Columnist Paula DelGiudice: Wildlife board to decide on quotas

Paula DelGiudice

Wednesday, May 5, 1999 | 11:09 a.m.

Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesday. Reach her at PDelGiudice@compuserve.com.

The Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners will meet in Reno on Saturday to establish quotas for the 1999 season's big game hunts. The commission will meet the previous day to hear reports and discuss routine items of business.

In addition to the quota-setting portion, Saturday's meeting also will include a public comment period, travel requests for county wildlife advisory boards, the extension of the mountain lion season to year-round in some units (as requested by the Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn) and other items of business.

Following the establishment of quotas by the commission, the Hunt Application Office will finish preparations to complete the computer drawing. The results of the main drawing will be provided by June 11. Draw reports will be available at the NDOW in Las Vegas, 4747 W. Vegas Drive, on June 11.

A second drawing will be held for all remaining quotas for big game following the main draw. Applicants who are eligible must have their applications into the Hunt Application Office by July 6. Results from the second drawing will be provided by July 16.

* KIRCH SURVEYS: NDOW biological surveys conducted in April have revealed some interesting information about the fishery at Wayne E. Kirch Wildlife Management Area.

Jack Clifton, NDOW biologist, said there appears to be a difference in growth rates of largemouth bass between the area's Adams-McGill and Cold Springs reservoirs. Bass that were spawned last year have grown to four inches at Cold Springs while those in Adams-McGill are less than three inches.

The difference in growth rates may be related to a number of factors including water depths, inflows, available forage and overall habitat conditions.

During a fish population survey held on April 26, approximately 50 percent of the bass measured at Haymeadow Reservoir were 10 inches or larger with several exceeding 14 inches. Bass must be 10 inches or more to be kept by anglers at Kirch's reservoirs.

Clifton said 38 percent of the fish sampled at Haymeadow were black bullheads. These fish ranged from nine to 13 inches in length with most being caught near tules between the boat ramp and the dam.

Bullheads were not introduced at Kirch by NDOW and it is unknown what impact they may have on the sport fishery. They may have been illegally brought to the area by anglers who wanted an additional sport fish on the area.

All fish captured during the electrofishing survey were weighed, measured and returned to the lakes where they were caught. Volunteers from fishing clubs assisted with the project.

* SPORT FISH: During fiscal year 1999, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will distribute approximately $31.7 million to sport fishing programs in the Service's six-state Pacific Region, which includes Nevada. That's a 22-percent drop from the year before. The money comes from hunters, anglers and boaters who pay special excise taxes on their equipment and boating funds.

The sport fish amount declined due to an accounting change mandated by Congress in 1998.

"It's possible the Sport Fish Restoration Program may suffer because of this accounting provision," said Anne Badgley, director of the Pacific Region. "We're trying to find ways to soften the impact of this problem and address what this might mean in the future."

Funding for the Sport Fish Restoration Program comes from a 10-percent excise tax on fishing equipment, a 3-percent tax on electric trolling motors and sonar fish finders, taxes on motorboat and small engine fuels, and import duties on fishing tackle and pleasure boats.

States use funds to stock fish, acquire and improve sport fish habitat, provide aquatic resource education opportunities, conduct fisheries research and build boat ramps and fishing piers.

In Nevada the reduction amounts to $967,354.

* FOR THE BIRDS: While you might not spot bluebirds at your backyard feeder unless you live on Mt. Charleston, you might see other cavity-nesting birds, such as kestrels. If so, the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the North American Bluebird Society (NABS) want to know about your sightings. They are holding the first Great North American Bluebird Count on May 14-17.

This four-day Internet-based count is part of Birdhouse Online, a new web site co-sponsored by Cornell Labs and the NABS. During the four-day count Birdhouse Online will be collecting information on cavity-nesting birds (birds that nest in holes in trees and in next boxes or birdhouses) such as chickadees, swallows, kestrels, and, of course, bluebirds.

You can log onto the web site at http://birds.cornell.edu.