Northern Michigan Conservation Network

For some, purchasing this year’s hunting license may bring back to mind a discussion which took place in some Michigan circles about a year ago.  Although not entirely a new idea, the suggestion from DNR Wildlife Chief Russ Mason was to encourage non-hunters and others who support wildlife and fisheries habitat enhancement projects to buy […]

Delta Waterfowl http://www.deltawaterfowl.org/ has released its 2012 annual duck breeding survey.  In spite of the challenging spring and early summer conditions found in many areas, together with the habitat declines in the Prairie Pothole areas, overall populations continued their long term growth trend.  Among the other good news contained in the survey is that in […]

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 […]

The preliminary results of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation has been released.  Conducted at the request of the State fish and wildlife agencies, this survey is completed every five years to measure the importance of wildlife-based recreation to the American people. This is the 12th such study […]

Reading this week’s issue of Showcasing the DNR and its feature on the wildlife restoration success story represented by the Kirtland’s warbler once again brought to mind the importance of conservation education.  It was a just over two years ago when controversy erupted as a result of the disclosure that Deer Range Improvement Project funds […]

July 19, 2012 Please call your U.S. House of Representatives member TODAY and urge them to support the conservation provisions in the Farm Bill. by Bob Marshall (posted with permission) “Conservation groups this week are sending a desperate plea to sportsmen: Contact your House members today and urge them to bring the Farm Bill up […]

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 […]

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 […]

Feb. 2, 2011 by Paul Smith – Milwaukee JS online Wolf, bear, coyote or bobcat. If you had to name the carnivore that kills the most white-tailed deer in the Upper Midwest, which would you pick? If you are thinking smaller rather than larger, you’re on the right track. The answer is coyote, at least […]