2021 Year in Review

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In 2021, more than 72,000 licenses were made available for the deer gun season, an increase of 3,150 from 2020.

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I’m guessing when most of us look back at the last year, the one thing that will stick prominently in our minds is the drought. It has been several years since we’ve experienced a statewide drought the magnitude of which we went through this past year.

While drought conditions can and do have negative effects on fish and wildlife, its greatest impacts are undoubtedly felt by our friends in the farming and ranching community. It is extremely disheartening to read or hear about ranchers having to sell cattle in the middle of summer because of a lack of grass, and to watch farmers harvest corn fields in August to salvage some part of the crop for forage.

The long-term impacts of the drought on fish and wildlife populations will depend largely on the weather pattern this coming spring and summer. Virtually all the state’s fishing lakes are going into the winter at lower levels than we’ve seen in many years, and some are undoubtedly at a higher risk of winterkill, depending on the amount and timing of snowfall to come.

Wildlife, on the other hand, can recover rather quickly with adequate habitat on the landscape, so if we are blessed with timely precipitation next year, the major impacts to animals in this state will be relatively short-lived.

Wildlife diseases and invasive species are two likely constants on North Dakota’s landscape. Epizootic hemorrhagic disease, or EHD, is a fatal disease that mostly affects white-tailed deer and it’s been around for quite some time in North Dakota. We’ve historically experienced periodic outbreaks of EHD, but in late summer and fall, we had an outbreak that had a much larger impact on deer populations in localized areas.

While EHD is typically contained to the southwestern part of the state, the nucleus of this latest outbreak appeared to be farther north and east, even extending east of the Missouri River. EHD is transmitted by a tiny midge that breeds in exposed mud flats, so Mother Nature is holding all the cards in terms of what we’re likely to see next year.

Electronic posting was a new option offered to landowners this past year, as a means of posting their land closed to hunting. This option was made possible by the passage of a bill in the most recent legislative session. In the past, if a landowner wanted to designate his or her land closed to hunting, the only available option was to post with physical signs indicating their intentions.

By all accounts, this option has been well received by landowners, and I would anticipate the option to grow in popularity as we move forward.

Another new cooperative venture that the Department is now taking the lead on is referred to as the Meadowlark Initiative, a broad-based landscape initiative aimed at restoring and preserving our state’s grassland resources. It will utilize several of our conservation and ag partners to create landowner-friendly programs to restore and enhance grasslands. This will ultimately help all of our state’s grassland-dependent species, including the Western meadowlark, our state bird. We are excited to see where this new venture will lead and initial reports of landowner interest is promising.

Reflecting over the past year, we are reminded that there are several factors influencing the abundance of our fish and wildlife resources in North Dakota. We are also reminded that we rarely have complete control over many of those influences, including the weather. For many reasons, we will be hoping for much more normal weather patterns and better moisture conditions next year.

If all the pieces fall into place in 2022, we’ll all be pleasantly surprised at how quickly our wildlife species rebound and we can look forward to enjoying the many outdoor opportunities afforded us in this great state.

New Leadership

Jeb Williams was appointed director of the Game and Fish Department by Gov. Doug Burgum in August after more than 20 years with the agency, the last seven as wildlife division chief.

Williams, a North Dakota native who grew up in Beach and graduated from Dickinson State University with a bachelor’s degree in biology, replaced Terry Steinwand, who retired July 31 after nearly 40 years with the Department, 15 years as director.

Williams joined the Game and Fish Department in 1999 and served in a variety of roles including natural resource technician and biologist, outreach biologist and wildlife resource management supervisor. He was named chief of the Department’s wildlife division in 2014 after having served as assistant wildlife chief since 2011.

Some of the fallouts for wildlife during a drought is a decline in habitat, which means lower quality food and scarce to lower quality water sources. Because of this, animals are unable to thrive like they normally would in spring and summer when they add fat and have large broods with the good available nesting cover.

The drought also severely impacted breeding duck habitats across North Dakota in spring and summer. Breeding conditions varied from very poor to fair, and the Game and Fish Department’s wetland index declined by 80%.

While 2.9 million ducks were estimated during the Department’s annual breeding duck survey in May, behavioral cues suggested breeding efforts by those ducks would be low. Conditions were not good statewide, and after a high count in 2020, the decline in wetlands counted represented the largest one-year percentage-based decline in the 74-year history of the survey.

The number of broods observed during the Department’s July brood survey dropped 49% from last year’s count and 23% below the 1965-2020 average. The number of broods observed was the lowest since 1994, yet the count in 2021 was still 62% above the long-term average. The average brood size was down 4% from last year’s estimate.

While Department fisheries biologists described the drought as a “tough one,” they were quick to point out that North Dakota fisheries got through summer without really any substantial fish kills. Given how hot and dry it was, fisheries biologists expected to have half a dozen to 10 lakes with some type of, maybe even substantial kills, especially pike lakes. Yet, they didn't see it.

The vision of the Meadowlark Initiative, named after the state’s iconic, yet declining Western meadowlark, is to promote and create healthy, thriving grasslands that provide biodiversity and prosperity for wildlife, pollinators, ranching operations and communities.

Agency leaders said North Dakota has lost more than 70% of its native prairie over time, and it will take more than the Game and Fish Department and its long list of contributing partners in the long-haul task of enhancing, restoring and retaining what’s left of North Dakota’s native grasslands.

Through the Meadowlark Initiative, producers can plant marginal cropland back to diverse native perennial grasslands for grazing. Cost-share to establish the grass and to install grazing infrastructure, such as fencing and water, is available. During the first three years of grass establishment, producers also are eligible to receive rental payments as the land transitions from cropland to grazing land.

A year ago, the Game and Fish Department and 13 contributing partners submitted a USDA Regional Conservation Partnership Program grant proposal, seeking to leverage over $12 million in partner contributions with $10 million of USDA-NRCS funding to kick-start collaborative work toward goals and objectives, encompassed in the Meadowlark Initiative. In spring 2021, it was selected as one of 85 successful projects nationwide.

Together, the collected effort focuses on improving, increasing and connecting wildlife habitat, and supporting the sustainability of new and existing livestock ranches by offering incentives and programs to promote regenerative grazing with grass-based livestock operations.

The Game and Fish Department confirmed the presence of invasive zebra mussels in Lake Elsie, Richland County, and Twin Lakes, LaMoure County.

Both lakes are now considered Class I ANS Infested waters, joining Lake LaMoure, Lake Ashtabula, the lower portion of the Sheyenne River, and the Red River in this designation. Emergency rules went into effect immediately to prohibit the movement of water away from the lakes, including water for transferring bait. Notices were posted at lake access sites.

Follow-up sampling at Lake Elsie found zebra mussels at various locations and life stages throughout the lake. The 390-acre lake is a popular recreation destination located a few miles southwest of Hankinson.

At Twin Lakes, follow-up sampling revealed a few other zebra mussels attached to woody debris. In addition, Game and Fish Department ANS staff processed plankton tow net samples collected from Twin Lakes from earlier in summer, and zebra mussel veligers were detected in those samples indicating a breeding population of mussels within the lake. The 1,735-acre lake is a popular fishing destination located a few miles north of LaMoure. Twin Lakes is located approximately 6 miles from Lake LaMoure, which had a confirmed finding of zebra mussels in 2020.

Bighorn Sheep Licenses

The Game and Fish Department allocated five bighorn sheep licenses for the 2021 hunting season, one fewer than last year.

One license was issued in unit B1, one in B3 and two in B4. In addition, one license, as authorized under North Dakota Century Code, was auctioned in May by the Midwest Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation, from which all proceeds are used to enhance bighorn sheep management in North Dakota.

The number of once-in-a-lifetime licenses allotted to hunters is based on data collected from the Game and Fish Department's summer population survey, and results showed a similar count of adult rams to 2020.

The objective of the 2021 hunting season was to maximize hunter opportunity in the northern badlands where ram numbers remained strong, while continuing to reduce the number of rams in the southern badlands, to lessen the risk of transmitting disease to the northern population. The concern, as in past years, is the ongoing effects of the bacterial pneumonia outbreak that was first detected in 2014 that resulted in a loss of 15-20% of the adult population.

Upland Birds

North Dakota’s late summer roadside surveys indicated pheasants were down from last year, while sharp-tailed grouse and gray partridge numbers were about the same.

Department biologists said results of the annual upland late summer counts were expected, as recent weather patterns shifted toward a drier period, particularly 2021, with a warm, open winter and exceptional drought across much of the state. Hunters were said to expect to find similar numbers to 2020, with the exception that there would be fewer acres of typical grassland cover to hunt.

Total pheasants (45) observed per 100 miles were down 23% from last year and broods (5) per 100 miles were down 30%. The average brood size (six) remained unchanged. The final summary was based on 266 survey runs made along 102 brood routes across North Dakota.

Sharptail hunters were told to expect to find mainly adult grouse last fall. Numbers along the Missouri River were still high compared to long-term averages, so hunters who could find cover should have had average to good hunting. The eastern part of the state had fewer sharp-tailed grouse, with isolated hot spots.

Sharptails observed per 100 miles were up 2% statewide. Brood survey results showed two sharptail broods and 19 sharptails per 100 miles. Average brood size was six.

Although partridge numbers indicated a slight increase, most of the partridge harvest remains incidental while hunters pursue grouse or pheasants.

Partridge observed per 100 miles were up 9%. Observers recorded one partridge brood and 10 partridge per 100 miles. Average brood size was 10.