Ohio Natural Resource Department has big plans for $322.6 million in approved Capital Improvement funding

 

Infused with approximately $322.6 million the Ohio Department of Natural Resources can begin the long process of infrastructural upgrades, improvements and construction that were falling way behind in necessary course correction.

The monies are earmarked in the legislatively-gubernatorially approved biannual Capital Improvements Budget.

For the Natural Resources Department, direct outlays are found on pages 153 through 155 in a document provided by Ohio’s Legislative Services Commission.

Sarah Wickham – the Natural Resources Department’s chief of communications – also says that Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s across-the-board budget cuts did not impact any of the approved capital improvement budget expenditure appropriations.

For the Natural Resources Department’s share of the budget, the document contains 13 topics ranging from a low of $1 million for improvements and upgrades at the agency’s hugely popular Ohio State Fairgrounds area in Columbus to a near catch-all $81 million for work to be done at state parks.

The laundry list is extensive too. Among the items: Maintaining compliance with EPA permitting requirements to upgrade water and wastewater facilities at various locations, “such as Pymatuning, Dillion, West Branch, and Punderson State Parks,” Wickham points out in requested remarks.

Addressing structural and mechanical issues - such as heating/air-conditioning and electrical - at Mohican, Salt Fork, and Hueston Woods State Park Lodges, are necessary also, Wickham said.

“These projects are essential to keep our lodges warm, safe, and dry, while also reducing the ongoing maintenance and utility costs,” she said in her comments.

Not lost, either, is the need to add more full-service campsites along with park renovations to various parks’ restrooms and paving work.

“In order to meet the huge increase in demand for camping opportunities, we will be expanding and upgrading to more full hook-up sites at locations such as Kiser, Barkcamp, and Shawnee State Parks,” Wickham said.

“The increased use of campers and recreational vehicles also requires us to upgrade electrical infrastructure at our campgrounds. We will continue cabin renovations to meet customer demand at locations such as Lake Hope State Park.”

Other topics cover the Natural Resources Department’s wide ranging field of activities. Among them are purchasing various types of necessary equipment for Forestry ($1.4 Million), and helping with the state’s “Healthy Lake Erie Initiative ($2 million).

Also, the budget will provide for the assessment and improvements to Natural Resources-owned dams and locks along the Muskingum River ($13.4 million).

“The Muskingum Locks and Dams project will address interim risk reduction measures to bring the dams into compliance with Ohio dam safety laws and rules and preserve the historic value,” Wickham said.

Other essential work is slated for building and telephone improvements to the agency’s Fountain Square headquarters in Columbus ($4 million), and $4.9 million for renovations at various Natural Resources Department facilities such as at Magee Marsh, the Chillicothe Forestry District Office, and Blackhand Gorge.

“Continuing a project to replace the HVAC system at our (Fountain Square) offices on Morse Road, which are original to the buildings,” Wickham said.

Likewise, “protecting the essential ecosystem and habitat at Magee Marsh, where the embankment is eroding threatening the wetland system,” is essential as well, Wickman continued.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio Division of Wildlife continues to work at balancing its fiscal books

 

In Fiscal Year 2020 the Ohio Division of Wildlife had revenues of nearly $5.4 million more than expenditures: that is something of a reversal from Fiscal Year 2019 when expenditures exceeded revenues by about $8.3 million.

Yet such swings are typical for a budget that has largely predictable income but sees expenses fluctuate due to completion of projects along with other commitments.

In all, for Fiscal Year 2020, the Wildlife Division scored $80.5 million in income with expenses of about $75.2 million. For Fiscal Year 2019, those numbers were $72.6 million and about $81 million, respectively.

“Expenditures depend a lot on when projects are wrapping up while revenues generally are more consistent, but we did see increases in revenue due to increases in license and permit fees,” said Kelley Moseley, the Wildlife Division’s executive business administrator, in effect, its chief financial officer.

Moseley said expenditures were down initially in Fiscal Year 2020 as COVID-19 impacted any number of on-going projects. And these items still flourished in the budgetary scheme of things, Moseley said.

Among those items were the fulfillment of the agency’s promise to complete the shooting ranges at the Delaware Wildlife Area and the Spring Valley Wildlife Area.

“Those projects came back to normal so there was little impact (by COVID),” Moseley said.

Not featured in the agency’s fiscal “pie chart” - which is found in the annual Wild Ohio magazine 2021 calendar - was the $15.6 million the Wildlife Division received from the state’s General Revenue Fund.

This notation is further explained as going for land acquisition for the formerly called AEP land; now known as the Appalachian Hills land in southeast Ohio.

Likewise listed separately are moneys for Governor Mike DeWine’s much vaunted “H20” initiative, Moseley said.

“That is funded separately,” she said.

Yet while the actual total dollars in revenue and expenditures are different between Fiscal Year 2019 and Fiscal Year 2020, the percentages dovetail very tightly.

For instance, in Fiscal Year 2019, fish management consumed 17 percent of all expenditures (nearly $14 million) while in Fiscal Year 2020 that category was 15 percent ($11.5 million).

The same went for wildlife management: 20 percent in Fiscal Year 2019 ($16.5 million) compared to 18 percent in Fiscal Year 2020 ($13.6 million).

Similar mirror imagery is seen with the other seven categories with some – such as law enforcement at eight percent for each fiscal year being identical.

On the revenue side of the ledger for Fiscal Year 2020, fishing licenses accounted for $16.4 million while hunting licenses generated nearly $11 million. However, deer tags more than equaled hunting licenses with $11.1 million.

As for fines? That saw a generated revenue of only $265,749 in Fiscal Year 2020; the smallest dollar amount of any of the 12 categories of income the Wildlife Division received.

Of chief importance regarding income received by the Wildlife Division are dollars from the federal government in the form of both fish and wildlife aid-to-restoration funding sources. In Fiscal Year 2020, this income receipt totaled $24.6 million, or 31 percent of the agency’s total revenue stream (and 33 percent in Fiscal Year 2019).

Not included in that aid money is income derived from the explosive increase in the sale of firearms and ammunition.

An excise tax on these products is levied by the federal government which in turn then doles the money out to the states, territories and such using something of a complex formula and arrives for reimbursement of approved projects.

“We really won’t see the bulk of this money (from firearms and ammunition sales) for two years though we might see a ‘bump’ this year,” Moseley said.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio's deer hunters take something of a breather during the just-concluded muzzle-loading season

 

Following on the heels of a very good general firearms deer-hunting season and an exceptional two-day bonus firearms deer-hunting season a just so-so four-day muzzle-loading season hardly came as a surprise.

In all, 9,708 deer were checked in from Saturday, January 2 to Tuesday, January 5. Over the last three years, an average of 12,695 deer were taken during the same four-day period.

The Ohio Division of Wildlife is now using a three-year average as a more reliable comparison than using a previous year’s figures.

“It was a pretty uneventful season,” said Mike Tonkovich, the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s deer management administrator.

“As we’ve discussed before, the only way the final firearms season would have attracted any attention is if we had snow on the ground again. Instead, most of the state was blanketed in fog, and cold damp weather on the Saturday opener.”

Thus, “it would take much more than” fog and damp cold to motivate many this late in the season, Tonkovich said also.

“Hunter’s love snow and for good reason – its not only fun, but it most certainly makes it easier to see and track wounded deer.  Plus, and this is paramount – the cold and snow discourage sedentary behavior; hunters move, and move deer in the process,” Tonkovich said.

However, Tonkovich said, the muzzle-loading harvest did lift the total harvest for our last two firearms seasons of the year to what seems to have become a rather predictable benchmark of 25,000 deer between them.”

The total number of deer taken in Ohio during all 2020-2021 hunting seasons is 187,883, with one month remaining to hunt with archery equipment. That number has already surpassed last season’s final tally of 184,468.

The Top 10 counties for deer taken during the 2021 muzzle-loader season included: Coshocton (367), Tuscarawas (344), Licking (290), Guernsey (279), Muskingum (263), Meigs (260), Knox (256), Carroll (249), Holmes (243), and Ashtabula (238).

Here is a county-by-county list of all white-tailed deer checked by hunters during the 2021 deer muzzleloader hunting season. The first number following the county’s name shows the harvest numbers for 2020, and the three-year average of deer harvested in 2017, 2018, 2019 is in parentheses.

Adams: 166 (220); Allen: 39 (54); Ashland: 195 (227); Ashtabula: 238 (284); Athens: 201 (326); Auglaize: 34 (54); Belmont: 223 (268); Brown: 178 (189); Butler: 79 (91); Carroll: 249 (325); Champaign: 89 (75); Clark: 32 (47); Clermont: 120 (141); Clinton: 33 (58); Columbiana: 169 (240); Coshocton: 367 (455); Crawford: 46 (68); Cuyahoga: 3 (2); Darke: 26 (42); Defiance: 82 (104); Delaware: 65 (66); Erie: 41 (40); Fairfield: 84 (136); Fayette: 14 (27); Franklin: 21 (37); Fulton: 22 (41); Gallia: 154 (165); Geauga: 91 (89); Greene: 41 (49); Guernsey: 279 (397); Hamilton: 17 (37); Hancock: 52 (64); Hardin: 71 (99); Harrison: 215 (310); Henry: 23 (32); Highland: 179 (192); Hocking: 135 (282); Holmes: 243 (282); Huron: 105 (131); Jackson: 154 (222); Jefferson: 136 (160); Knox: 256 (331); Lake: 27 (25); Lawrence: 100 (97); Licking: 290 (367); Logan: 105 (132); Lorain: 105 (127); Lucas: 10 (21); Madison: 33 (31); Mahoning: 90 (121); Marion: 29 (52); Medina: 132 (130); Meigs: 260 (309); Mercer: 31 (36); Miami: 25 (39); Monroe: 174 (222); Montgomery: 26 (29); Morgan: 201 (292); Morrow: 73 (107); Muskingum: 263 (423); Noble: 171 (247); Ottawa: 22 (28); Paulding: 41 (71); Perry: 149 (222); Pickaway: 37 (59); Pike: 118 (153); Portage: 80 (109); Preble: 50 (68); Putnam: 31 (23); Richland: 187 (238); Ross: 171 (231); Sandusky: 53 (56); Scioto: 103 (149); Seneca: 106 (101); Shelby: 50 (63); Stark: 150 (178); Summit: 24 (34); Trumbull: 122 (178); Tuscarawas: 344 (391); Union: 46 (54); Van Wert: 10 (24); Vinton: 134 (218); Warren: 42 (75); Washington: 226 (317); Wayne: 100 (158); Williams: 86 (93); Wood: 49 (50); Wyandot: 65 (88). 2020 total: 9,708. Three-year average: (12,695).

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio wildlife officer recovering from being shot as three suspects face charges in the incident

With the continued hospitalization of 25-year Ohio Division of Wildlife veteran officer Kevin Behr, more than a little legal attention is being focused on three suspects alleged to have been involved in the shooting.

Behr is said to have been shot in the abdomen about 4 p.m., December 20th – the last day of Ohio’s so-called bonus two-day firearms deer-hunting season - while participating in an anti-deer-poaching assignment in Clinton County.

He was life-flighted to a hospital in Cincinnati and remains hospitalized there and has undergone multiple surgeries.

The latest information says Behr is no longer on a ventilator and is responding to treatment.

Meanwhile, charges have been brought against three defendants accused in the matter.

Among the defendants is Brian R. Liming, 44 of Jamestown. Liming is alleged to have discharged the firearm that led to a projectile striking Behr.

Liming has been charged with a fourth-degree felony that alleges he recklessly caused serious physical harm to a peace officer. Such a charge potentially carries a maximum penalty of up to 18 months in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. (Liming’s case number is CRA2001604, as identified in the Clinton County Clerk of Courts.)

The other charges Liming faces and their maximum punishments are: having a weapon while under disability (up to 36 months prison and up to a $10,000 fine); no deer or wild turkey permit (up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine); and hunting without permission from the landowner (up to 30 days jail and a $500 fine).

The December 29th hearing was attended by three Ohio Division Wildlife officers working with the Clinton County Sheriffs Office on the case: Wildlife Dvision Investigator Joel Buddelmeyer, Wildlife Officer Supervisor Dave Warner, and Officer Jason Keller.

Also charged in the alleged incident was Bryan Achtermann, 36, of Midland. An account in the “Wilmington News Journal” said Achtermann waived his right to appear at the December 29th hearing. However, a document was filed December 28th by his attorney that entered pleas of not guilty to the charges of allegedly hunting without a license and allegedly not having a permit to hunt deer, these accounts say. (Achtermann’s case number is CRB2001601).

Likewise charged was Thomas J. Davis, 35 of Jamestown. The single charge against him to which he pleaded not guilty was for unlawfully aiding an offender (allegedly Liming, some news accounts say) in prohibited activities, “to wit, hunting unlawfully on land without permission from the land owner,” one account reads. (Davis’s case number is CRB2001601).

In court, City of Wilmington Chief Prosecutor David Henry said that though Davis’ 2015 GMC Sierra pick-up truck was impounded, the Clinton County Sheriffs Office was not interested in seeking eventual forfeiture of the vehicle.

However, news accounts said that Henry was informed by legal consul with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources would likely seek such forfeiture; a point the agency was less than actually willing to commit to seeking.

“(The) ODNR supports any of the legal avenues the prosecutor deems appropriate to ensure justice is served in this matter – this includes forfeiture of the vehicle,” said the Department’s chief of communications Sarah Wickham in a prepared statement.

The Clinton County Prosecutor's office has not yet returned telephone inquiries regarding these cases.

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

 

The ins and outs of how and why the Ohio Division of Wildlife uses decoys in anti-deer poaching projects

With Ohio Division of Wildlife agent Kevin Behr still in the hospital recuperating after being shot while engaged in an anti-deer poaching law-enforcement project December 20th, some focus is being directed toward the use by the agency of deer decoys, one of which is said to have been involved in the incident.

Behr was struck in the abdomen by a projectile, and three suspects were arrested with various charges being weighed by the Clinton County (Ohio) prosecutor.

The lead investigator in the case is the Clinton County Sheriffs Office. This agency has remained largely silent on the case except for an initial announcement of the incident, the naming of the three defendants and that Behr was working an anti-deer poaching project.

It is not uncommon for deer decoys – almost always a full body mount of an actual deer rather than a plastic facsimile – to be used in such projects.

Similarly, such decoys may be either a doe or a buck with generally six or fewer antler tines, or “points.” And the decoy may or may not feature remote controlled or pre-set motion capabilities.

In fact, the Ohio Division of Wildlife has an entire set of written protocols for the use of decoys in such operations; the do’s and don’ts spelled out in black and white for all of the agency’s commissioned officers to follow.

“Decoys are a very effective law enforcement tool,” said Brian Banbury, head of the Wildlife Division’s education and information section.

Banbury has been with the agency for 28 years, including 20 years as a field law enforcement officer who used decoys for anti-deer poaching operations during his tenure in the field.

Asked if decoys have become less effective as their use has become more well known, Banbury said “you’d think so but that’s not the case.”

“I know they’ve been used since the 1980s, and I recall one incident where a person shot three times at the decoy. You’d have thought that after the first shot and the deer hadn’t fallen down or else run away he’d have wised up, but he didn’t,” Banbury said.

Decoys also have their time and place as well as when and where they are not nearly so effective. Day time is when they are primarily used, Banbury said, and almost always on private property with the landowner’s consent.

“You are looking to stop a specific complaint or problem, and if a landowner has given permission to someone to hunt you don’t want that person mistaking a decoy for the real thing,” Banbury said.

On the flip side, night time is not the best time. That is because a potential violator is probably shining a spotlight into a field – a practice called “jack-lighting.” That activity in and of itself is probable cause for making a stop, so a decoy really isn’t needed in such incidents, says Banbury.

“Someone who is willingly shooting at a deer out of season or at night knows he shouldn’t be doing that anyway,” Banbury said. “But we still try and keep the bad guys guessing so anything is still possible.”

In regards to the deportment and dress of officers assigned to a decoy-related anti-deer poaching project, in almost every instance the agent is outfitted in camouflage or standard field clothing, Banbury said.

“The object is not for the officer to be seen,” he said.

Commonly as well a minimum number of three officers are involved: One to watch over the decoy while other officers are assigned to one or more “chase” vehicle. This, in order to ensure that an officer is responding in the direction of a poacher’s escaping vehicle, says Banbury.

“It’s much more practical to do it this way,” he said.

Banbury said the professionally taxidermist-mounted decoys are foam-filled so more often than not a projectile passes through the white-tail placebo. Yet should a decoy suffer acute damage there’s nothing preventing the Wildlife Division from seeking court-ordered restitution to buy another one in addition to any fine for the actual shooting incident, Banbury said as well.

“It’s pretty hard to come up with a defense when a person is caught shooting at a decoy,” Banbury said.

Here are the official Ohio Division of Wildlife’s set of rules regarding the use of deer decoys, and published September 1^st, 2017:

1) A supervisor must give prior approval for each project involving a decoy.

2) The prosecutor with jurisdiction must be in agreement with the use of decoys and be briefed on applicable regulations and possible charges.

3) When deer enforcement is the objective a the full-bodied decoy will be a doe or buck with six-point antlers maximum. Exceptions for larger deer antlers may be made with supervisor approval.

4) Any enforcement action within our authority or jurisdiction may be taken when using a decoy,, depending on the circumstance. Charges of jacklighting, mishandling a firearm, road shooting, or hunting with the aid of a motor vehicle maybe be typical. An arrest for a felony… should be first approved by the Law Enforcement Supervisor or prosecutor. A decoy is not an actual wild bird or wild quadruped; therefore while the intention of a suspect may be clear to the officer, charges of taking or attempting to take during the closed season, after hours, etc. involving the decoy should be first reviewed with a prosecutor.

5) Observation of decoys by persons predisposed to commit violations and limited routine observation by the general public are factors when determining decoy placement and concealment. Additionally, when selecting a site for decoy use consider the following:

A. Approval of the landowner.

B. The site will provide for the safety of projectiles impacting beyond the decoy.

C. The site should allow access for assisting officers to stop vehicles, and allow for sufficient open viewing of approaching vehicles from either direction. Adequate personnel and vehicles must be present to operate the decoy and apprehend suspects.

D. Personal safety should be kept in mind when setting up and taking down decoys. Officers should not be on the same side of the road as decoys unless the officer’s position allows for a safe observation point where it is unlikely they or their vehicle would be seen.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

In closing days of 116th Congress, hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for Great Lakes protection

 

In the waning days of the 116^th Congress it didn’t seem like much good well and cooperation between the political parties was front and center.

An exception was the bipartisan passage of several hundred million dollars worth of expenditures that will directly – and indirectly- benefit the Great Lakes in general and Lake Erie in particular.

In par the cooperation had a backer Ohio’s junior senator Rob Portman. Portman helped shepherd a final bipartisan funding bill.

Among the specific points, Portman told this writer were:

$330 Million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: This portion is $10 million above the Fiscal 2020 spending level of $320 million, authorizing increased funding of $375 million in Fiscal Year 2022 and then increase the authorization by $25 million per year until it hits $475 million in Fiscal Year 2026.

Funding for the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act (HABHRCA): The HABHRCA program through FY2023, which has served as the federal government’s research and response toolkit for harmful algal blooms, including such freshwater bodies as Lake Erie, as part of the program.

$20 Million for the National Park Service (NPS) Centennial Act: The National Park Service Centennial Act legislation was signed into law in 2016 and authorizes the National Park Centennial Challenge Fund and the Second Century Endowment Fund, two public-private partnerships that are providing additional funding to help preserve the country’s national parks.

$4.9 Million for Migratory Birds: The Migratory Birds of the Americas Act provides the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) with financial resources needed to protect the migratory bird populations that make Lake Erie one of the nation’s premier birding destinations. This is important, Portman and others note, because the sport of birding contributes more than $20 million to Ohio’s tourism industry and attracts visitors from across the world each year. The bill will help sustain populations of migratory birds that face threats to their health and habitats.

$1.89 Million for Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act: The s provides critical resources to conserve and restore fish and wildlife populations in the Great Lakes. The legislation, which was signed into law in 2016 as part of the WIIN Act, reauthorizes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) program to partner with other federal agencies, states, and tribes to develop and execute proposals for the restoration of fish and wildlife resources in the Great Lakes basin.

And Protecting Lake Erie from Dredged Materials: Bipartisan language prohibits the Army Corps of Engineers from dumping material dredged from the Cuyahoga River shipping channel into Lake Erie without the approval from the State of Ohio that it is environmentally safe.

"I love the Great Lakes,” Portman said in an interview.

“Part of my childhood was on the Great Lakes, when I was a little kid fishing with my dad on the Great Lakes,” Portman said in his expanded views.

“You really can’t fish when the algal blooms come in because they’re so thick you literally can’t get a lure or bait through the algal blooms. And your boat has a tough time getting through it. This is a serious issue. At one point it got so serious in the western basin that it actually affected the water supply for the city of Toledo.”

Expanding on the last item, said Portman, the seriousness of the situation came into full view several years ago he remembers “going there with my pickup truck full of bottles of water to help hand out water because people couldn’t use the water.”

“They were even told not to allow their babies to have the formula be made from the water from the faucet because it’s too dangerous, too toxic because these algal blooms had gotten into the water system,” Portman said.

“That’s how scary this is if we don’t ensure that we are taking efforts at every level; state, local, private sector, and federal.”

Bluntly, says Portman also, “Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes now provide drinking water for 40 million people.”

“We want to be sure that that treasure continues, not just for recreation and fishing and swimming and so on, but also for the water supply for so many Americans.”

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com