TWRC March Meeting Set the 17th-18th in Nashville

NASHVILLE --- The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission will hold its regularly scheduled meeting on March 17-18 as the TWRC returns to a Wednesday-Thursday format.

 

This month’s meeting will also be the first under new chairman Michael Chase (Knoxville) who was elected to the position for 2010-11. The meeting will be held at the TWRA Region 2 Ray Bell Office Building. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. on March 17 and at 9 a.m. on March 18.

 

The TWRC will receive an update on the White Nose Syndrome (WNS). White Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a fatal fungus that impacts bats in the eastern United States.  Last month, TWRA staff received confirmation of the first cases of WNS in the state as two bats have tested positive while hibernating in Worley’s Cave in Sullivan County. 

 

WNS was first discovered in the United States in 2006 in New York.

Mortality rates for bats that contract WNS can exceed 90 percent. Richard Kirk, TWRA’s Nongame and Endangered Species Coordinator, will make presentation to the commission, and be available to answer questions. He recently briefed the Tennessee General Assembly on WNS.

 

The Conservation Fund’s Rex Boner will give an update on the efforts to secure Rocky Fork, a 10,000 acre tract of land in Unicoi County. Rocky Fork has been available to hunters and fishermen for more than 50 years through TWRA leases with the private landowners. 

Tennessee is a member of the Mississippi Flyway Council, which provides recommendations to the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service on regulatory issues concerning migratory birds. The flyway’s technical section recently completed a management plan for the eastern population of sandhill cranes. The management plan lays the necessary groundwork for how sandhill cranes will be managed and monitored by the flyway, and is a prerequisite to the establishment of any hunting season for cranes. Tim White, TWRA Waterfowl Coordinator, will give a presentation on the sandhill crane management plan.

 

The TWRA has invited Brett Dunlap, USDA Wildlife Services Director for Tennessee and Kentucky to address the commission on USDA programs. Feral hogs continue to generate damage problems for private landowners across Tennessee and many states across the southeast, and they are also reservoirs for diseases that are of significant concern for agricultural livestock producers.

 

 TWRA is working to develop strategies and solutions to better address feral hog problems, and is actively engaging both the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and USDA in those discussions. 

 

Three years ago, the commission made changes to the Cherokee party hunt rule as well as major changes to the hunt structure. A presentation will evaluate hunter opinions of changes, as well as the equitable distribution of permits.

The TWRC fisheries management committee will hear an update on the lake Sturgeon reintroduction. An overview of this once native fish to Tennessee waters will be presented.  

 

The committee will also hear an update on the Duck River which was recently acknowledged in National Geographic magazine for the aquatic diversity of species in this river can be found nowhere else in the world. 

 

The TWRC will also hear a Pigeon River update. A paper mill in Canton, N.C., that has been an issue for a number of years, has a water quality permit that is up for renewal. TWRA is a member of a formal EPA review team and we will bring the commission up-to-date on permit issues, water quality, and fisheries on the Pigeon River.

 

Information and Education Division Chief, Don King, will present an overview of Agency outreach programs across the state. A Video Presentation, “TWRA Today” will be made. The production showcases many of TWRA's functions and includes economic data relating to outdoor participation. An overview of the Tennessee Angler Recognition Program that recognizes anglers for their outstanding catches, who may not qualify for the state record fish program, will be presented. 

 

 In addition to Michael Chase presiding over his first meeting as TWRC chairman, the other officers for 2010-11 are Todd Shelton (Greeneville) will serve as vice-chairman and Mitchell Parks (Nashville) will serve as secretary. The TWRC serves as the governing body for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The public is invited to attend.

---TWRA---