Michigan Mixed Bag: Last call for Michigan ODN Person-Of-The-Year nominations

Lake Orion, Mich. — Michigan Outdoor News is accepting nominations through the end of the month for the 2025 Person of the Year award. The staff at MON needs your help to find a quality individual to recognize with the 2025 award.

“We’re not looking for someone who gets paid to perform a job.

Rather, we’re looking for a volunteer who goes above and beyond his or her designated tasks to support and enhance our natural resources,” said MON Editor Bill Parker.

Send us your nominations with a brief explanation (100 words or less) on why this person deserves to be recognized.

Our staff will look over the nominations and select this year’s recipient, who will receive a beautiful plaque and a write-up about their contributions to the conservation of our natural resources in an upcoming edition of MON.

Email nominations to Michigan Outdoor News Editor Bill Parker at bpoutdoors@aol.com.

MORE COVERAGE FROM MICHIGAN OUTDOOR NEWS:

Bobcat hunting hounds tree cougar in Michigan’s Mackinac County

Michigan legislation would require COs to use body cameras, search warrants

Don’t blink: Michigan’s annual sturgeon season on Black Lake ends in 17 minutes

Value of Fishing in Great Lakes Described as ‘Overvalued’ by $2 Billion

Chicago — Recreational fishing in Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes is worth billions of dollars, but fewer billions than the amount cited for many years.

According to a recent study, recreational fishing in the Great Lakes is worth $5.1 billion. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission hired Southwick Associates to calculate the economic output. The area studied includes sportfishing in the eight Great Lakes states and Ontario.

The previous number, compiled by the same firm nearly two decades ago for the American Sportfishing Association, was $7 billion. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission says the number is different primarily because of more robust methodology in the most recent study.

Lester Graham, of the program Great Lakes Now, was critical of the over-valuing of the lakes. On Jan. 22, he wrote in a Commentary, “Ever since the $7 billion economic benefit estimate was released, politicians, government agencies, and news outlets have been using that amount without question, or very seldom questioning it even though the number was being used many years after the study was first released – although a reporter with the Great Lakes Echo questioned how the $7 billion figure was being used back in 2010.”

Winter is a Great Time for Pruning Trees, Especially Oaks

Lansing — Winter can be an ideal time to trim many trees, especially oak trees to help prevent the spread of oak wilt.

During the winter season, trees are dormant, insect and disease threats are reduced, and most leaves are off the trees making it easier to complete trimming work.

It is important to complete any work on oaks prior to the start of the high-risk period for spreading oak wilt (April 15-July 15). During this critical period, trees are actively growing at the same time the insect-born disease transmission risk is greatest. Pruning, trimming or even storm damage during the high-risk period can leave wounds on the tree that can invite an oak wilt infection.

Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County, DNR Install New Benches at Portage Marsh

Escanaba, Mich. — Visitors to Portage Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Delta County now have enhanced opportunities to enjoy the scenic shoreline along Lake Michigan. The Michigan DNR Wildlife Division recently installed two new resting benches at the site that were paid for by Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County.

Forty percent of Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County’s annual banquet proceeds go to various projects that range from providing funding for osprey nesting platforms, purple martin houses, spawning habitat for trout, lighting at boating access sites, monarch butterfly tagging, bluebird and bat houses, and much more.

“Half of our things are educational and the other half benefit wildlife, whether it’s birds, fish, anything,” said Ed McCarthy, project coordinator for Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County.

The Portage Marsh Wildlife Management Area is a 600-acre coastal wetland complex in Delta County, located on the shore of Lake Michigan. The area is home to over 100 species of wildlife.

Sportsmen’s Alliance Sues Washington State Over Public Records Request

Columbus, Ohio — On Jan. 28, the Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation sued the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife in state superior court for the department’s alleged withholding of public records in violation of the state’s public records act (PRA).

The Sportsmen’s Alliance initially sought public records in September 2023 pertaining to the business of the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, and the department has yet to deliver the documents it identified as relevant to the Sportsmen’s Alliance’s request, according to a press release from the Ohio-based group.

“Over 500 days have passed, and we’ve received less than 0.01% of the documents the department identified as relevant to our request,” said Todd Adkins, senior vice president at the Sportsmen’s Alliance.

On Nov. 18, 2022, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission held a meeting at which it voted to cancel spring bear hunts. The vote surprised Washington hunters, as the meeting’s agenda did not indicate that the commission would consider a cancellation vote. Ultimately, spring bear hunting in Washington was canceled without providing sportsmen the opportunity to provide meaningful comments, according to the Sportsmen’s Alliance.

The group suspected that members of the commission had violated open public meeting laws that would have allowed the public to know that such an important vote was about to happen. Washington’s PRA requires the department to compile, and release, requested records in a reasonable amount of time.