VANDALISM AT NAYANQUING POINT WILDLIFE AREA
REDUCES MIGRATORY BIRD USELANSING - Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials
announced that vandals in early March cut security locks on
a control structure and opened a water control gate at the
Nayanquing Point Wildlife Area near Pinconning, draining all
the water out of the 180-acre refuge unit.
The incident took place sometime between March 9-12. A
similar act of vandalism occurred about the same time last
year.
According to Don Avers, DNR wildlife technician and area
manager, the gate was opened just enough so the water would
drain slowly but steadily. The refuge unit, an area created
to assist migrating birds and popular for bird-watching near
the observation tower, drained completely within a few days.
"Water is left in the wildlife area in spring so ducks,
geese, swans and other birds can use it during migration,"
Avers said. "Most of the unit is then drained and a portion
is planted with crops that can be flooded for waterfowl
again in the fall. But we keep water in a smaller sub-unit
for the later migrating shorebirds, which has become a
popular wildlife viewing site."
As a result of the vandalism, Avers said migratory bird use
in the area this spring will be greatly limited, and it also
will be difficult to get water at the wildlife area's pump
stations when needed because of the low water conditions on
Saginaw Bay.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to call
the DNR Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800
Source: MDNR
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