  
Tony Dean ...
Outdoors, Inc.
1013 North Grand
Pierre, SD 57501
(605) 224-5104
FAX (605) 224-2977
| | Tony Dean OutdoorsConservation Issues
Report What you See
The bald eagle is our national symbol, but even if it weren’t, I’d still take a second look every time I happen to cross paths with one.
Most people, not just hunters and anglers, will do the same thing – and not just for eagles. People from all walks of life will stop and take note when they observe a peculiar sighting outdoors.
I take an array of phone calls from interested citizens who have questions about, or want to report unusual animal activity or sightings. I’ll never forget a caller who was convinced there was a kangaroo stuck in a fence. Turns out an animal was stuck in a fence, but it was white-tailed deer, not a kangaroo.
That’s a good example of the assortment of phone calls wildlife generates.
Sometimes biologists receive reports of moose behaving erratically, literally running in circles. This is often caused by “brain worm,” or larvae from a parasite that destroys moose brain tissue in infected animals. The sheer size of moose makes observations easy and results in many reports.
Even normal moose behavior, like spending weeks in the same parcel of land, prompts questions from people who haven’t observed this before.
As long as the world keeps spinning, interested people will keep the Game and Fish Department apprised of the status of certain animals and their behavior. And I enjoy it. Game and Fish biologists don’t investigate each and every reported circumstance regarding a unique animal sighting or odd behavior, but we do appreciate reports, so we have the opportunity to determine what really is unusual, like a sighting of a rare whooping crane, or what isn’t, like a displaced moose or elk, acting normal.
Cell phones give callers the means to reporting location and other information immediately. Another recent invention that helps people report incidental sightings is the Internet, and the Game and Fish Department website. The website, discovernd.com/gnf, hosts an online form for species of conservation priority and incidental observations. Essentially the same information a biologist would ask for in a phone call is available to fill in and submit online, or the form can be printed and mailed in.
The website lists obvious species for which the Department is interested in sighting, such as bald eagle, pallid sturgeon and piping plovers, along with gray wolves, river otter and several species of freshwater mussels or clams.
If you’d like to actively and accurately report your findings, I’d suggest visiting the website and printing a copy of the reporting form to take along on outdoor excursions, so you can jot down information that might otherwise be forgotten by the time you get home. Even if your intention is to fill in the form and submit it online, by having a hard copy with you, the requested information will be more complete.
The list of animals for which the Game and Fish Department is actively seeking reports is inclusive, and actually part of the Department’s effort to better document status of many of the state’s nongame species.
The information is compiled by Departments nongame wildlife biologists as part of the state wildlife grants program. In part this will assist the Department in gathering and establishing data on nonhunted species. For instance, mapping reported sightings of burrowing owls helps develop trend data on habitat uses and distribution throughout the state.
This is all valuable information. The funding structure of the Department limits what can be spent on nonhunted species, so citizen reports fill a considerable need. In a way citizen field observers help fulfill the mission for the state of North Dakota.
So the next time you happen to see a peregrine falcon or least tern, let your fingers do the walking and the talking by reporting the information on the Departments website. http://www.state.nd.us/gnf/gnfapps/SpeciesOfConservation or contacting a non-game biologist at 701.328.6300
Leier is a biologist with the Game and Fish Department. He can be reached by email: dleier@state.nd.us
Doug Leier
ND Game & Fish
www.state.nd.us/gnf
701.277.0719
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