Northern Michigan Conservation Network

On May 8, 2013, Governor Snyder signed Michigan Senate Bills 288 and 289 into law – great news indeed. At the risk of sounding like the proverbial wet blanket by dampening the post-bill signing celebration, the reality is that for the full merit of this legislative achievement to be realized, we, as sportsmen-conservationists, must remain […]

The State House Bill (HB 4668) which includes the Michigan Department of Natural Resources license fee package has now been introduced and will be up for discussion on Wednesday (5/8) in House Committees. Amy Trotter, Resource Policy Manager for MUCC provides us with the following update: “Many of you supported the license fee increase directly […]

Okay, I’ll concede that Michigan Senate Bill 288 and House Bill 4552 would likely not be up for discussion were it not for the organized opposition to legislation resulting in wolves being added to the list of Michigan game species signed into law last December (Public Act 520 of 2012 – Senate Bill 1350).  Whether […]

As the DNR continues its process of regional meetings and public comment on its recently released Land Management Strategy (a.k.a. Land Plan), some surprising reactions have already been noted.  Most of us fully expected that the comments received from some northern Michigan residents and most locally-elected officials would be, “enough is enough,” and “we already have […]

by Drew YoungeDyke, Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) Grassroots Manager – So this is the line in the sand. This is where Michigan’s hunters, anglers and trappers will either stand up for their rights to hunt, fish and trap, for scientific wildlife management, and for the separation of conservation from politics, or where we will […]

In spite of our nation’s preoccupation with a handful of other more headline-grabbing issues (no need to list them here), there have been numerous pieces of natural resource/conservation-related legislation introduced in the current session of the U.S. Congress. Several of these bills have local and regional implications, including the reauthorization and funding for the National […]

by Frank Krist, NMCN Contributing Editor – The Atlantic salmon program in Lake Huron started in 1986 under an agreement between Lake Superior State University and the DNR.  Fish have been stocked in the St. Mary’s River since that time under the direction of Roger Greil, manager of the LSSU’s Aquatic Research Laboratory and Hatchery.  […]

The DNR’s Public Land Management Strategy Plan has been released for public comment and to that end, numerous public meetings have been scheduled.  In what may have originally begun as a legislative requirement made necessary to satisfy the terms of the Land Cap legislation, this plan now has the potential to become an implementation document […]

Next year will commemorate the centennial of the passing of Martha, the last Passenger Pigeon, who died on September 1, 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo.  Most Americans who only have only a passing knowledge of wildlife conservation are at least generally familiar with the demise of the species. What few in our northern Michigan region are […]

Last Friday, the Michigan House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural Resources approved a budget package which did include a hunting and angling license fee package which is generally consistent with that advanced by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) as a part of the Governor’s FY 2013-2014 budget proposal.  For those who have […]