Northern Michigan Conservation Network

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 […]

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 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. […]

As we walk through the still snow-covered and frost-permeated north woods, it somehow seems hard to believe that we’ll soon be hearing the sounds of a changing season.  Chief among these sounds is the one produced by the“King of the Game Birds” who, unlike so many of his feathered cousins, endured this long and difficult […]

The dreaded “Turnover.” No, we’re not talking about football, we are talking about a process which has been going on for weeks in all of our northern Michigan lakes. For many anglers, this not only means cooler and shorter days on the water, but that the fish are also tougher to find. Although most anglers […]

Several newsworthy events took place at this past week’s annual meeting of the Great Lakes Commission.  For those unfamiliar with the Great Lakes Commission, it is comprised of  members from each of the eight Great Lakes states with associate members from the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Québec. Each state may assemble a delegation of […]

On Wednesday August 14, the Michigan Outdoor Writers Association’s (MOWA) will be holding a dedication of an historical marker which commemorates a 1919 fishing trip which later served as the inspiration for one of Ernest Hemingway’s most famous short stories, “Big Two-Hearted River.” According to the DNR Press release, “The marker is the latest in […]

By William Houston III – Perhaps one of the least discussed but most extraordinary geological features found in northern Michigan are its karst regions.  Michigan’s karst regions consist of a series of unique geological features such as sink holes, caves, caverns, intermittent springs, disappearing and reappearing streams and rivers, swallow holes, earthcracks and myriad other […]

By Frank Krist, NMCN Contributing Editor – Mass marking involves inserting a tiny metal tag in the noses of all trout and salmon stocked in the Great Lakes.  The tags show which hatchery the fish are reared in along with when and where they are stocked.  Unless fish are monitored after they are released there […]

By Frank Krist, NMCN Contributing Editor There have been several legislative hearings completed reviewing the Governor’s DNR budget proposal and the hunting and fishing license fee restructuring.  A few adjustments have been suggested, but overall support has been expressed for the proposal with many organizations backing it.  This package still has not been approved by the […]