Northern Michigan Conservation Network

In what began as an educational/research effort at Lake Superior State University nearly 30 years ago, Atlantic salmon (salmo salar) have emerged in recent years to become a significant component of the northern Lake Huron salmon fishery.  This program now results in the annual planting of 25,000-30,000 fish in the St. Mary’s River which are […]

This past Wednesday (11/28/12), Governor Snyder released a more detailed outline of his policy vision for Michigan’s energy and environment.  In a document titled A Special Message from Governor Rick Snyder: Ensuring our Future: Energy and the Environment (click here: ) the Governor offers his perspective on a variety of issues which are likely to […]

First convened a year ago, Governor Snyder’s “Blue Ribbon” panel for Michigan State Parks and Outdoor Recreation has completed the final draft of its report, The Future of Michigan’s Parks and Outdoor Recreation: A Report to Governor Rick Snyder (click here for full report: Parks Panel Final 10-4-12) . The original Executive Order included the […]

The reasons for the State’s action to ban the ownership and possession of feral swine (wild pigs, Eurasian boar, and the like) have been well documented.  Chief among these are disease risks to both wildlife and domestic pork production, habitat damage, and even human health and safety. Their free-ranging numbers in Michigan alone are now […]

Although not a new story, the restoration of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in this state and nation is an incredible conservation success story and one that is worth recalling.  This, especially as we prepare to celebrate its historical significance by dining on its domestic counterpart, Meleagris Butterballis. We must confess, we borrowed the “Butterball” reference […]

Since we didn’t think we could add much to the great posts previously written by NMCN Contributing Editor Drew YoungDyke, it had not been our intention to comment further on either SB-1276 (Senate Bill Misses the Forest for the Trees) or SB-1238 (Politicizing the Natural Resources Trust Fund). Our inspiration to do otherwise came recently […]

As a follow up to our October 7, 2012 post Reclaiming the Boardman River – Easy? “No” – Worth it? “Yes”, an update on the Brown Bridge Dam project has been released by Conservation Resource Alliance and The Boardman River Dams Implementation Team.  A summary of the release follows, and the entire document can be […]

Following up on several of our posts relating to the proposed U.P. brook trout bag limit increase, DNR Director Keith Creagh responded to concerns at Thursday’s Natural Resources Commission meeting (11/8/12).  In case you have not seen it, what follows is the press release by Michigan Trout Unlimited in response to the revised proposal:  “Yesterday […]

While we realize that not all of the votes have even been counted (and recounted) from Tuesday’s elections, it still seems appropriate to take a look at what transpired in some other states and think about its possible application to Michigan – that being, the Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish.  Since the issue is […]

This may be old news to many of you, but we’ve recently been hearing from others who have begun using and exploring an interactive mapping tool which has been integrated into the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website.  Although this feature, MI-Hunt, is described on their website as being primarily a tool for planning […]