Early fall colors arriving in
Wisconsin
Conditions remain very dry, fire danger
high, in northwestern part of state
MADISON -- Trees in Wisconsin’s
Northwoods have begun to change, but state forestry officials
are urging people traveling to the northwestern portion of the
state to view nature’s fall extravaganza of color to be
extremely cautious with any potential source of fire.
Despite the rainfall in most of
the state over the past several weeks, northwestern Wisconsin
remains in an ongoing drought situation with the
fire danger rating at the “high” level in Burnett, Washburn,
Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland and Iron counties.
Color across the northern part
of the state was at about 5 to 20 percent the second week of
September, with peak color expected during the last week of
September and first week of October. Peak color generally occurs
in central Wisconsin during mid-October and in southern
Wisconsin during the later half of October.
The primary trigger for trees
to begin changing color is the shortened day length, according
to Kirsten Held, Forestry Outreach Specialist with the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry,.
“It looks like it will be a
spectacular year for fall color with brilliant reds and purples
already beginning to show,” Held says.
“The intensity of the fall
color season is really dependent on the weather that Wisconsin
receives during September and October. To have the most
brilliant and vibrant fall colors display, a series of fall days
filled with bright sunshine and cool, but frost free, evenings
are required. These weather conditions cause lots of sugars to
be produced by the trees and trapped in the leaves, which
ultimately leads to the intense red, orange and purple
coloration in the leaves of certain species,” she says.
The duration of the fall color
season is related to the wind intensity and rain occurring
during late-September and October. High winds and driving rains
during this time of the year cause significant numbers of the
leaves to fall from the trees, which can prematurely shorten the
fall color season.
For current information on the
current best fall color viewing areas in Wisconsin contact the
Department of Tourism's Fall Color Hotline at 1-800-432-TRIP or
online at the Fall Color Report <www.travelwisconsin.com/search/FallColorReport.html>
(exit DNR) on the <travelwisconsin.com>
Web site (exit DNR).
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kirsten Held, DNR Division of Forestry - (608) 264-6036
Fall wild turkey hunting
season opens Oct. 1
MADISON – Wisconsin’s 18th fall
turkey hunting season runs Oct. 1 through Nov 9, and permits are
still available in many of the units open this fall.
In contrast to Wisconsin’s
spring turkey hunting season, the fall season generally has a
more relaxed atmosphere, with fewer turkey hunters, different
tactics and certainly different scenery. The fall season was
created in 1989 in part due to the phenomenal success of the
wild turkey since it was reintroduced to Wisconsin, a
reintroduction made possible through hunter support and dollars.
“Fall turkey hunting produces
only about half the spring success rate but can be very
satisfying for dedicated turkey hunters nonetheless,” said
Andrea Mezera, assistant DNR upland game ecologist. “It’s a
longer, less hectic hunt as every hunter gets the full 40 day
season to hunt and it’s a different style of turkey hunting with
both toms, jakes and hens being fair game.”
Nearly 70,000 hunters applied
for and received fall turkey hunting permits through the permit
preference drawing process. Biologists have made 90,600 wild
turkey permits available, leaving more than 23,600 permits
available for over the counter sales that began on Sept. 7.
As of Sept. 18, there were still more than 17,000 permits
available.
Prospects for the 2006 fall
hunt appear to be good says Mezera.
“Each summer field biologists
record the number and size of broods they observe. Poult, or
turkey-young-of-the-year, counts appear to be up. The 2006 count
showed a 39 percent increase in the number of broods with an
average brood size of 5.2 chicks.”
In contrast to the spring hunt
where hunters try to call in a tom, fall turkey tactics
generally involve locating a brood flock, which consists of a
hen and the young she hatched earlier in the summer, scattering
the flock, then setting up and attempting to call in members of
the broken-up flock. Because of the difficulty of distinguishing
between young males and females in the fall females, or hens,
can be hunted.
Hunters registered 10,591 birds
in the 2005 fall season, for a success rate of 12.4 percent
compared to an average spring hunt success rate of 24 percent.
Hunters registered more than 46,600 turkeys during Wisconsin’s
2006 spring wild turkey season.
Turkey hunters are reminded
that there will be a statewide two-day youth gun deer hunt
taking place on the weekend of Oct. 7-8. Turkey hunters, like
most other hunters, must wear the required minimum of 50 percent
blaze orange clothing above the waist while out hunting on these
two days. Waterfowl hunters are the only hunters exempt from the
blaze orange clothing requirement during the two-day youth gun
deer hunt.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Andrea Mezera - (608) 261-8458
Waterfowl hunters cautioned to
watch for swans, whooping cranes
Population of trumpeter swans
continues to increase in state
MADISON – Waterfowl hunters
currently in the field hunting geese and heading out this month
to hunt ducks need to be especially careful in identifying all
birds before shooting. With close to 100 pairs of endangered
trumpeter swans nesting in Wisconsin this year, state
wildlife officials estimating the total population of
free-flying swans in the state is more than 500, many of which
are immature, so they have a not yet developed their signature
white feathers and have a more grayish plumage.
In addition, 63 endangered
whooping
cranes are now in Wisconsin and both the swans and cranes
will soon begin fall migrations.
The growing swan population is
due to a successful restoration effort that began in 1987 that
involved collecting swan eggs from Alaska, and then hatching and
rearing the swans for release in Wisconsin. Nesting pairs
occurred in northern, northwestern, central/northcentral, and
southwestern Wisconsin, with one lone pair occurring in Waukesha
County this year, according to Sumner Matteson, an avian
ecologist with the Department of Natural Resources Bureau of
Endangered Resources.
Trumpeter swans are the largest
waterfowl species in North America. Adults are all white and
stand up to 4 feet tall, weighing between 20 and 30 pounds with
up to a 7-foot wingspan. Younger swans, called cygnets, have
grayish plumage and are smaller, but are still are significantly
larger than Canada geese, with which they are sometimes
confused.
The whooping cranes are members
of a growing 64-bird flock that has primarily remained within
the lower two-thirds of the state along major Wisconsin rivers
and wetlands, and in the core reintroduction area of the Necedah
National Wildlife Refuge.
Whooping cranes also have snow
white plumage with the exception of black wing tips and a black
mustache. They can reach 5 feet in height with a 7 to 8 foot
wing span, and weigh up to 17 pounds. Juveniles have a plumage
that is heavily mottled with cinnamon-brown feathers.
Cranes are currently using
wetlands along the lower Wisconsin River, more than 25 state
wildlife areas, Horicon Marsh and numerous private wetlands as
they prepare to migrate, according to Beth Goodman, DNR whooping
crane coordinator. The crane reintroduction program is being
carried out by the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, which is
working to reestablish an eastern migratory flock.
The unintentional shooting of a
swan or crane can result in fines and restitution costs
exceeding $2,000; the intentional shooting of a swan can exceed
$5,000 in fines and restitution costs. Additionally, hunters
found guilty of shooting a swan can loose their hunting
privileges for up to three years.
Since the swan reintroduction
program began, more than 30 Wisconsin swans have been shot
accidentally or intentionally in the Midwest, Matteson says.
“Hunters have done a great job
in learning the differences between swans and geese, but with
the growing number of swans and now whooping cranes present in
the state, we want to remind them to continue to be vigilant in
identifying their game.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Sumner Matteson - (608) 266-1571
