Winter/Spring 2002

EXPO Raises Funds, ATTENDED BY BRITISH AMBASSADOR - The third annual Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Expo was held on March 1-3 at the Washington County Convention Center in Greenville, Mississippi. The Expo, hosted by Wildlife Mississippi, raised over $20,000 for conservation and created further awareness about conservation needs in Mississippi. The Expo was graced with a visit by Christopher and Catherine Meyer. Sir

Christopher is one of Great Britain's leading diplomats. He is currently serving as Ambassador from the United Kingdom to the United States. According to James L. Cummins, Executive Director of Wildlife Mississippi, "It was an honor to host the Meyers at the Expo. They are remarkable people with a keen understanding of wildlife conservation and the environment and what it takes to improve our natural resources." Meyer, a house guest of Clarke Reed, a Trustee of Wildlife Mississippi, stated "They particularly enjoyed visiting Mike Stewart, the founder of Wildrose Kennels in the United States, England, Northern Ireland and South Africa." Wildrose Kennels specializes in British Labrador retrievers. Besides the funds raised for conservation, attendees donated approximately 500 can goods that were provided to needy families. The donation was due to the efforts of the Foundation's program titled "Hunt Against Hunger". It is a cooperative effort between Wildlife Mississippi and hunters and anglers in Mississippi. The can goods were collected at the Foundation's Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Expos. The next Expo will be held on August 23-25 in Hattiesburg.

BOBWHITE RECOVERY PLAN Released - A draft of the first-ever large-scale recovery plan for the northern bobwhite quail was released in October 2001, for public review and comment. The Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI) was developed by numerous state, federal and private biologists affiliated with the Southeast Quail Study Group, a technical committee of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. NBCI is especially timely because bobwhite populations and harvests have declined 70 to 90 percent across most of their range since 1966. Three states-Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina-have suffered greater than 90 percent bobwhite population declines during that period. The plan basically aims to restore quail populations to their 1980s level. The recovery plan does not attempt to reinvent the decades of research that already have adequately identified and analyzed the details of suitable quail habitat. Instead, it takes a landscape-scale or "big picture" approach to the problem. It attempts to describe in broad terms the magnitude of the recovery task in each of 15 major physiographic regions in the portions of states that make up each region and among a few broad categories of improvable land-use types. The Southeast Quail Study Group expects to use NBCI to elevate the profile of the bobwhite problem, coordinate with other bird and habitat conservation initiatives, stimulate effective programs and projects to be undertaken by agencies and organizations and advocate for federal agriculture policies and incentives that foster private land habitat management. The draft recovery plan can be viewed and downloaded from the Southeast Quail Study Group' s website, http://seqsg.qu.org/seqsg/index.cfm.

EPA GIVES RANGES GUIDELINES - Late in 2001, Elizabeth Cotsworth, Director of the Office of Solid Waste for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), conveyed by internal memorandum to all senior policy advisors within EPA a document entitled "Best Management Practices for Lead at Outdoor Ranges." The document was developed by EPA's Region 2, along with input from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, National Rifle Association and National Association of Shooting Ranges, as well as with state environmental agencies. In her memorandum, Cotsworth indicated that her office considers the document "to be the national guidance on this subject." The document identifies a host of actions that can be adopted to improve the management of spent lead at outdoor shooting ranges. These actions include, among other things, controlling soil erosion, monitoring soil pH and initiating a lead-reclamation program. While these actions are voluntary, range operators are strongly urged by national shooting sports and conservation organizations to take the issue seriously and develop an environmental management plan for their ranges. Failure to do so not only puts ranges at risk, but might result in a more stringent, mandatory program in the future. Insiders view the development of an environmental management plan as an opportunity for the shooting sports community and range owners to reaffirm their commitment to avoid potential adverse impacts on natural resources. According to Bob Byrne, Wildlife Program Coordinator for the Wildlife Management Institute, "The shooting sports community has a real opportunity, through EPA's report, to determine its own destiny regarding the environmental management of outdoor shooting ranges." Rich Patterson, Director of Facilities Development for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, added, "If range owners and operators step forward and actively manage spent lead ammunition at outdoor shooting ranges, they will be positioned to help themselves as well as to enhance cooperative relationships with the various environmental agencies. If this issue is ignored, the future of shooting sports is very likely to be determined by regulators." EPA's "Best Management Practices for Lead at Outdoor Ranges" can be obtained on-line at www.epa.gov/region2/waste/leadshot or by calling (212) 637-4145. Additional information on shooting range management can be found at www.rangeinfo.org.

CORPS REVAMPS WETLAND RULES - Responding to criticism from the National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has advised its district offices to use stricter standards for wetland mitigation. The NAS report said some mitigation projects planned were never built and others were built in areas that made them less valuable than the destroyed wetlands they replaced. In the regulatory guidance letter, the Corps laid out requirements for stricter examination and enforcement of wetlands mitigation requirements and more consistency in the interpretation of the regulations nationwide.

WRITER MABRY ANDERSON DIES - Longtime agricultural aviator, conservation author and columnist Mabry Irby Anderson died Thanksgiving Day at Delta Medical Center in Memphis. He was 85. Mr. Anderson distinguished himself during a long career as an agricultural pilot. He owned Mississippi Valley Aircraft Service from 1945 until 1971 and was inducted into the Mississippi Aviation Hall of Fame. Later, he wrote for numerous outdoor magazines as well as a weekly outdoors column for the Mississippi-based Delta Farm Press. He was also the author of two books: Outdoor Observations and Low and Slow. Delta Farm Press Executive Editor Forrest Laws said, "Mabry's column, which he had been writing for approximately 30 years, was extensively read in the publication's five-state circulation area. The different editors of the Delta Farm Press travel an area from the Missouri Bootheel to the Gulf Coast, and I don't think we went anywhere that we didn't get asked questions about Mabry Anderson. He just had that kind of following," said Laws. Not only did Anderson have a following in other areas, he was held in exceptionally high regard by his colleagues. "He was just a jewel to deal with," Laws said. "He never complained. This was a man who wrote what amounted to 51 columns a year and never wrote the same one twice. "We'll miss him here, but it's the people who will really miss him when that column doesn't appear." Mr. Anderson was born October 4, 1916, in Sardis, Mississippi. He was a Marine Corps veteran of World War II and a member of Clarksdale Baptist Church. He was a member of Burke Hunting Club, executive director of the Mississippi Agricultural Aviation Association and a member of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. He was proceeded in death by his wife, J' Nelle Moody Anderson, on June 22. Survivors include a daughter, Vickie Anderson of Bartlett, Tennessee; a son, Mabry Anderson, Jr. of Southaven, Mississippi; and four grandchildren.

WATERS STOCKED With Fish - In 2001 the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks stocked over 2.1 million fish in public waters of the Magnolia State. This includes 786,000 bass, 810,000 bluegill, 143,000 catfish, 111,000 striped bass, 7,500 crappie and 155,000 walleye. In addition, 8,500 channel catfish were stocked in the Leaf and Chickasawhay rivers. Fish stocking totals by region are: Northeast 155,000; north-central 282,000; Delta 472,000; east-central 474,000; southwest 421,000; and southeast 300,000. Each year the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks' fish hatcheries located at Lyman, Meridian, Canton and Oxford spawn and rear fish to stock in Mississippi's public waters.

COTTON Seed GOOD FOR DEER Growth - In a unique research project funded by Cotton Incorporated, the research and promotion company for the U.S. cotton industry, EasiFlo cottonseed has been found to be an extremely valuable deer feed supplement. Cottonseed has been a popular livestock feed for years, but has only recently been discovered by the growing deer hunting sector. Dr. Ed Huston, animal nutritionist at Texas A&M University's Agricultural Research and Extension Center in San Angelo, Texas, has been conducting research on deer and their preference for cottonseed since Cotton Incorporated-funded research at Texas A & M created EasiFlo cottonseed. Cottonseed has served as a feed supplement for several species of range-fed livestock, when grass was in short supply and/or low in quality. Currently, thousands of tons of cottonseed are being fed to deer throughout Texas. Whole cottonseed's high protein level makes it a prime deer supplement, especially when pasture conditions are poor. Until recently, cottonseed was hard to handle mechanically. After ginning, short fibers, called linters, remain on the cottonseed, which in the past has inhibited its use in most feeders and feeding equipment. "It sticks together and will not gravity flow," explains Huston. The EasiFlo cottonseed process coats the cottonseed with a light layer of cornstarch, which pastes down the linters, thus eliminating the problem. "Until Easiflo cottonseed, I had not conducted large-scale cottonseed deer feeding studies because of the handling difficulty," said Huston. "Once EasiFlo was created, patented and commercially introduced, the opportunity to use free-flowing cottonseed made it a prime candidate for long-term research." Research funded by Cotton Incorporated found deer were attracted to cottonseed but non-target species, such as birds, raccoons and wild hogs, were not. Still cameras set to photograph animals coming to feed on the cottonseed revealed which species were eating the feed.

"Deer were the main customers because other so-called non-target species cannot effectively digest cottonseed within their systems," explained Huston, "Deer are ruminant, or multi-stomached animals. They benefit greatly from low to moderate amounts of cottonseed in their diet." Cottonseed's good balance of protein, energy and some much-needed minerals make it a choice deer feed supplement. Cottonseed is rich in protein and phosphorus, the two most limiting nutrients in dormant forages, and contains enough fiber to make it safe to feed. Higher growth rates, improved reproduction and better antler development can be expected from feeding moderate amounts of cottonseed. Huston cautions that it is risky for cottonseed to be consumed at extremely high levels (greater than .5% of body weight). He stresses that cottonseed must only be used as a supplement feed for deer. "Corn remains the traditional feed of choice for most deer operations. But it also attracts other non-target animals such as feral hogs and raccoons. The feeding of cottonseed to non-targeted animals tends to disrupt the overall range ecosystem. Cottonseed contains a compound called gossypol that is toxic to, and thus avoided by, most of the common non-target species. Deer and other ruminants easily detoxify gossypol in the rumen," explained Huston. Huston also found that deer weren't picky about how the cottonseed was prepared. During the study, boxes containing a variety of cottonseed ranging from plain to apple flavored EasiFlo cottonseed was offered along with whole corn. "The deer did not favor one cottonseed over another," reported Huston. "But, we'll stick with the EasiFlo for future studies because it's so easy to handle." During Huston's next research phase, he plans to feed corn and EasiFlo cottonseed through spin-type feeders traditionally used by deer hunters. His aim is to determine under what conditions deer favor cottonseed over corn. "Corn is still the best deer attractant," explains Huston "but cottonseed's nutritional benefits certainly have a lot to offer. The avoidance of cottonseed by non-target species and the subsequent dollars saved from not having to feed the non-target species is just icing on the cake." EasiFlo cottonseed was originally created to overcome whole cottonseed's handling difficulties that were limiting its use as a feed supplement for dairy cows. Now, new markets are being discovered that could also increase demand for and value of, cottonseed for U.S. cotton growers.