Michigan Mixed Bag: Michigan legislation would limit warrantless searches of private hunting land

Lansing — Michigan hunters and rural landowners could see new protections against warrantless government searches under legislation moving through the state Legislature.

State Rep. David Martin, R-Davison, is pushing legislation that would prohibit Michigan law enforcement officers and state agency employees from relying on the federal “open fields” doctrine to conduct warrantless searches of privately owned land.

House Bill 6128 cleared the House Judiciary Committee and was set to move forward in the legislative process. The federal doctrine generally allows authorities to enter and search open areas outside the immediate surroundings of a home without a warrant, even when the property is privately owned or posted.

For hunters, the issue can be especially significant because hunting properties often include large wooded areas, fields and wetlands located well beyond a home or other buildings. Martin said the legislation would strengthen private-property protections by requiring government officials to obtain a warrant when conducting searches, subject to existing legal exceptions.

The issue has drawn attention in Michigan following disputes involving DNR conservation officers and private landowners.

The legislation comes amid a broader debate in Lansing over the balance between conservation enforcement, hunting regulations and private-property rights.

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Revised MiHunt Map is Live for Hunting Season

Lansing — Michigan hunters are being reminded by the DNR that the agency has launched a new version of MiHunt, the state’s interactive map of lands open to public hunting.

Available at Michigan.gov/MiHunt, the revised map allows hunters to turn on each layer themselves, allowing them to know exactly what they are looking at and why it is there. Some layers hunters can switch on include:

• Species management unit boundaries.

• Cover type layers showing forest makeup.

• Land management agencies.

• Special hunting areas, including Hunting Access Program properties, Turkey Tracts and Grouse Enhanced Management Sites.

“We wanted hunters to build their own adventure rather than be handed a finished one,” said Sarah Mayhew, a data specialist for the DNR Wildlife Division. “The map opens with lands open to public hunting and nothing else. Everything beyond that is up to you.”

Hunters can also bring their own information to the map. MiHunt now accepts imported spatial data, so a hunter can add a property boundary, a set of waypoints or last season’s tracks and view it alongside DNR-provided layers. Imported data is visible only to the person who adds it.

Hunters who would like help reading or interpreting it can call 517-284-9453 or email DNR-Wildlife@Michigan.gov.

State Targets 152,000 Acres of Forest in UP

Lansing — Michigan officials are taking aim at one of the largest remaining blocks of privately owned forest in the Upper Peninsula, pursuing a $50 million conservation agreement designed to keep more than 152,000 acres from being carved up for development.

The proposed Great Lakes Basin project would stretch from the Rock River Canyon Wilderness near Lake Superior south to the Stonington Peninsula and west across Menominee County. The Michigan DNR says the conservation easement would protect the large, contiguous forest from fragmentation while allowing it to remain a working timberland.

The land is owned by Lyme Great Lakes Timberland, which has sold more than 52,000 acres since 2019. Some of those parcels have been developed for homes and hunting camps, raising concerns about further fragmentation of the region’s forests. The proposed easement would protect more than 20,000 acres of deer wintering habitat and about 11,500 acres of wetlands. The property also contains 231 miles of rivers and streams, 91 inland lakes and nearly 10 miles of the North Country National Scenic Trail.

The project would be funded primarily through a $37.5 million federal Forest Legacy Program grant, with the remaining $12.5 million coming from state sources.

The DNR has applied for Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund dollars to cover its share.