The four winners selected to participate in Tennessee’s second managed elk hunt will be announced during the June meeting of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission on June 16.
This month’s meeting will be held on one day rather than the regular two-day format. The June meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Region II Ray Bell Office Building.
More than 8,300 applications were received for this year’s elk hunt. The four winners of the permits were selected in a random drawing. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) was selected as this year’s non-governmental organization through an RFP process to auction the fifth permit. The auction was held at the RMEF’s annual convention. The five participants will make their way to the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area for the hunt scheduled Oct. 18-22.
In other items, the Mississippi Flyway Council approved the Sandhill Crane Management Plan in March. The plan allows TWRA to request approval from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, to establish a sandhill crane hunting season in Tennessee starting with the 2011-12 hunting season. The agency will present a draft hunt plan to the commission and the same plan will be presented to the Mississippi Flyway Council in 2010, which is necessary to have a hunt in 2011.
Dwight Hensley, Chief of TWRA’s Engineering Division, will give a presentation on flood damage assessments for regions I and II. The assessments include a review of property and equipment damage, as well as estimated repair costs.
Information and Education Division Chief, Don King and Law Enforcement Division Chief, Sonny Richardson, will present a historical overview of the investigations unit from the 1980s until the present. The presentation will include audio and visual clips from closed cases.
Following the June meeting, the TWRC will not meet again until August. The next meeting will be held in Jackson on Aug. 18-19 at a location to be announced at a later date. The public is invited to attend the TWRC meetings.