As the beginning notes of Round Here made contact with my auricles, I was in heaven; I had forgotten how incredible my Bose earphones were.  I could hear every instrument in the song – the chords on the guitar; the intricate timing of the cymbals and snare; the keyboard quietly playing in the background.  It was as if I was experiencing the song for the first time, though I had heard it many times before; it was as though I was finally experiencing the song the way the artists and producers intended it to be heard.

And that is what I believe immersing ourselves in nature does for life.

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If you’re a Michigan hunter who has taken the opportunity to hunt pigs in one of Michigan’s local hunting preserves, hopefully you enjoyed the opportunity.  And if you’re a person who already has pork in the freezer after frequenting one of these hunting preserves – you better really enjoy that pork – because opportunities to hunt pigs within a Michigan preserve could be a thing of the past.

State wildlife biologists are on the verge of listing feral swine as an “invasive species”.  If that happens, those deer and elk ranches – which sometimes provide pig hunts as well – will not be able to do so anymore.

The NRC will be gathering information about this topic this month, but it will not be acted on again until sometime in September.  That should give everyone a few months to ponder how they feel about having wild pigs in Michigan:  By listing them are we losing an opportunity to hunt a different species?  Or are we helping out the entire Michigan ecosystem?

Now…..listing them will not ban all opportunities for a hunter to put some pork in his freezer.  They still have the possibility of running into a feral porker, and as long as they possess any valid hunting license, they can legally shoot them on site; only hunting pigs on hunting preserves would be affected.

Why are they being so hard on the hunting preserves?

Apparently because they see a direct correlation between the areas where these hunting preserves exist, and the locations where hunters have legally killed feral swine.  In a nutshell, the biologists believe that most of Michigan’s feral swine are escaping from the hunting preserves.  As Russ Mason, the state’s wildlife chief put it:

“Where we find the pigs running wild we find (a hunting preserve) nearby. There is one chance in a thousand that there is no relationship between the two.”

How do I feel about all this?

I’m very torn.  On one side I would love to have the same opportunities that Phillip, Rex, and Jeff have – but, on the other side, I can see the pig problem getting completely out of control if it’s not properly handled now; and as much as I would love to have a chance to bag a few porkers, I would hate to see the pigs decimate the landscape so much that it starts to effect Michigan’s whitetail habitat.

I’m sure both sides of the issue are getting taped up and ready to put on the gloves.  We’ll just have to wait to see what the NRC decides.

Note: Want to read more on this particular subject?  You can do so here!

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Unfortunately, Michigan has its very own oil spill.  Apparently, a pipeline that carries oil from Indiana to Ontario malfunctioned and pumped 840,000 gallons of oil into Talmadge Creek, which runs directly into the Kalamazoo river – a prominent river in the southern portion of the state – and local residents now not only get to witness the after effects of such an environmental disaster, but also get to smell the pungent odor on a daily basis.

The leak originated south of Marshall, Michigan, but has started to make its way towards the Kalamazoo area.  Officials have assured the public that they will be able to contain the spill within Morrow Lake, a dam pond east of Kalamazoo, but we all know how that can go.  I’m hoping for the best, but trying to prepare for the worst, because if the spill cannot be contained in such a location, there is the possibility it could reach Lake Michigan; that gives me chills just thinking about it.

Obama has already pledged a swift response to the spill, and local legislators are speaking out against Enbridge, the company responsible for the pipeline.  I’m holding my breath, though, and hoping that this spill is contained and cleaned up in a timely manner.  If history is any indication, though, I have fears that this will take much longer than anticipated to get under control, and who knows what longing affects it will have on the local wildlife population.

Right now, heavy rain is inhibiting the clean up duties, as well as a lack of trained personnel to help with wildlife clean up and rehabilitation.  I’ve already read and heard stories of people who were willing to help, but who have been turned away because they don’t have the proper training.

The river in question is only about 25 miles south of my hometown, and though I haven’t seen the devastation first hand, we will be in the area for a wedding this weekend.  There is a part of me that really doesn’t want to see, and to say I feel pretty damn helpless is an understatement.

Let’s all hope that everyone works together, and gets this thing cleaned up as soon as possible with as little environmental impact as possible.

It’s all just very depressing.  It literally makes me sick to my stomach.

Update: After working through my helpless feeling, and after thinking to myself “How can I help?”, considering there is no way I’m trying to pick up a ornery goose covered in oil, I did manage to find a few ways that us simple and untrained people can help:

If you want to volunteer your time to help animals in need or oil cleanup, try one of the following options:

— Call the official assistance number, 1-800-306-6837.

— Call Pam Decuypere with the Circle D Wildlife Refuge, 269-778-9181 or 269-365-5349.

— Visit the Circle D location at 13500 East U Ave. in Vicksburg. Bring donations of money, buckets, vegetable oil, dish soap and rags.

— Call Matt Davis at 967-3321 or e-mail him at biggfoot18@aol.com.

— Join the Facebook Group Kalamazoo River Oil Spill.

— Drop off items such as non-fitted sheets and soft towels, cardboard boxes, small white boards, duck tape and firewood at Crossroads Church and Ministries, 717 N. Old 27, Marshall.

We are going to do our part and drop off some much needed supplies at the church listed, which is close to my wife’s work.  If they need duct tape and cardboard boxes, I am more than willing to oblige.

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With the new day breaking, I walked the bank of the Pere Marquette, looking for my first honey hole of the morning.  It was beautiful – the sun’s rays bouncing off the banks, bringing new life to the early spring forage – but, as I walked along, something on the trail ahead caught my eye.

WTF?

A beer can.  And another beer can.  I hate trash!

It amazes me as to how little respect some people have for their natural resources.   Apparently, since they don’t take their mom with them everywhere they go, they don’t know enough to pick up after themselves.  And with their lack of respect for such a pristine stretch of river, I can only imagine what their home or vehicle looks like.  It has gotten to the point that I have started to carry a plastic bag in my backpack, just for such an occasion.  But, honestly, some of the things I’ve seen wouldn’t even fit in my backpack; there was that much trash.

It sickens me.

I truly do not understand not picking up after yourself, whether it be on a pristine waterway such as the Pere Marquette, your favorite local fishing lake, or your favorite hunting spot.  Just pick up after yourself!

I always have trash in my backpack, whether it’s picked up while walking the trail or it’s my own from the day’s packed lunch and/or snack.  And my tackle box was a mess for quite some time, because of some leftover fishing line that I had put inside it; I didn’t want it to get caught up on some unsuspecting waterfowl, or person for that matter (If you don’t think it can happen, check this out).

So, please, if you’re one of them, try picking up after yourself.

And, even if you don’t leave your trash lying around, do your favorite outdoor place a favor and pick up what you can while you’re there.

Sometimes we just have to be other people’s parents.

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I was sifting through our local fishing regulations the other night, hunting for a particular piece of information about bowfishing, and getting more irritated by the minute.  I’m not sure who designs the local fishing/hunting guides, but sometimes I feel as though you need a law degree in order to actually understand the laws and rules these guides contain (and that is if you can find what you’re looking for – but that’s for another post).  Thankfully, I enjoy bowfishing, and have already experienced it, so the time spent hunting and pecking for the particular law I was looking for was worth the effort.

But like a noose around a new hunter or fishermen’s neck, I fear all the laws and regulations contained within these guides have the potential to hinder a person’s willingness to start hunting and/or fishing.  Considering these new recruits already have a myriad of things to remember – when to shoot, what to shoot, what to wear, what bait to use, where to fish, etc. – expecting them to be able to pick through a bucket full of regulations and requirements certainly could be viewed as a very daunting task, and could send a possible new hunter/fisherman back from where he came from in a hurry.

Also, some of these laws not only have the potential to send a new recruit packing, but they also have the potential to send an established hunter searching for another activity as well.  With so many laws and regulations to remember, it doesn’t take much for a law-abiding person to overlook a minor infraction (don’t even get me started about Michigan’s law that you have to have your bow in a case), and get hit with a hefty fine or worse.

I’m a law-abiding kind of guy, and I will never purposely break any law (okay, maybe I speed), but I will definitely vocalize my opinion when I come across what I believe to be bogus law (did I mention that you have to have your bow in a case, yet?).  However, I do believe some laws and regulations are needed in order to protect our natural resources, and in order to help protect the actual animals we seek.  But more often than not these particular laws are put on the books because of an isolated incident involving a small subset of the hunting population – punishing the many, because of the few.   Or worse, these laws are put on the books because of pressure from many environmental and anti-hunting groups who are helping their agenda – eliminating hunting and fishing – by pressuring their local legislator to pass “common sense” regulations.

Hunting and fishing regulations have completely gotten out of control, and it doesn’t take much to find a law that simply doesn’t make sense – the Sunday hunting ban in many states, for instance.  With laws such as these on the books, and with these types of regulations getting more and more complicated, I fear many people will step away from the bureaucratic mess that is the majority of hunting/fishing regulations, and not even try to decipher them whatsoever.

In the last few years, there has been a steady decline in the number of people who hunt and fish, and all of us do what we can to get young people involved in the outdoors.  But, as important as that particular task is, I believe that the sheer  number and complexity of today’s hunting and fishing regulations are just as much a threat to our chosen lifestyles as video games and laziness.

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