Ohio DNR to spend $3.5 million in federal funds to outfit officers with body-worn cameras

 

Likely sooner rather than later a person being approached by an Ohio Department of Natural Resources officer might want to straighten the shirt collar.

And perhaps display a less intolerant posture.

The Department is readying the process of outfitting at least 227 of its law enforcement commissioned officers with body-worn cameras of the type being used by many other enforcement officers.

Body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers are not mandated in Ohio. And it is estimated that up to two-thirds of all law enforcement agencies in the state do not outfit their officers with body-worn cameras due to equipment and video storage costs.

Even so, the ODNR is moving to remove itself from the no-body-worn camera list. On August 30th, says ODNR chief of communications, Sarah Wickham, the agency received approval from the State Controlling Board to use $3.5 million in federal funds just for that purpose.

These monies are coming from the Federal Coronavirus Relief Fund under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, and which can be used to purchase body cameras, Wickham says.

“The CARES Act allows states to use funding from the Fund for necessary expenditures (obtained) by the state due to the public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic incurred after March 1, 2020 that were not authorized as part of the state budget,” Wickham said in her statement.

Therefore, such a request will allow the ODNR to purchase 350 body-worn cameras, “including the necessary hardware, software, and support during implementation,” Wickham says.

Whickham noted, too, that DNR officers “have been on the front-line of the pandemic with record visitation to parks, wildlife areas, forests, and nature preserves over the last year, ensuring safe recreation and adherence to new protocols.”

Consequently, such body-worn cameras “will provide critical documentation of interaction with the public to ensure the safety of both DNR officers and the visitors of state properties,” says Wickham.

“We expect that each officer would wear one, which today would be 227 officers between the (Wildlife and Parks and Watercraft) divisions. We are still working through some policy decisions that could increase that number,” Wickman said.

Related to a degree that such body-worn cameras which may be used by Natural Resources Department officers is how the DeWine Administration also has earmarked $5 million in grants funding “to help local law enforcement agencies invest in body camera equipment and pay for associated expenses,” Governor Mike DeWine’s office said.

"Body cameras are beneficial for peace officers and the public because they act as impartial eyes on events as they transpire, but most law enforcement agencies in Ohio don't have them because they can't afford them," said Governor DeWine. In his prepared remarks.

"One of my top priorities has always been ensuring that our law enforcement officers have the tools they need to best serve the public, and this new grant program will help eliminate the cost barriers associated with body-worn cameras and will contribute to a safer Ohio.”

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

The state's 2021 Fish Ohio program will feature for the first time on its collectable pin the Longnose Gar

 

The Ohio Division of Wildlife is breaking the mold regarding which species will enjoy the honor of being displayed on the 2021 Fish Ohio pin.

After rotating through the usual cycle of Walleye, Sunfish, Smallmouth Bass, Steelhead, Crappie, Muskie, Yellow Perch – even the Freshwater Drum and Rock Bass – the Wildlife Division went bold. It has selected the Longnose Gar as the 2021 Fish Ohio pin beauty queen.

The agency’s Fish Ohio program currently recognizes 25 different species, each requiring a minimum length to be eligible for a collectible pin. The program’s species eligibility list does change from time to time.

Gar are hardly the program’s most popular species for entry, however. As of early September only 40 entries for the species were received. The most were coming from the Ohio River with 13 entries. The longest fish was a 50-inch specimen caught from the Scioto River and another 50-inch fish taken from the Ohio River.

The Fish Ohio program’s minimum length requirement for a Longnose (note: not “Longnosed”) Gar is 34 inches. Only the Flathead Catfish and the Blue Catfish (each being 35 inches), and the Muskellunge (40 inches) require longer qualifying lengths.

And to put the 40 gar caught-to-date figure into perspective, the also to-date tally by the end of August of all Fish Ohio applications stood at 7,436 entries. The figure for the same period last year was 7,921 entries.

No matter, as the Wildlife Division tossed the Walleye and the White Bass to the wind, so to speak, going for a new kid on the Fish Ohio pin block.

“We have our regular cast of characters we go to, but we certainly want to spread the ‘love’ around from time to time and include other Ohio game fish species that are a part of the Fish Ohio program,” said Brian Banbury, the Wildlife Division’s executive administrator for information and education.

As for the pins themselves, Banbury says the same supply problems that plagued the delivery of the 2020 Fish Ohio pins continue through to this year. That being, access due to slow shipping and delivery issues as a result of the on-going COVID-19 crisis.

Also Banbury says, the Wildlife Division cannot simply pluck a vendor of its own choosing. The agency must send out bids and wait for various prospective pin makers to return their respective bid packages.

“The bid went out but has not been awarded yet, so we don’t know of any production details, as of yet,” Banbury said.

For way of additional, related, information, the current Ohio hook-and-line state record Longnose Gar measures 49 inches, weighs 25 pounds, and was caught August 31, 1966 from the Ohio River.

The current Ohio bowfishing record for the Longnose Gar measures 53.1 inches, weighs 19.21 Pounds, and was taken May 12, 2011 from Turkeyfoot Lake.

Ohio’s state record fish program is maintained by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio, which works closely with the Ohio Division of Wildlife in proper species identification.

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio sees rarer than rare new state record Pink Salmon taken

 

Using a 35-year-old boat he picked up for $500 and a lot of priceless angling experience, Anthony Hyvarinen used both August 17th to catch one of the rarest of rare Ohio state record trophies: a new Pink Salmon place holder.

Making the catch even more peculiar is that no Great Lakes state has ever actually stocked Pink Salmon. What’s more, rarely are Great Lakes Pink Salmon caught by boat anglers. If they are targeted or caught, Pink Salmon almost always succumb to shore anglers.

Officially, Hyvarinen’s fish weighed 4.3 pounds, measured 22.44 inches and had a girth of 13 inches. The previous Pink Salmon record holder was a fish that weighed 3.06 pounds, measured 20 1/8 inches, and was taken by Andy Janoski from Conneaut Creek on September 24th, 2004.

Ohio’s state record fish program has always been maintained by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio’s State Record Fish Committee. Weight only is the criteria with length being given for reference purposes only.

Hyvarinen, of Lake County’s Madison Township, and his wife, Mary, traveled eights out into Lake Erie off Geneva-on-the-Lake to where the blue water drops to 74 feet deep. Attaching a purple-colored Michigan Stinger spoon to a leader attached to a number one Dipsy Diver screwed down to a number three setting, Hyvarinen sent the rig on its way.

Using a couple of other directional divers as well, Hyvarinen had them all placed between 150 and 175 feet back, which put the attached lures down to between 40 to 45 feet.

“We caught four or five steelhead before I caught the salmon and another four or five steelhead after. Plus walleye, of course,” Hyvarinen said.

“What’s funny was that we caught the steehead and salmon trolling against the waves and the walleye trolling with the waves.”

Typically, Hyvarinen – who is looking to acquire his charter captain’s license – lets other people aboard his bargain-basement boat reel in the fish. However, by doing so Hyvarinen has given up some trophies to the point that when he sets the hook on a fish if it “doesn’t feel right” he continues the battle on his own.

“And the salmon didn’t feel right,” Hyvarinen said. “When the fish broke the surface I could tell it wasn’t a steelhead and I thought maybe it was a Pink Salmon.”

In fact, said Hyvarinen said he wasn’t even aware that Ohio kept a record log on Pink Salmon That was, until he and his wife were headed back to shore. At that point Hyvarinen did an app search on his cell phone, saw what the existing Ohio state record for Pink Salmon was - including its length - and decided then and there he needed to speed things up.

“My poor boat has never hit the waves so hard like that coming back in,” Hyvarinen said with a chuckle.

Having the foresight to call the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Fairport Harbor Fisheries Research Station ahead of time, Hyvarinen said the staff there alluded to the likelihood he had caught a Coho Salmon or possibly a steelhead.

The state fisheries biologists had reason to be doubtful, of course.

Pink Salmon have reproduced and dispersed throughout the Great Lakes since their accidental introduction in 1955 into Lake Superior. However, pink salmon, or “humpback salmon” as they are sometimes referred to, are more common in the upper Great Lakes and continue to be fairly rare in Lake Erie, said Scott Hale, the Wildlife Division’s administrator of fish management.

“We can’t readily verify whether the new Ohio state record Pink Salmon was a stray from another one of the Great Lakes or reproduced in a Lake Erie tributary,” Hale said

Hale said also the Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System - an inter-agency program that uses acoustic tagging of a variety of species paired with an extensive network of hydrophone receivers deployed throughout the Great Lakes - continues “to teach us how extensively many species travel.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if this fish originated from as far away as the northern reaches of Lake Superior,” Hale said.

And like Hyvarinen’s fish, the vast majority of Great Lakes Pink Salmon are caught by shore fishers, not boat anglers, says the Michigan DNR in a fact sheet on the subject.

“Pink Salmon are rarely caught by boat anglers in the Great Lakes; most that are taken are caught while ascending streams along Lake Superior and northern areas of lakes Huron and Michigan. Streamers and nymphs account for the bulk of the ‘pinks’ taken in the St. Marys rapids, the most outstanding Pink Salmon fishery this side of Alaska,” says a Michigan DNR fact sheet.

Regardless, Hyvarinen has all ready begun the process of ensuring that his catch will be around for a long time for he and his family to enjoy – and for other anglers to only wonder “what if.”

Hyvarinen said he has given his Pink Salmon to a taxidermist in Columbus who specializes in trophy fish mounts.

“Even if it wasn’t a state record I’d still would get it mounted,” Hyvarinen said. “Hopefully, I can catch the new state record walleye some day, too.”

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Lake Metroparks releases two rehabilitated bald eagles back into the Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve

 

When the gates to the two holding crates were open August 27th, one young eagle exited each holding cell with the haste of sixth graders escaping school at the sound of the day’s final bell.

The two birds – one male and one female – were brother and sister. The siblings were hatched April 7^th from a nest found within 100 yards of busy Ohio Route 44 in Lake County’s Grand River Village.

This nest is one of 707 in Ohio and one of seven in Lake County. It is easily seen in early spring before the trees leaf out as motorists travel north on Rt. 44 to the entrance of Headlands Beach State Park. The park is less than one mile from the nest structure.

In June, the two eagles had fallen from that nest, one tumbling to the ground and another one that was watched over about 17 days, dropping from one branch to the next lower branch. The visuals were obtained by a crew of volunteer hawk-eyed eagle-nest observers.

Volunteers have been observing the nest for 11 years, a structure that has pulled off about 20 eaglets.

When the team scooped up the first eagle that tumbled to the ground the members discovered a third eaglet had also fallen. However, that third eagle was dead and its carcass was being feasted upon by predators.

The trio’s parents were nearby but were largely helpless to defend and feed the other two still-living eaglets, crew members said.

This is where Lake Metroparks comes in. The agency began rehabilitating the initial eaglet in early June when the bird was brought to the agency’s Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center in Kirtland. The second eaglet was turned over the wildlife center a couple of weeks later, said Tammy O’Neil, the station’s wildlife care manager.

Intended was to bolster the two birds’ weight, immune systems and meet their other needs. Once back in good health the ultimate goal was always to release the birds as close to the place where the eaglets were found. Such is a situation in which O’Neil’s staff has a lot of experience with, too, having received its first eagle for rehabilitating in 1997.

“Over the past five years alone we’ve managed to rehabilitate 18 eagles,” O’Neil says.

“The first bird we began caring for was the female. The second bird, the male, the volunteers observed was getting weaker and weaker. When we began caring for this bird you could feel its breastbone,” O’Neil said.

Eagle nest observer Harvey Webster added the male “had left the nest a lot earlier than it should have.”

“And it had some blood issues as well,” said Webster, who also is a now retired naturalist and eagle authority with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

To bring the birds back to recovered health the center’s staff – which consists of professional wildlife care specialists and volunteers - would take turns hand-feeding the eagles four times daily. The birds were anemic as well, O’Neil-Gayer said.

“We started with supplemental food and later gave them meat and fish,” O’Neil said.

While at the wildlife center the eagles were isolated in a separate large, flight cage. Minimal human interaction was insisted upon. This, because the intention was always to release the two eagle together as quickly, safely, and practically as possible, O’Neil said.

O’Neil said the only logical place to release the eagles when the time came was where the nest is located: the 850-acre Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve.

Picking a release site along the Marsh’s two-mile long Zimmerman Trail, a crew consisting of O’Neil, Webster, nest watcher Nan Patrick and several other volunteers used a hand cart to truck the two crates holding the pair of eagles.

The site selected was along the northwestern hem of the swampy portion of the marsh where it edges the preserve’s hardwoods uplands. Almost across the expanse from the nest where the two birds were hatched, in fact.

O’Neil advised caution that once the crates’ doors were unlatched the birds would blitz, free to resume their lives in the wild.

The wildlife care manager hit the warning right on the head. With hardly any time to even focus a camera on the birds’ escape, the eagles burst forth and rapidly beat their wings; the birds headed in the direction of the nest where they originally came from.

O’Neil could not have been more proud. It was another mission accomplished for the wildlife center with two more eagles added to Ohio’s growing population of the nation’s symbol.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Biden Administration bans importation of any Russian-made sporting ammunition

 

If access to ammunition was not difficult enough all ready, a Biden Administration-imposed ban on the importation of Russian-made product will only ratchet the supply even more.

This squeeze will be particularly felt by owners of 5.56mm, 9mm, and 7.62x39mm firearms. These are almost certainly the most popular calibers sold in the U.S. and made by the Tula and Wolf brands of Russian-made ammunition.

Also, much of this ammunition is steel-cased but is non-corrosive. Plus being typically economical and thus, very popular.

Biden’s August 13^th decree comes through the State Department and boils down to that agency determining it will not issue any further importation licenses for any Russian-made ammunition, effective September 7^th.

This action, the State Department says, is a sanction against the Russian government for its use of the nerve agent Novichok as it relates to the August 2020 poisoning of the opposition figure to the current Russian regime, Aleksey Navalny.

Novichok is a chemical weapon agent that is banned by international treaty of which both the United States and Russia are signers.

The ammunition sanctions, says the State Department in an official fact sheet and release “..will take effect upon the publication of a Federal Register notice expected on September 7, 2021, and they will remain in place for a minimum of 12 months. The sanctions can only be lifted after a 12-month period if the Executive Branch determines and certifies to (the) Congress that Russia has met several conditions… including (1) providing reliable assurances that it will not use chemical weapons in violation of international law, (2) it is not making preparations to use chemical weapons in the future, (3) it is willing to allow international inspectors to verify those assurances, and (4) it is making restitution to Mr. Navalny.”

The firearms industry’s National Shooting and Sports Foundation adds that the new sanctions are being imposed under the “Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act”. It includes restrictions on the permanent imports of certain Russian firearms as well, though the ammunition inclusion will almost certainly impact most U.S. shooters.

“New and pending permit applications for the permanent importation of firearms and ammunition manufactured or located in Russia will be subject to a policy of denial,” the Foundation said in an explanatory statement.

“Based on NSSF discussions with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), it is NSSF’s understanding that approved Form 6’s will not be rescinded and Form 6’s already submitted will be approved until Sept. 7,” said also the Foundation’s director of Public Affairs, Mark Oliva.

Retailers with existing Russian-made ammunition can continue to sell their remaining stocks. A quick check of several local gun shops showed that a run has begun on some of the Russian-made product still on the shelves.

Even so says Rob Sexton, Legislative Affairs Director, Buckeye Firearms Association, the timing of the announcement makes it even worse for the nation’s shooters and sportsmen, noting that “the last thing we need right now is another factor that makes ammo less available.”

“It’s hard to comment about foreign policy things and the need to punish bad actors, but with the current administration’s record on firearms and ammunition, you always have to be skeptical about a policy that is going to make it harder for gun-owners to find affordable and quality ammunition,” Sexton said.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Great Lakes, national forests and wildlife also will benefit from bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

 

With the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act approved by the U.S. Senate, the Great Lakes are one step closer to becoming the beneficiary of another $1 billion to combat a host of related environmental problems.

A politically cooperative team of both Republican and Democrat senators have secured – at least for the moment – the one billion dollars for the Great Lakes Watershed.

The proposal passed the Senate August 10th. The bill moved over the House, but as of this writing that body had not taken up the matter. If the House approves than the bill will head to President Biden for his signature, and he has stated he will sign the measure.

Funding came from hard-won negotiations during the long-debated bipartisan $1.2 trillion Infrastructure proposal. And several of the senators who worked on reaching the trillion-plus dollar infrastructure agreement were also involved in developing the original Great Lakes Initiative, which was first passed in 1995 and has since been renewed.

In fact, the U.S. EPA says the revised Initiative “..is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades. “

In April, Congress approved without any objections a five-year extension of the Initiative until 2026. And included is an annual increase in funding of from $300 million to $475 million by 2026.

Now there is likely going to be a bonus $1 billion. Thanks to the bipartisan effort that saw 19 of the Senate’s 50 Republicans sign on as supporting the measure.

Leading the cooperative venture was Ohio’s junior and retiring Republican Senator, Rob Portman. Along with Portman was Michigan’s senior senator, Democrat Debbie Stebenow.

Both of these two senator serve as co-chairs of the Senate’s Great Lakes Task Force.

Portman said in a prepared statement that he is pleased that new funding for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“With Senate passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, we’ve taken another historic step in supporting Lake Erie and our Great Lakes,” Portman said.

“For our communities along Lake Erie, healthy water and ecosystems are the bedrock of a more resilient economy and more durable infrastructure,” Portman said, continuing.

“Lake Erie is an Ohio treasure that provides drinking water for millions of Ohioans, supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, and draws millions of visitors each year. I will continue to fight to help preserve this treasure for future generations.”

To which, Stebenow agreed, applauding too that bipartisanship is not extinct in the Senate. Not when it comes to protecting the Great Lakes anyways.

“This is the single largest investment we’ve made in the Great Lakes and it’s great news,” Stabenow said in her prepared remarks.

“Republicans and Democrats worked together to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative because we know our precious Great Lakes aren’t just a key part of our economy, they are an important part of our way of life in Michigan and every other Great Lakes state. This transformative investment will help protect our Great Lakes for our children and grandchildren.”

In other Infrastructure Act recommendation is a $350-million grant program to fund the construction of roadway crossings. Such crossing are intended to help reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions, and allow for animals to successfully navigate traditional migration pathways that all-too-often are broken up by highways and other human-associated development.

Likewise, a bipartisan group of Senate proponents have worked to have earmarked $250 million for what’s known as the “Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program.” This money would go for helping maintain and repair the U.S. Forest Service’s network of roads and trails on such lands as the Wayne National Forest.

A leading Ohio conservation group singled out Portman for his relentless work in hammering out an agreement that would appeal to members on both sides of the partisan political divide.

Matt Misicka, Executive Director for the Ohio Conservation Federation, said in his remarks that “...the hundreds of GLRI-funded projects in Ohio since 2010 have helped combat invasive carp, restore critical riparian habitat, fight harmful algal blooms, and clean up toxic waste sites from Ashtabula to Toledo.”

“This restoration funding opens the door for more significant improvements for communities in the Lake Erie basin, which ultimately benefits the entire state of Ohio. We greatly appreciate Senator Portman’s leadership,” Misicka said.

By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com

Ohio DNR administers two grants designed to protect Lake Erie and enhance access to the resource

 

A pair of grants administered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources have one common goal: protecting Lake Erie, which many people say is the state’s most important natural resource.

Awarded by respective competitive processes, each of the two grant programs use the services of the ODNR’s Office of Coastal Management to handle the required paperwork and determine which the applicant is most deserving.

The first – and smaller of the two grant programs - recently saw the disbursement of $389,353 to five governmental agencies. This is what’s called the Coastal Management Assistance Grant Program.

Total individual project money is split evenly between the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the successful applicant.

The five recipients include: Metroparks Toledo- $100,000 for its Glass City Stormwater Management Program; the Lorain Port Authority - $50,000 for is Lake Erie Bike Trail Station; the city of Rocky River for its Bradstreet’s Landing’s interpretive access boardwalk; Cleveland Metroparks - $21,000 for its Wendy Park nature-based shoreline restoration project; and the city of Mentor - $118,353 for its Mentor Marsh public access project’s Phase II.

“It’s sort of a ‘catch-all program where a portion of the funds we get from NOAA helps supply the money to enhance public access, protect Lake Erie as a vital natural resource, provide for recreational opportunities as well as help fund the planning studies which can aid enhancement to the lake,” said Scudder D. Mackey, chief of the Coastal Management Office.

This program has been in place since 1998 and grants are awarded every year. In all, the Coastal Management Office received 20 proposals, of which six were full proposals.

“Since the competitive Coastal Management Assistance Grant Program began more than $6 million has been awarded for 146 projects in Ohio,” Mackey said.

Much larger at $5 million is the state’s so-named “Erosion Emergency Assistance Grant Program.”

The name pretty much says it all, too.

“This program is intended to help with what we call ‘catastrophic erosion,’ and while Lake Erie’s water level had declined about one foot since a year ago, there is still above normal water levels and thus we still have a lot of shoreline erosion still going on,” Mackey said.

Not surprisingly than of the nine projects the Natural Resources Department will fund, eight are located in Northeast Ohio, a region typically associated with severe erosion.

“The Northeast Ohio Lake Erie shoreline has highly erodible bluffs and consequently has experienced significant problems,” Mackey said.

The nine projects include $1.45 million for an erosion control project for South Bass Island’s Put-in-Bay Township; $1 million for Cuyahoga County’s Beulah Beach-Euclid Beach Access and Protection project; $930,101 for a Mentor City erosion project; $560,800 for an erosion mitigation project at Geneva Township Park in Ashtabula County; $300,000 to the city of Euclid for waterfront-eastern stabilization; $371,339 for emergency repairs to Lorain City’s storm-water outflow system; $200,000 for erosion control at the city of Wiloughby’s Osborne Park; $160,500 for the city of Eastlake’s Galina Drive shoreline protection repair work; $27,260 for erosion control work at Lakeline Village property in Lake County.

In all, 20 proposals were received, Mackey said, but only nine could be funded. The successful applicants all tossed into the bid packages additional local funding, which sweetened their chances of being selected.

“Local communities were told that no matching funds by them was required, but we also said that if they did than that point would be a consideration in the application process,” Mackey said.

The $5 million was approved by the Ohio legislature and was included in the state’s Capital Improvement Budget, Mackey said as well.

Whether this Erosion Emergency Assistance Grant Program is a one-off legislative phenomena, Mackey did say that “internal discussions are occurring as to whether or not the program will continue, but it is up to the legislature to determine if it want to fund the program in the future.”

In the end, Mackey says, though different, the two grant programs will ultimately benefit both Lake Erie and those that use it for a host of reasons.

“Both of these programs are important for Ohio, and are also greatly appreciated by local communities which are being financially stressed because of the COVID pandemic,” Mackey said.

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com