L&M

DEC staff budget cuts will create problems for state's hunting, fishing scene Published: Friday, November 26, 2010, 6:08 AM David Figura/The Post-Standard It’s no secret that the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which manages the state’s fish and wildlife scene along with monitoring and protecting New York’s environmental health, is hurting these days. Last month, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis was fired for “insubordination and incompetence†following the release of a memo he drafted outlining the current state of the Department and the impact, in his opinion, of additional 200 cuts the governor’s office had ordered. “Many of our programs are hanging by a thread,†Grannis said. “The public would be shocked to learn how thin we are in many areas.†The memo warned that fewer polluted sites would be cleaned, stocking of game fish could be halted and fewer regulators would be available to oversee the expected natural gas drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale that extends into southern New York. This week, nearly 160 pink slips were handed out statewide in the DEC. Members of state advisory boards to the DEC who usually are in close contact with department are in the dark about the impact of the cuts. Howie Cushing, president of the New York State Conservation Council, along with Chuck Parker, of Mexico, who also serves on the council, were among those who attended a recent marathon, nine-hour Assembly hearing that looked at the DEC’s staffing levels. The two men told me: - During the past couple of months, the DEC’s Region 7 office in Cortland has lost five senior employees to early retirement — a wildlife technician, three senior wildlife biologists and the natural resources supervisor. They’re not being replaced and the loss of their institutional knowledge will undoubtedly have an impact on local programs, Parker said - The state did not train any new environmental conservation officers this year and there’s no plans for an academy to be held in 2011. Figure in early retirements and the natural turn-over of employees, and only it makes sense that there will be less staff out in the field statewide doing less enforcement of the state’s fish and game and environmental laws. “Right now we have 300 to 325 conservation officers across the state,†Cushing said. “The way things are going right now, we’re going to be down 70 to 80 officers in the coming year.†- Asked about the hatchery system, Cushing pointed out the state has 13 hatcheries, which the DEC has said takes 80 people to keep them going at their current level of service. “Right now we’re down to 67 staffers and through layoffs and retirements, we’re probably going to lose another 5 to 6 workers.†- The state’s Conservation fund, which is fed by hunting, fishing and trapping license fees, pays for the salaries and benefits of 340 of the 360 employees in the DEC’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and Marine Services. - Since 2007, that department has seen a 50 percent cut in non-personnel-related allocations, such as paper, computers, cell phones and most importantly, mileage allocations that allow the staff to travel out in the field to do research or to even attend meetings. “How can the wild life biologists do their jobs if they can’t get the gas mileage to go out and do their work?†Cushing asked. Granted, every state department is facing cuts. But what Cushing, Parker and others say is that Gov. Patterson’s cuts are being “unfairly†applied to the DEC. The point out the DEC is being asked to make the same percentage of staff cuts as other state departments that are 100-percent state taxpayer supported, with no consideration of actual savings to the state’s general fund. This is significant because a total of 75 percent of the overall DEC budget is funded by outside sources, other than taxes, the two men said. Among the largest sources is the $50 million state Conservation Fund. Another $15 to $18 billion dollars comes from federal grants and programs with matching federal money, Cushing said. Last year, when the state hiked sportsmen’s licenses across the board, sportsmen were promised by the DEC it would maintain the services and programs paid for out of the Conservation Fund at “existing levels.†So much for promises. The bottom line is that if DEC staff are cut who perform services and programs paid for by the state’s Conservation Fund or by federal dollars, there is no overall savings to the taxpayers, Cushing and Parker note. Why is this all significant? Parker said the state’s recreational fishing generates about $6 billion a year to the state’s economy, with hunting and trapping approaching the $2 to 3 billion mark. Recreational boating contributes another estimated $5 billion each year. “It’s like if I gave you $100 and can show a $600 return, that’s a pretty good investment,†he said. “But if you take away the person who can implement or who can apply for that money... the over-all losses are even greater.â€

A Great Thanksgiving to all.

I'll 2nd that. Great stuff

Tell him the cat's outta the bag ( er bus )

Have a Happy one Andy.

Dutton Hollow here right around the corner.

+1. I was out in the garage Sunday trying to find an extra base plate that I have and I was going to send it to him for free but couldn't find it. I don't know the whole story but it would be nice if this guy (Chartoose) at least responded. Glen +2. +4

Have a Great One my friend.

Gotta thank ya for the coupon was an added bonus after the fact.

Just ordered two of em Bob and put em on Billy's tab.

Great news Chad

Yep NYC is

Rob

Happy Birthday Dave

Give Chowders recipe a try: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=14480

Have a good one Pete

DEC will issue about 5,000 additional deer management permits to hunters across the state Published: Tuesday, October 26, 2010, 2:41 PM David Figura/The Post-Standard The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced that approximately 5,000 Deer Management Permits (DMPs) will be issued to hunters who were previously denied permits during the initial application period earlier this fall. Leftover DMPs will also be available in several Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) beginning Nov. 1. Deer Management Permits, which allow hunters to harvest antlerless deer, are issued for specific WMUs to control deer populations. In order to provide DMPs at point-of-sale locations, DEC must anticipate the number of applicants in each WMU and assign a probability to each unit so that the appropriate number of permits are issued. In several WMUs, DEC received fewer permit applications than projected. To issue the remaining DMPs, DEC randomly selects applicants who were previously denied permits in these affected units during the initial application period. DEC will be completing the selection and automatically begin mailing permits within the next week. Applicants from the following WMUs may receive DMPs (the approximate number of permits to be mailed is in parenthesis): - 3C (580), 3G (240), 3K (70) - 4B (100), 4C (40), 4K (10), 4P (440), 4R (215), 4Y (60) - 6K (260) - 7A (1,260), 7M (90), 7P (590), 7S (250) - 8T (160), 8W (410) -9S (200) (For WMU locations, check the 2010-11 Hunting and Trapping Regulations Guide or go to the DEC Web site.) Hunters not selected for a DMP will not receive a mailing from DEC. Selection for one of these permits will not affect any preference points issued to hunters who were not selected for their first choice area during the original application period. Additionally, in some WMUs, all applicants received permits during the initial application process, but the DMP target was still not reached. In these units, DEC will reopen the DMP application process on a first-come, first-served basis. Hunters may apply for leftover DMPs at any DEC license sales outlet beginning Nov. 1. Leftover DMPs will not be available by phone, by mail or via the internet. Applicants who previously paid the $10 DMP application fee or are exempt from the application fee will not be charged for this additional application. Applications for leftover DMPs will be accepted for the following WMUs: 1C, 3M, 3R, 3S (bowhunting-only), 8A, 8F, 8G, 8H, 8J, 9A, and 9F During this extended application period, DEC will issue DMPs for an individual WMU all day. The status of permits will be reviewed daily, and any filled units will be removed from the list of those available with no further applications accepted for those units. A list of units with available leftover DMPs is available on the DEC Web site.

And more: http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s1807852.shtml?cat=565

Sierra or NAPA part# 18-7891

Pictures, pricing, location?

Excellent advice and money saved in the long run. Gill's rundown above covers the basic principal but there are many variations between different engine/drive manufacturers & boat designs for a one does all recipe.

A bit more about it closer to home: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/ ... y_was.html

Published: Friday, October 22, 2010, 6:58 AM David Figura/The Post-Standard Despite an autumn marked by high water levels, staff at the Salmon River fish hatchery in Altmar were on schedule this week to finish their annual salmon egg collection. “We finished up with the chinooks on Tuesday and have a total of 3.2 million,†said Andy Greulich, hatchery manager at the state Department of Environmental Conservation facility. “We’ll take in a few more cohos, but we should be finishing up this week.†Greulich said the hatchery’s goal is to collect 1.4 million coho salmon eggs. The eggs are fertilized and then raised at the hatchery, generating millions of fingerlings. The chinooks will be stocked in Lake Ontario this spring; the cohos, during the fall, Greulich said. Each fall, the spawning fish swim right into the hatchery, where workers take them out of the water and slit open the underbelly of the females for their eggs and squeeze the males for their sperm (milt). Ulike the spring walleye egg collection on Oneida Lake, during which the fish are returned to Scriba Creek and eventually to the lake, the migrating salmon in Altmar are killed at the hatchery, or die naturally in the stream. The carcasses of those fish handled by the hatchery staff are composted in a big, above-ground pit with wood chips on the hatchery grounds, Greulich said. Not all the fish the hatchery takes in for eggs are killed. In the spring, workers do an egg take on spawning steelhead, which are released back into the river to return to the lake. The hatchery manager said the high water levels this fall initially caused some concern for the salmon egg take. “We held off a little bit,†Greulich said. “The water temperature was right, but it was murky.†Hatchery workers began collecting the eggs Oct. 7. “The eggs are put afterward (in containers filled with river water) at the hatchery,†he said. “We were concerned about possibly putting in too much silt with the eggs. However, the water cleared up and it didn’t present a problem.†Greulich said there were “an amazing amount of jacks (one-year-old males) in the run, and the females were bigger than usual. We were getting about two quarts of eggs per fish.†He noticed one more thing. “We had a steady stream of steelhead through the whole time,†he said. “There are still lots of them in the river.â€