The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission will set the 2021-22 migratory gamebird hunting seasons at its April 22-23 meeting to be held at the Cedars of Lebanon State Park in Wilson County. Thursday’s meeting begins at 1 p.m. while the Friday session starts at 9 a.m.
In addition, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will present a preview of the big game hunting seasons and bag limits proclamation and the wildlife management areas (WMAs), public hunting areas, and refuges hunting seasons, limits, and miscellaneous regulations. The TFWC will vote on that proclamation at its May meeting.
The meeting will be the first for five commissioners who received their confirmation March 31. The new commissioners are Bill Cox (Collierville, statewide), Wally Childress (Bogota, statewide), Monte Belew (Paris, TFWC District 7), Stan Butt, Sr. (Columbia, TFWC District 6), and Chris Devaney (Lookout Mountain, TFWC District 4),
The meeting will also be the first for Jim Ripley as chairman. The Kodak resident moves into his role after serving as vice chairman. Angie Box (Jackson) is the new vice chairman and Tommy Woods (Piney Flatts) is the new secretary.
In other agenda items, an overview of chronic wasting disease (CWD), a summary of last year’s sampling and testing results will be given. Dr. Krysten Schuler, from Cornell University, will join the meeting by Zoom to provide an overview of a collaborative CWD-modeling project of which TWRA is a member.
An update on Asian carp will be given which will include control efforts. Control efforts include the Asian Carp Harvest Incentive Program and research efforts by TWRA and partners including Tennessee Tech, United States Geological Survey, and United States Fish and Wildlife Service.