Northern Michigan Conservation Network

If you’re like me, you may have often wondered about the forest fire and wildfire hazard ratings you see posted outside of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources field offices. While I’ve always known that these ratings were based on more than just an empty rain gauge, it wasn’t until a presentation made by Atlanta […]

Many may recall the debate in 2012 surrounding what was then known as the “Land Cap” bill. Although some improvements to the original bill were secured, PA 240 of 2012 became law and thereby established a 4.6 million acre limit on the amount of land that the State of Michigan could own and manage. One […]

It seems worthy of note that six of the top ten states in the nation as ranked by a recent USA Today for the perceived “well-being” of their residents are also among the top 12 states in the Percentage of Public Land area. The main exceptions to this trend were the three states which have been more […]

We recently shared a story which included a video segment from a Traverse City area television station (TV 9 & 10) whose byline read “DNR Plans to Remove Acres of Trees” (click here to view segment). Since the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and others who conduct professional forest management “remove” acres of trees every […]

Story by Bob Gwizdz and published courtesy of MDNR – The upper Black River, in the northeastern Lower Peninsula, has long been recognized as one of Michigan’s best brook trout streams. Earnest Hemingway, who fished there, wrote about it glowingly. “It’s renowned for its wild brook trout population,” said Tim Cwalinski, fisheries biologist who oversees […]

Enbridge Pipeline Update In February of this year, we wrote about the growing concerns associated with the two, 61 year -old pipelines which lie at the bottom of the Straits of Mackinac. It has now been made public that a meeting was held in April between State of Michigan officials and representatives of Canada’s Enbridge […]

When John M. O’Shea, the Emerson F. Greenman Professor of Anthropological Archaeology at the University of Michigan, and associates from the University of Michigan’s Museum of Anthropological Archaeology first began to suspect that the unnatural rock formations lying beneath Lake Huron were those of an earlier hunting culture, they stated that they were reserving celebration […]

by Elaine Carlson – This could be a sci-fi thriller. A deceptively harmless white fuzz appears and begins to grow on the unsuspecting and sleeping victims. In short order, the fuzz disturbs its hosts, causing abnormal and erratic behavior which leads to exposure, starvation, and death. The devastation to the defenseless creatures is nearly complete […]

by David Smethurst – The last Saturday in April is always a special day to trout fisherman. It’s the Trout Opener. Even though today it is more of a tradition that an event, with so many streams open, some under special regulations, I think you can fish for trout somewhere every day of the year. […]

by Kay Charter – As you read this, Neotropical songbirds are in the midst of migrating back their to breeding grounds in North America. Among those species on the move is the brilliant and beautiful Baltimore Oriole. This bright orange and black bird nests across the northeastern U. S. and south central Canada. Orioles may […]