough to allow legal harvest.
"It's quite possible that these fish were harvested legally, transported to Idaho, and wasted," Fish and Game fisheries manager Joe Kozfkay said. "Alternatively, someone may have imported live burbot into the state with the intention of releasing them. Both scenarios are concerning."
Illegal introductions of burbot in other states have had disastrous impacts on trout, salmon and other game fish species through fish egg consumption and juvenile fish predation by burbot. For this and other reasons, transporting and releasing any live fish in Idaho is prohibited unless specifically permitted by Fish and Game.
Anyone with information about the discarded burbot is encouraged to contact Fish and Game's Nampa office at 208-465-8465, or call the Citizens Against Poaching (CAP) hotline, at 1-800-632-5999, 24 hours a day. Callers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward.