 
*photo of the month! *note:"photo of the month" has no bearing on the member photo contest. The issue came up as an agenda item for the annual Wisconsin Conservation Congress annual county meetings Monday. The Department of Natural Resources holds these meetings throughout the state to get comments from the public on proposed rules related to whitetail deer hunting and fishing, Oshkosh conservation warden Jason Higgins said. At least 100 people were at the Webster Stanley School auditorium to vote on 71 issues, including whitetail deer hunting wolves for population control. The gray wolf was recently taken off the federal Threatened and Endangered Species list. Janet Moldenhauer, 77, of Oshkosh said she voted no because she doesn’t think wolves are hurting anyone. Tom Rand, 54, of Neenah said the wolf population is growing and it should be controlled like every game animal or predatory animal. Steve Easterly, DNR wildlife technician, said the wolf whitetail deer hunting question, like all the issues voted on Monday night, is an advisory question. Attendees filled out ballots and the results will help the DNR develop recommendations later this month, Higgins said. The DNR asked the public’s opinion on allowing limited sauger fishing. Such fishing was halted in 1999 as the fish population dropped. Roughly 5 million fry and 16,500 fingerlings have been stocked in the Lake Winnebago System since 2001, according to information from the agenda. Paul Williams, sauger manager for Walleyes for Tomorrow, urged people to vote no in order to continue research and growth of the sauger population in the Lake Winnebago System. Williams said he is doing the research with the help of the Otter Street Fishing Club and the DNR in Oshkosh. The research authorized by the DNR is supposed to last until 2010. “We want Mother Nature to take care of the fishes out there,” Williams said. “If we can go one more year with testing these fishes, it is going to be a lot better for our study.” Williams said he does see sauger fishing occurring in the long run. Williams said the population crashed because of overfishing, habitat destruction and possible fish disease. Pat Tynan, 56, of Menasha said he is OK with waiting. Tynan, who fishes for musky, said he used to catch sauger when it was allowed. “Let’s get them back to where they were,” he said. “We’ll get it back when it’s healthy. A year or two isn’t too long.” A statewide deer feeding and baiting ban also was voted on. Baiting does help during the deer-whitetail deer hunting season, said Zach Allen, 18, from Berlin. Allen said he and his father hunt deer each year in Drummond. Aldrich M. Tan: (920) 426-6663 or atan@thenorthwestern.com |
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