09-02-2006, 10:18 AM
New gator hunting season in the works
Proposal would create three-month recreational period
By SHANNON TOMPKINS
Legally taking an alligator in much of Texas stands to get a lot easier under a proposal by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's wildlife division leadership.
Under the basic language of the still-morphing draft of a proposed regulation change, a person could legally kill by practically any method, including using a firearm to shoot a free-swimming gator, any alligator on private land outside what the state has designated as the "core" alligator range.
There would be some restrictions.
A person would have to have a valid Texas hunting license and the permission of the landowner to kill an alligator.
Alligators could be taken only on private land — taking alligators from public waters such as rivers, streams, bayous and public reservoirs would be prohibited.
The alligator could be taken only during the "recreational" alligator hunting season. That season is proposed to annually run April 1-June 30.
After taking an alligator, a person would have to immediately fill out a "wildlife resource document," a document listing the name, address and phone number of the person taking the gator; the date and location the gator was taken and the hunting license number of the person taking the alligator.
Then, the person taking the gator would have to contact TPWD and request the agency send a federally issued CITES tag to be placed on the alligator.
Alligators aren't endangered or even threatened in Texas; they were taken off the federal Endangered Species List in 1987, and the gator population in Texas has ballooned to an estimated quarter-million.
But American alligators are covered under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, a treaty to which the United States is a signatory.
A CITES tag is required to be attached to a gator to prove it was taken legally, and only gator hides bearing CITES tags can be possessed.
Negating nuisance factor
TPWD proposes charging a $20 fee for issuance of the CITES tag and collection of the harvest information required by CITES.
The proposal came about, in part, as a way to give landowners and their agents a way of dealing with the increase in "nuisance" alligators.
In the Houston area, for example, TPWD game wardens and contract alligator control personnel annually deal with about 300 "nuisance" alligator calls, said Jim Sutherlin, who coordinates TPWD's alligator programs.
Statewide, the agency annually receives about 500 calls for assistance from citizens reporting alligators in their yards, neighborhoods, local ponds or other areas.
Under current regulations, only a law enforcement officer, TPWD staffer or state-permitted contract nuisance alligator trapper can legally remove an alligator.
The creation of a "recreational" alligator hunting season would make it easier for landowners to take care of a problem gator without having to do so illegally or call TPWD to send a warden or trapper to try catching and killing the beast.
(Some nuisance alligators are relocated and released, but, increasingly, decent alligator habitat hosts more than enough of the extremely territorial reptiles.)
Rules for the "recreational" alligator hunting season would be different than those for the commercial season.
Commercial harvest of wild alligators is strictly controlled through pre-use issuance of CITES tags to landowners who request them from TPWD. The number of tags issued to a landowner is based on a quota determined after a population survey of a tract.
During the commercial season, alligators can be taken only by approved means and methods. They can be shot with a firearm only when they are otherwise controlled such as when caught on a hook-and-line setup, the most common method of taking alligators.
Texas regulations do not allow using a firearm to shoot a free-swimming alligator during the commercial season; the reptile invariably sinks when shot and recovery is doubtful.
The commercial alligator season in Texas annually runs Sept. 10-30.
Commercial harvest of wild alligators doesn't scratch the population. Recent alligator seasons have seen about 2,000 of the reptiles taken — this out of a statewide population of 250,000 or more.
Under the proposal, current alligator hunting regulations would not change in the 22 counties TPWD considers "core" alligator habitat in the state. All harvest of alligators in those counties would continue to be under the commercial alligator hunting rules and the recreational season would not be allowed in those counties.
Those core counties are: Angelina, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Galveston, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Refugio, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler and Victoria.
Decision due in April
Montgomery, Harris and Fort Bend counties are in the traditional "core" of Texas' alligator range. But because of the urbanization in those counties, the reduction there in alligator habitat and the relatively high incidence of "nuisance" gator issues, the three counties were excluded from the list of core counties.
Alligators have become common outside the core counties. More than 100 Texas counties outside the 22-county core region have populations of alligators. That includes most counties in the eastern half of the state and most of South Texas where gators have be- come nearly ubiquitous in re- servoirs, stock tanks, river and other permanent water bodies.
TPWD's alligator proposal will be published in the Texas Register this month as part of a package of proposed hunting and fishing regulation changes. The changes will be topics for public hearings scheduled across the state over the coming weeks.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission will vote to adopt, modify or reject the proposal when it meets April 6 in Austin.
The first "recreational" gator season would be in 2007.
shannon.tompkins@chron.com
Mvh
Kim
Jeg er ikke fejlfri,men det er så tæt på at det skræmmer mig.
Proposal would create three-month recreational period
By SHANNON TOMPKINS
Legally taking an alligator in much of Texas stands to get a lot easier under a proposal by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's wildlife division leadership.
Under the basic language of the still-morphing draft of a proposed regulation change, a person could legally kill by practically any method, including using a firearm to shoot a free-swimming gator, any alligator on private land outside what the state has designated as the "core" alligator range.
There would be some restrictions.
A person would have to have a valid Texas hunting license and the permission of the landowner to kill an alligator.
Alligators could be taken only on private land — taking alligators from public waters such as rivers, streams, bayous and public reservoirs would be prohibited.
The alligator could be taken only during the "recreational" alligator hunting season. That season is proposed to annually run April 1-June 30.
After taking an alligator, a person would have to immediately fill out a "wildlife resource document," a document listing the name, address and phone number of the person taking the gator; the date and location the gator was taken and the hunting license number of the person taking the alligator.
Then, the person taking the gator would have to contact TPWD and request the agency send a federally issued CITES tag to be placed on the alligator.
Alligators aren't endangered or even threatened in Texas; they were taken off the federal Endangered Species List in 1987, and the gator population in Texas has ballooned to an estimated quarter-million.
But American alligators are covered under CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, a treaty to which the United States is a signatory.
A CITES tag is required to be attached to a gator to prove it was taken legally, and only gator hides bearing CITES tags can be possessed.
Negating nuisance factor
TPWD proposes charging a $20 fee for issuance of the CITES tag and collection of the harvest information required by CITES.
The proposal came about, in part, as a way to give landowners and their agents a way of dealing with the increase in "nuisance" alligators.
In the Houston area, for example, TPWD game wardens and contract alligator control personnel annually deal with about 300 "nuisance" alligator calls, said Jim Sutherlin, who coordinates TPWD's alligator programs.
Statewide, the agency annually receives about 500 calls for assistance from citizens reporting alligators in their yards, neighborhoods, local ponds or other areas.
Under current regulations, only a law enforcement officer, TPWD staffer or state-permitted contract nuisance alligator trapper can legally remove an alligator.
The creation of a "recreational" alligator hunting season would make it easier for landowners to take care of a problem gator without having to do so illegally or call TPWD to send a warden or trapper to try catching and killing the beast.
(Some nuisance alligators are relocated and released, but, increasingly, decent alligator habitat hosts more than enough of the extremely territorial reptiles.)
Rules for the "recreational" alligator hunting season would be different than those for the commercial season.
Commercial harvest of wild alligators is strictly controlled through pre-use issuance of CITES tags to landowners who request them from TPWD. The number of tags issued to a landowner is based on a quota determined after a population survey of a tract.
During the commercial season, alligators can be taken only by approved means and methods. They can be shot with a firearm only when they are otherwise controlled such as when caught on a hook-and-line setup, the most common method of taking alligators.
Texas regulations do not allow using a firearm to shoot a free-swimming alligator during the commercial season; the reptile invariably sinks when shot and recovery is doubtful.
The commercial alligator season in Texas annually runs Sept. 10-30.
Commercial harvest of wild alligators doesn't scratch the population. Recent alligator seasons have seen about 2,000 of the reptiles taken — this out of a statewide population of 250,000 or more.
Under the proposal, current alligator hunting regulations would not change in the 22 counties TPWD considers "core" alligator habitat in the state. All harvest of alligators in those counties would continue to be under the commercial alligator hunting rules and the recreational season would not be allowed in those counties.
Those core counties are: Angelina, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Galveston, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty, Matagorda, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Refugio, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Trinity, Tyler and Victoria.
Decision due in April
Montgomery, Harris and Fort Bend counties are in the traditional "core" of Texas' alligator range. But because of the urbanization in those counties, the reduction there in alligator habitat and the relatively high incidence of "nuisance" gator issues, the three counties were excluded from the list of core counties.
Alligators have become common outside the core counties. More than 100 Texas counties outside the 22-county core region have populations of alligators. That includes most counties in the eastern half of the state and most of South Texas where gators have be- come nearly ubiquitous in re- servoirs, stock tanks, river and other permanent water bodies.
TPWD's alligator proposal will be published in the Texas Register this month as part of a package of proposed hunting and fishing regulation changes. The changes will be topics for public hearings scheduled across the state over the coming weeks.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission will vote to adopt, modify or reject the proposal when it meets April 6 in Austin.
The first "recreational" gator season would be in 2007.
shannon.tompkins@chron.com
Mvh
Kim
Jeg er ikke fejlfri,men det er så tæt på at det skræmmer mig.