The Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is composed of governmental fish and wildlife agencies in
the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin
Islands. The Southeastern Association is one of four such regional fish and wildlife associations. While the regional
associations are autonomous, they work very closely with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, of which
all southeastern states are also members. Only state wildlife agencies in the 15 southeastern states and territories are
members of the SEAFWA.
Its objectives are to protect the right of jurisdiction of the member states over their wildlife resources on public and
private lands; to carefully scrutinize state and federal wildlife legislation and regulations and to offer support or opposition
to legislative proposals or federal regulations in accordance with the best interests of the member states; to consult
with and make recommendations to the federal wildlife and public land agencies in order that federal management
programs and programs involving federal aid to member states shall be so conducted as to be in the best interests of the
member states; and to serve as a clearinghouse for the exchange of ideas concerning wildlife and fisheries management,
research techniques, wildlife law enforcement, hunting and outdoor safety, and information and educations programs.
The Association participates with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, other regional associations, other
governmental agencies and citizens’ organizations in pursuing mutual goals benefiting fish and wildlife resources;
maintains a variety of committees consisting of fish and wildlife professionals who explore and analyze a wide range
of issues and factors affecting fish and wildlife resources and makes recommendations as appropriate; sponsors cooperative
fish and wildlife programs among member states and other entities to address issues of mutual interest and to
benefit to fish and wildlife resources; provides effective, efficient and allied representation for member states regarding
natural resource matters, particularly for issues which are beyond the capability of one agency to address or which may
unduly tax the ability of individual states.
The Association’s annual meeting and conference is held every year, usually in October. The annual meeting and
conference are on a rotational basis with each state having its turn as host. Officers are elected at a spring meeting, usually
held in May, with the host state normally being that of the incoming President. These meetings promote exchanges
of ideas and philosophy between administrators and the professional fish and wildlife biologists, managers, enforcement,
information and education, and technical workers in related fields.
Organized March 14, 1938, at a meeting of state officials at Jacksonville, Florida, the Association has played a major
role in the evolution of state, regional and national conservation affairs. Its officers and member have included many of
the nation’s conservation leaders. The Clarence W. Watson Award is the most prestigious award given in the Southeast
and is presented annually to the career individual who, in the opinion of the Award Committee, has made the greatest
contribution to wildlife or fish conservation during the previous year or years.
Managing Editor
Robert A. Gitzen, Ph.D.
College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment
Auburn University, Alabama
Associate Editor—Fisheries
Steven M. Sammons, Ph.D.
School of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Aquatic Sciences
Auburn University, Alabama
Southern Division, American Fisheries Society
Associate Editor—Wildlife
Daniel U. Greene, Ph.D.
Environmental Research South
Weyerhaeuser Company
Columbus, Mississippi
SEAFWA Officers—2022
President—Eric Sutton, Executive Director, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Vice President—Robert H. Boyles, Director, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
Secretary-Treasurer—Ryan Brown, Executive Director, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
Past President—Paul Johansen, Chief, Wildlife Resources Section, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources
At-large Board Member—Charles (“Chuck”) Sykes, Director, Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division,
Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
At-large Board Member—Ted Will, Director, Wildlife Resources Division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources
Executive Director—Ross Melinchuk
Association Web Site Address
www.SEAFWA.org
The Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies is published annually. All manuscripts are
subject to peer review by members of the Southeastern Section of the Wildlife Society, members of the Southern Division
of the American Fisheries Society, and other relevant experts. Listed below are the referees that have provided
reviews for this volume. The Association and the editorial office are indebted to these individuals for their valuable
services.
Fisheries
Dave Armstrong
Tim Bonvechio
Darrell Bowman
Shannon Brewer
Preston Crisman
Vic DiCenzo
Lawrence Dorsey
Jason Dotson
Todd Driscoll
Corey Dunn
Mark Fincel
Cynthia Fox
Janet Genz
Hunter Hatcher
Mike Holley
Travis Ingram
Mike Isel
John Jackson
Kevin Kelsey
Steve Lochmann
Melissa Longman
Sean Lynott
Matt Marshall
Max Melsrom
Chris Middaugh
Ben Neely
John Odenkirk
Patrick O’Rouke
Don Orth
Clint Peacock
Kevin Pope
Jeff Powell
Jeff Quinn
Jake Rash
Pete Sakaris
Warren Schlecte
Jeff Slipke
Nate Smith
Andy Strickland
Melissa Wuellner
Wildlife
Robert Baldwin
Michael Bodenchuk
Wesley Boone
Ashleigh Cable
Chris Chizinski
Mike Conner
Becca Cozad
Josh Gaskamp
Jacquelyn Grace
Katie Haase
Daniel Hanks
Heath Hagy
Joseph Johnson
Angie Larsen-Gray
Susan Loeb
Craig Marshall
Mike Mengak
Lisa Muller
Jennifer Mullinax
Santiago Perea
Piper Roby
Scott Rush
Roger Shields
Mark Smith
Fisheries
Graham F. Montague, Richard A. Snow, Douglas L. Zentner, Austin D. Griffin
1 Comparing Precision of Otolith and Pectoral Spine Age Assessments for Black and Yellow Bullheads
Joseph V. Siegel, Stuart Welsh, Nate Taylor, Quinton Phelps
10 Size Structure, Age, Growth, and Mortality of Flathead Catfish in the Robert C. Byrd Pool of the Ohio and Kanawha Rivers
Steven J....
Achieving a target population size is often the first goal of species restorations. From 2012 to 2014, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources released 75 elk (Cervus canadensis) originating from Kentucky into Buchanan County in southwestern Virginia. These individuals were ear tagged with unique numbers upon release with an additional 33 elk tagged within the Virginia Elk Management Zone (VEMZ) from 2019 through early 2022. To assess post-release population size, we conducted visual driving surveys throughout Buchanan County from January through mid-April...
Hierarchical conservation and management of Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) habitat may benefit from use of species distribution models. White-nose syndrome has caused additional declines for this endangered bat, requiring use of historical presence locations for habitat-related analy- ses. We created random forest presence/pseudo-absence models to assess the distribution and availability of Indiana bat habitat across the 670,000-ha Monongahela National Forest (MNF), West Virginia, USA. We collated historical roost and capture locations, both individually and in combination...
Species distribution models enable resource managers to avoid and mitigate impacts to, or enhance habitat of, target species at the landscape level. Persistent declines of northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis) due to white-nose syndrome have made acquisition of contemporary data difficult. Therefore, use of legacy data may be necessary for creation of species distribution models. We used historical roost and capture records, both individually and in combination, to assess the distribution and availability of northern long-eared bat habitat across the 670,000-ha...
The gray bat (Myotis grisescens) is a cave-obligate species that has been listed as federally endangered since 1976, following population declines from human disturbance at hibernation and maternity caves. However, with cave protection, most gray bat populations have increased. As part of a project examining bat use of transportation structures as day-roosts, we continuously acoustically monitored 12 riparian sites within the Clinch River Watershed of southwest Virginia from March through November, 2018–2020. We used 15 different landscape and weather-related variables in gener-...
Since the spread of white-nose syndrome in North America, several bat species have shown precipitous declines in abundance and distribution. With lower netting detection probabilities for the currently threatened but proposed endangered northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) and endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis), determination of presence or absence for regulatory clearance often has shifted to the use of acoustic sur- veys. However, acoustic surveys are unable to differentiate between non-reproductive individuals versus a maternity colony. We used...
We analyzed a three-year consolidated sample of Louisiana hunters’ responses to the Louisiana Game Harvest Surveys (LAGHS) distributed via email and mail in May following the 2016–2017, 2017–2018, and 2018–2019 hunting seasons. To determine whether the distribution modes pro- duced different results, both modes asked identical questions about hunting effort, harvest, and age. We used generalized linear mixed models to test hypotheses about hunters’ days hunted, harvest, representation of age classes, and effect of age-weighting (i.e., weighting responses based on the differ- ence in...
Production of submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) is promoted for waterfowl forage through hydrological management in brackish tidal impoundments along the south Atlantic coast, USA. This management also promotes production of aquatic invertebrates as food resources for many bird species. We conducted a field experiment to compare effects of traditional complete drawdown to fissure substrates versus a novel partial drawdown (i.e., mudflat to 10 cm depth) on aquatic invertebrate biomass in impounded and non-impounded tidal wetlands in the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Ed- isto Rivers (ACE) Basin,...
The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) population in South Mill Creek Lake, a centrarchid-dominated, eutrophic small impoundment in West Virginia, was managed under a 305-mm minimum-length limit until 2007. Under this regulation the population was typified by consistently low proportional size distribution (PSD) values, low quality-length CPUE, excessive juvenile recruitment, and poor length structure. Therefore, in 2007 a protected slot limit (PSL) regulation (305–406 mm) was implemented to shift the size structure of the fishery. Spring (May) boat...
Negative impacts from non-native congener introductions have emerged as an immediate threat to black bass conservation and management. Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) historically comprised the sole black bass fishery in Moss Lake, North Carolina. Alabama bass (Micropterus henshalli) were illegally introduced into Moss Lake and were first detected during a 2008 electrofishing survey conducted by North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission biologists. Since this detection, Alabama bass rapidly increased in abundance throughout the reservoir,...