logo
How to participate in Georgia's 2025 Turkey Poult Survey, why it matters

How to participate in Georgia's 2025 Turkey Poult Survey, why it matters

Yahoo02-06-2025
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — If you see a wild turkey in the next three months, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) asks that you log it with their survey.
The Turkey Poult Survey helps the DNR Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) is an important survey that helps track statewide and regional turkey reproduction.
Officials said you don't have to make any special efforts to locate turkeys, just let them know if you see one during everyday activities.
Participants should record all data related to turkey poults, which are baby turkeys, hens with or without broods and gobblers.
If you don't happen to see a turkey all month, you can record that in the survey as well.
The survey asks for the location of the area the turkey was seen in, like a WMA, state park or national forest. You can also use the map to select the area you saw it in.
You can log your observations during June, July and August.
The DNR asked that you do not log trail camera observations, since they could bias the survey results.
You can participate in the survey by clicking or tapping here. You can also view the annual results of the average poult per hen by clicking or tapping here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

DNR seeks public input on prioritizing future Belle Isle improvements
DNR seeks public input on prioritizing future Belle Isle improvements

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

DNR seeks public input on prioritizing future Belle Isle improvements

Belle Isle park managers are seeking community input on what improvement projects to prioritize next at the city's island park on the Detroit River. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Belle Isle Conservancy are asking for input on 11 potential investments designed to significantly enhance enjoyment of Belle Isle Park. Visitors, community members, stakeholders and others interested in this beloved park are encouraged to learn more and rank 11 potential large-scale projects. Links to both the project page and online public survey are available at and the survey is open through Labor Day weekend. This public feedback is a key component of the development of a new Belle Isle strategic development plan, which builds upon the 2018 Belle Isle Park Strategic Management Plan, DNR officials said. Potential projects for consideration include: Beach. Extend the beach and renovate the bath house. Boathouse. Restore and reactivate the Belle Isle Boathouse for public use. Park cafe. Create a park cafe at the Belle Isle White House. Canals and trails. Improve access to canals and create trails. Carillon Peace Tower. Renovate the Nancy Brown Carillon Peace Tower. Kids Row. Create a bigger, better Kids Row Playground. Music band shell. Restore and activate the Remick Music Band Shell. Piers and docks. Rebuild piers and docks for fishing and potential ferry service. Sawmill. Create an interpretive center at the historic sawmill. Stable yard. Clean up and activate former stable yard. Community and volunteer space. Create community and volunteer space at the historic police headquarters. This summerlong community outreach effort also includes an on-the-ground team of staff and volunteers who will gather feedback at the park and at various community events throughout Detroit. More: Belle Isle's transformation under state control: What's changed, what's still coming More: Decades of Michigan lake data, hidden in filing cabinets, digitized with volunteer help The strategic development plan team created this list of projects by evaluating park buildings and spaces, reviewing public comments during the recent multimodal study and consulting with staff. Since these are significant undertakings, moving forward on any of them likely would require a strategic funding approach, including philanthropic partnerships. Critical ongoing efforts, such as opening restrooms, slowing vehicle traffic, keeping the bridge open and improving trash pickup, are not listed as potential projects because work is already underway to address them. "This fall, the project team will draft a set of recommendations to improve park resources for the next 10 years based on their research and public input," said Amanda Treadwell, urban area field planner for the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. The final recommendations will be shared with the community in early 2026. "We're looking forward to hearing from people all across the city of Detroit and beyond about how we can make this treasured destination better for everyone," said Tom Bissett, urban district supervisor for the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. For more information, contact Amanda Treadwell at TreadwellA@ or 313-269-7430. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: DNR seeks public input on prioritizing Belle Isle improvements Solve the daily Crossword

Yellow perch surviving, but at much reduced levels, in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan
Yellow perch surviving, but at much reduced levels, in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

Yellow perch surviving, but at much reduced levels, in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan

Yellow perch are showing signs of annual reproduction and survival of young fish in the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan, although at much reduced numbers than 30 years ago, according to a Department of Natural Resources assessment. The 2025 spring spawning assessment in Lake Michigan off Milwaukee yielded 159 perch, said DNR fisheries biologist Aaron Schiller, similar to the 168 in 2024 and 214 in 2023 but only about 1% as many as were netted in the same work in the mid-1990s. Importantly, analysis of the fish caught in recent spawning studies shows at least some from each year class over about the last decade, said Aaron Schiller, DNR fisheries biologist. This survival of young, or recruitment, is critical to sustain any animal population. It's been watched especially closely in Lake Michigan perch since the species began a precipitous decline in the 1990s after the arrival of invasive mussels. In the DNR's 2024 spawning assessment fish from each year class from 2016 through 2021 were documented, according to an agency report (fish born in 2022 and after were too young and small to spawn or to be sampled with the gear used for the study). The 2016 year class was the strongest for many years and the 2021 year class formed a substantial portion of the 2024 catch. Aging and other analysis of perch caught in 2025 has yet to be completed. But Schiller said he was optimistic with the recent results, especially in light of spawning assessments in 2017 and 2018 that resulted in less than 10 fish caught. "Hopefully, an increase in spawner biomass and some favorable weather trends will help continue the trend of increasing abundance of yellow perch in the Milwaukee area," Schiller said. Based on angler reports, perch numbers have increased slightly in the waters off Racine and Kenosha, too. The Lake Michigan perch population along with other native fish such as the lake whitefish have suffered from the effects of aquatic invasive species, especially the quagga mussel. The mussel, present in Lake Michigan since at least the early 1990s, is a filter-feeder that removes vast quantities of plankton from the water. It is found on hard and soft substrates of the lake and at depths from relatively shallow to more than 400 feet, according to researchers. The quagga mussel is linked to a drastic decline in native zooplankton species and the alteration of the lake's food web. "Quagga mussels have been the biggest change in the Great Lakes since the Ice Age," said Jason Smith, a fisheries biologist with the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan, in the documentary "All Too Clear" by Canadian filmmakers Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick. The changes have meant less food for larval fish and a significant drop in survival of young perch. As DNR assessments showed the recruitment problems, the agency took action in 1996 to close the commercial perch fishery, reduce the sport daily bag limit to five perch and prohibit perch fishing during the species' spring spawning period on the Wisconsin waters of Lake Michigan. The measures did not spur a large recovery but likely helped the perch avoid an even more severe decline. Yellow perch have fared much better in the more productive waters of Green Bay. The DNR continues to allow commercial fishing for perch as well as a higher daily bag limit for sport anglers in the bay. Creel survey data highlights the difference in the perch populations in Green Bay versus Lake Michigan. Sport anglers harvested 195,856 fish in 2024, according to DNR reports, but 192,061 were caught in Green Bay and 3,795 in Lake Michigan. And the numbers are a shadow of the sport catch before quagga mussels altered the lake's food web. In 1988, for example, sport anglers caught 869,164 perch in Lake Michigan, including 133,328 in Kenosha, 213,163 in Racine and 408,438 in Milwaukee counties alone. But there are signs of hope, including the unbroken string of detectable year classes and periods of good fishing for sport anglers. One occurred in late December 2024 in the Milwaukee harbor. Dozens of boats took advantage of unusually warm weather and no ice cover to launch and fish for perch over a period of several days. Schiller said the perch were likely concentrated in the harbor to utilize a food source. "It's good to see some recruitment, for sure," Schiller said. "And the perch that get past the bottleneck early in their lives grow pretty fast after that." As an example, the 2021 year class perch caught at age 3 in 2024 averaged 9 3/4 inches in length, according to DNR data. The average includes both sexes - females grow faster than males - so some of those 3-year-old perch were longer than 10 inches. In the 2025 Salmon-A-Rama fishing tournament on Lake Michigan held in July, the perch division was won by Khris Radke with five perch that averaged 14.2 inches in length. Fish entered by the top five finishers in the event averaged 13.7 inches in length. They were all registered in Milwaukee or Racine. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: DNR surveys show some annual recruitment of the valuable fish species Solve the daily Crossword

Democrats press UnitedHealth Group over nursing home policies
Democrats press UnitedHealth Group over nursing home policies

The Hill

time07-08-2025

  • The Hill

Democrats press UnitedHealth Group over nursing home policies

Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (Oreg.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) are launching an investigation into UnitedHealth Group (UHG) over its actions reportedly steering seniors away from hospital visits for the sake of cutting costs. In a letter to UHG CEO Stephen J. Hemsley, Wyden and Warren cited reporting from outlets including The Guardian that said his company was paying nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers of sick patients. The senators wrote that UHG representatives told them bonus programs for nursing homes are offered to encourage 'adherence to certain quality measures.' One of these programs allows for nursing homes to receive bonuses if they reach certain levels of influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates and cholesterol medication adherence rates, while also maintaining a hospital admission per thousand rate below a certain threshold. They also pointed to UHG institutional special needs plans, provided through its subsidiary Optum, which reportedly disincentivize 'medically-necessary hospitalizations and emergency room visits.' These plans also reportedly pressure nursing home residents to sign 'do not resuscitate' (DNR) and 'do not intubate' (DNI) orders. At the time of The Guardian's reporting in May, UHG denied it was preventing hospital transfers or pushing patients to sign DNRs and DNIs. 'Put simply, these allegations suggest that UHG appears to be prioritizing its bottom line at the expense of the health and safety of nursing home residents enrolled in UHG I-SNPs. Nursing home residents and their families should not live in fear of a for-profit health care company withholding care when it is most critical,' the lawmakers wrote. Though they expressed their support for evidence-based models that reduce 'unnecessary hospitalizations of nursing home residents,' Wyden and Warren noted a briefing with UHG representatives did not resolve their concerns surrounding these reports. The lawmakers requested information on UHG's I-SNP model, Optum's policies on transferring residents on I-SNP to the hospital as well as information on its bonus programs. 'Any attempt to take advantage of vulnerable nursing home residents is unacceptable, especially to pad a for-profit insurance company's revenues. It is vital that UHG respond to these alarming reports and provide prompt, detailed responses to our questions,' wrote Wyden and Warren.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store