Sunday, June 01, 2008
Ellis steps in at DGIF Wildlife Division
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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One Bob is stepping in to fill the shoes of another Bob at the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
The agency said late Thursday that Bob Ellis is the new chief of the Wildlife Division, filling the position vacated when former head man Bob Duncan was named the department's top man earlier this year.
Ellis, who was out of the office and couldn't be reached for comment on Friday, has been an assistant chief in the Wildlife Division since he joined the DGIF in 1992. In that role he has supervised biologists who manage the agency's deer, bear, turkey, migratory game birds, small game and furbearer programs.
Like his predecessor, Ellis is an avid hunter. He's been a longtime proponent of and participant in Virginia's resident Canada goose season in September, and also is a turkey-hunting fanatic.
Ellis steps into his new role at a critical time for the DGIF and the Wildlife Division.
Like most state wildlife agencies, the DGIF is struggling to retain and recruit hunters despite the general consensus that many of the state's hunting opportunities are better than ever.
Other challenges looming include dealing with wildlife diseases, most notably chronic wasting disease. An always-fatal neurological disease that affects deer and other cervids, CWD has not been detected in Virginia but has been found in West Virginia within a few miles of the border.
The DGIF is also taking a formal look at hunting with hounds, a contentious topic that has pitted hunters not only against private landowners, but against each other.
A native of York, Penn., Ellis worked as an extension agent in Grundy after graduating from Millersville State College in Pennsylvania with a degree in biology.
After earning a master's degree in wildlife biology/management from Virginia Tech, Ellis spent 12 years with the Florida Game and Fish Commission.
Fish kills worsen on James, Cowpasture
A couple of weeks ago, when fish kills on the James and Cowpasture rivers seemed not as bad as they were this time last year, biologist Scott Smith urged caution. Smith worried that cooler-than-normal might have simply delayed the worst of the outbreak.
It appears his fears were valid.
"It's started in earnest," Smith said of the kills, the cause of which scientists have not been able to determine.
Warm weather helped heat up the rivers heading into the Memorial Day weekend. On top of that, heavy river usage over the weekend meant there were many sets of eyes out there looking for sick and dead fish.
The number of citizen reports shot up after the weekend, Smith said. Anglers are encouraged to send reports to fishreports@deq.virginia.gov.
Smith said in addition to reports of sick and dead fish in the Cowpasture and James, a few reports have come in from around the Clifton Forge section of the Jackson River, which joins the Cowpasture to form the James.
Crews from the DGIF will be on the rivers this coming week, using electroshocking gear to sample fish populations.
Smith said he expects the outbreak to continue for several weeks.
Last year's kills on the James and Cowpasture turned out to be modest. There's no way to predict how severe the kill will be this year.
On the Shenandoah River system, where kills have been taking place for five years, mortality has varied from year to year.
In some years on some river sections, scientists estimate that as many as 80 percent of adult smallmouth bass and sunfish have died.
Ingram book signing
Outdoor writer Bruce Ingram of Fincastle will be at the Tanglewood Barnes and Nobel from 6-9 p.m. Friday to sign copies of his new book, "Fly and Spin Fishing for River Smallmouths."
Of course Ingram's other books, which include the "James River Guide" and "New River Guide," will also be available.
