News
New regional director to head southeastern conservation efforts Fish and Wildlife Service
December 10, 2018 | 2 minute readService officials announced late last month that Leopoldo “Leo” Miranda will head the Service’s Southeast Region. The tract encompasses 10 southeastern states as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Read the full story...
Service extends red wolf review in North Carolina
November 29, 2018 | 1 minute readIn light of a federal court ruling issued earlier this month in the Eastern District of North Carolina, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is extending its review of a proposed rule to adapt its management of red wolves in the state. The additional review time will provide the Service the opportunity to fully evaluate the implications of the court decision. Read the full story...
Red wolf (Canis rufus). Photo by Valerie, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Hunting season opens with a bang on Merritt Island Refuge
November 12, 2018 | 2 minute readThe general waterfowl hunting season has opened big at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, Florida. More than a dozen vehicles started lining up more than 24 hours in advance for the opening on Saturday, November 17. By the time the refuge opened at 4 a.m. that morning, the line of vehicles stretched over the Max Brewer Bridge into Titusville. So far, 960 hunters have harvested 2,411 ducks over the first two weeks of the regular waterfowl season. Read the full story...
Common merganser. Photo courtesy of Stan Bousson.
Making a splash
November 5, 2018 | 3 minute readClinton, Tennessee — The Clinch River is now richer by a couple hundred extra trout. Other watersheds will soon share that wealth. Four government agencies recently released rainbow, brook, brown and spotted trout into the tailwaters of the Clinch River near Knoxville. Representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), Tennessee Valley Authority, Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency took turns dumping nets of wriggling fish into the river — a symbolic gesture underscoring a fruitful partnership. Read the full story...
Representatives of four state and federal agencies release the first of hundreds of trout into the Clinch River near Knoxville. They gathered recently to sign an agreement to stock trout in watersheds in Tennessee and Georgia. Photo by TVA.
New population of spring pygmy sunfish discovered
November 2, 2018 | 3 minute readTo protect one of only two known populations of a rare, threatened Alabama fish, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is proposing to designate a swamp in Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) as critical habitat for the species. A new population of spring pygmy sunfish was discovered in the swamp in late 2015. The proposed critical habitat designation will help guard against the sunfish’s extinction and support recovery efforts by local, state and federal partners. Read the full story...
A female spring pygmy sunfish. Photo by Matt Laschet.
NFWF announces more than $1.1 million in grants to help bats
October 30, 2018 | 4 minute readBirmingham, Alabama — On the eve of Halloween, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced more than $1.1 million in grants to combat white-nose syndrome (WNS) and promote the survival of bats in North America. The grants were announced at the Ruffner Mountain Nature Center in Birmingham, Alabama, where Bat Conservation International (BCI), one of the grantees, is working with two non-toxic anti-fungal agents, ultraviolet light and polyethylene glycol, as a way to reduce the impact of WNS. Read the full story...
In this 2016 photo, a tri-colored bat with evidence of White Nose Syndrome (WNS) hibernates on the wall of the Black Diamond Tunnel in the North Georgia mountains. Photo by Pete Pattavina, USFWS.
TVA, Fish and Wildlife Service to Continue Popular Trout Stocking Program
October 30, 2018 | 4 minute readKnoxville, Tennessee — The Tennessee Valley Authority and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reached a multi-agency agreement to provide continued funding for three federal fish hatcheries that have stocked waters in Georgia and Tennessee with millions of trout. The partnership, which began in 2013, includes the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Since 2013, TVA has been funding trout production by the Service at three national fish hatcheries: Dale Hollow and Erwin in Tennessee, and Chattahoochee Forest in Georgia. Read the full story...
Beautiful rainbow trout. Photo by Cale Bruckner, CC BY-NC 2.0.