Northern Michigan Conservation Network

As many of you likely know by now, the publication of  The North Woods Call has resumed after a 1 ½ year suspension, following the passing of conservation legend Glen Sheppard.  This news comes at an especially good time for those of us who have struggled in our attempt to at least partially fill this […]

Although the reports are very preliminary and in many instances anecdotal, the 2012 travel and tourism season appears to have been the best in nearly a decade.   In a recent WTVB interview, Smith Travel Research said that “the statewide average hotel occupancy rate for the year to date as of July was at 56 percent […]

Many natural resource management and conservation services are now being delivered in an entirely different manner than they were just a decade ago.  Since most of these changes and adaptations seemed to happen so incrementally, it went largely unnoticed. What we mean by a “New Conservation Model” is the shift away from agency-driven natural resource […]

To most residents and visitors to our state, public land is, well, public land.  Other than the obvious distinctions between a municipal park, federal forest lands and a state lake access site, few realize that under the umbrella of State of Michigan ownership significant differences exist within this inventory.  We raise this discussion now because […]

Following up on a story originally posted on this site on June 26, 2012 (To All of Our Contributors to the MNRTF – “Say it Ain’t So”), it was announced on Thursday by Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corporation that on June 29th it had been subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice to provide all documents […]

Well, it was nice while it lasted, but the Michigan State Senate is now back in session.  Although the ink is hardly dry on several bad pieces legislation involving public resource management, many of those same bill sponsors are now back from a summer recess and will likely be seeking action on the next phase […]

Although we originally intended to write about this year’s round of MDNR Forestry Open Houses and Compartment Reviews, the timelessness and inherent benefits of this public outreach process seemed to offer potential applications to the way many of our State’s natural resources are managed. During a time when calls for increased accountability, operational “transparency” and […]

Now that the Governor has elected to sign the Land Cap Bill (SB-248) into law today, it is not too soon to begin discussing the legislatively-mandated two-year process necessary to allow for the removal of the cap. As most of you know by now, the version of SB-248 which has been signed into law establishes […]

Although there can be no wins when a fire claims much of a 21,000+ acre area, a commercial resort, 49 cabins and homes, 87 outbuildings and campers, as you tour the area as we did recently, one cannot help but be struck by the sheer number of structures which were spared on the interior of […]

Although I had been told over the weekend that I really needed to see a segment that had been included in last week’s Michigan Out-Of-Doors television show, it wasn’t until last night that I was able to see it.   It included some wonderful video of breeding sharp-tailed grouse on a lek near the Seney Wildlife […]