Efforts to nab wildlife poachers in North Carolina increase
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission has a warning for would-be poachers tempted to take fish and game illegally:
The chances have increased for you to be saying “Good morning, judge.”
Rewards are being offered to citizens who report violations. And they may do so anonymously.
The new program is called TIP. It’s an acronym for Turn In Poachers.
“Despite constant efforts, it’s not possible for our officers to apprehend all violators on their own,” said Lt. B.J. Meyer of the agency’s Law Enforcement Division. “We need support of the public to be most effective in the reduction of wildlife crimes.”
TIP was developed by the commission in partnership with the N.C. Bowhunters Association.
Rewards will range from $100 to $1,000, depending on the severity of the illegal activity and fines assessed by courts.
“Poaching includes not only the illegal taking of game and fish, but taking protected plants, trespassing, littering, theft and destruction of property,” said Meyer.
Tips may be submitted in four ways: via the internet on the Wildlife Commission website, by text message to 274637, via mobile app (“Tip-Soft” and “TIPSubmit, ” respectively, in the Google Play Store (Android) and the Apple App Store (iOS), and by dialing a hotline, 1-855-WILDTIP (945-3847). The hotline is staffed 24 hours daily. Observer News Services
Briefly
▪ The Lake Norman Shrine Club has begun an early push to get a record field of entrants for its 37th Annual Dogwood Bass Tournament on Lake Norman. The event that benefits the Shriners’ Childrens Hospitals is scheduled April 2. It will be based at Queens Landing on Highway 150 west of Mooresville. The entry fee is $100 per two person team and there are various categories of competition, including husband/wife and, parent/child. Information is available by Googling Dogwood Bass Tournament or phoning William Cork, chairman of the event, at (704) 516-0506.
▪ The Wateree River Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area will reopen to the public on Monday. The 3,647-acre tract has been closed since heavy flooding wreaked havoc over parts of South Carolina in the fall. The main road systems that were damaged by the flood have been repaired by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources. The site is located near the Eastover community, 17 miles east of Columbia on Highway 378.
▪ Cooperation among the wildlife agencies of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida apparently have saved hundreds of endangered and federally protected green sea turtles. A sudden cold front along the Outer Banks caught the turtles in mid-migration south to warmer waters. Approximately 1,000 were washed ashore and stranded because of a condition similar to hypothermia. Dozens of aquariums and organizations mobilized to rescue and rehabilitate them. As they are cleared for release, the turtles are alternately being transported south by the wildlife departments across each state and freed on the coast of Florida.
Catches of the week
▪ Charlottean Kenny Edwards, fishing alone, won the Carolina CATT Tournament Saturdayat Lake Wylie with three catfish weighing 80.38 pounds. He won $614. Edwards’ largest of 37.58 pounds was the biggest of the event. The Gastonia duo of Rick Helms and Strawberry Wooten finished second with 70.53 pounds.
▪ A limit of large snowy grouper off Ocean Isle/Little River by Daniel Simmons, Bryan Freeman, Brian Robbins and Ben Jordan while bottom fishing near the Black Jack Hole.
▪ Approximately 80 hybrid bass boated and released Monday at Lake Norman by Shannon Miller and Tamara Hager of Denver, N.C. The fish struck Alabama rigs trolled near the Plant Marshall hot hole.
This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Efforts to nab wildlife poachers in North Carolina increase."