I heard a news report on the radio the other day that said a poached wolf had been found in Chippewa County. It struck me as curious because I’d never tried poached wolf – I’ve always had mine roasted. I’m just kidding, of course, and while I merely rolled my eyes at the strange wording in the news report, I…
It must have been a warm day just before the first lake-effect snows turned the world white for the winter. It must have been during the time my wife lit the fireplace for atmosphere rather than extra heat.That’s when the invitation must have been given to me to come to Marquette and Munising for a week of “silent sports.”Perhaps it…
Have you ever noticed that when certain interest groups whine about the use of public forests, it’s always the hunters who are shoved to the side?Think about it – when was the last time you were at a meeting about forest improvement or discussing trails in a group when you heard a hunter stand up and say, “I think this…
I remember when I got my first Penn 9M reels decades ago. They were “hand-me-downs” from an elderly friend who grew too old to captain his own boat and became one of my regular fishing partners. I was excited, because they were the first “real” reels on my boat. With them, I could hook onto any fish in Lake Michigan…
With all the problems facing our state right now, you have to wonder about a guy who would waste our time with an idea like that being proposed by State Rep. David Agema. Agema (R-Grandville) is seeking to divert 80 percent of the cash generated by the Michigan Natural Resource Trust Fund. He has proposed three bills that would put…
Gun hunting and snowmobiling could be outlawed on over 66,000 acres of the Huron-Manistee National Forest if the regional forester in charge of managing those public resources decides that’s the best management strategy for the area. The H-MNF is presently undergoing a court-mandated review of the Huron-Manistee Land and Resource Management Plan.The Forest Service approved the plan in 2006, but…
By the time you read this, Governor Jennifer Granholm may have already signed a law to allow the state Natural Resources Commission to establish Michigan’s first moose hunt. The governor has signaled her intent to sign a bill put before her as one of her last items of business as she leaves office, but you never know. For the good…
I walked into the barn room and was taken back by the stark emptiness This is the room where I finish the furs I take from my trap line. At the beginning of the season there are just a few pelts, but more are added each day. Soon, the room seems crowded with the dried skins of coyotes, raccoons, muskrats…
Helena, Montana (AP) – A federal judge has reinstated protections for wolves in Montana and Idaho, saying the government made a political decision in removing the protections from just two of the states where Northern Rocky Mountain wolves roam. The decision halts wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho this fall. Montana wildlife regulators last month set the wolf-hunt quota at…
Traverse City, Mich. (AP) – A 3-foot-long Asian carp discovered in a Chicago waterway near Lake Michigan appears to have spent most of its life there and may have been planted by humans who didn't know what type of fish it was or the environmental risk it posed, researchers said Thursday. Tests of chemical markers in the bighead carp suggest…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said earlier this afternoon that it has no plans to restrict waterfowl harvest quotas for the 2010 hunting seasons due to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Waterfowlers across the country have been monitoring the habitat damage the oil leak is causing in the Gulf, and with good reason. Waterfowl, shorebirds, neo-tropical…
DNRE Report Gladwin, Mich. — A Gladwin man was sentenced recently before Judge W. Clayton Graham in 92nd District Court in St. Ignace on one count of illegally killing a gray wolf. Michael Greaves, 47, was found guilty and ordered to pay $500 in fines and costs, along with $1,500 in restitution. His hunting privileges were also suspended for one…
DNRE Report Gaylord, Mich. — The Department of Natural Resources and Environment will host an open house on Tuesday, July 27, to provide information and receive public comment on proposed forest management treatments for 2012 in the Pigeon River Country Management Unit. The open house will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Pigeon River Country Headquarters office,…
DNRE Report The Department of Natural Resources and Environment will hold a pair of meetings to provide information regarding recently proposed antler restrictions for deer hunters in Deer Management Unit (DMU) 487. Meetings are scheduled for: — June 22, 7 to 9 p.m., at the Harrisville Township Hall, 114 S. Poor Farm Rd. (located off of M-72, two miles west…
Lansing — Licensed hunters and landowners may now take feral hogs at any time, since a package of bills has been signed by Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment announced today. Hunters or individuals with concealed-carry permits may take swine running loose on public land or on private land with landowner permission. Landowners may take hogs…
Lansing — Now that most fishing seasons have opened, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment reminds anglers that the use of salmon eggs or minnows for bait is restricted in some waters as part of a strategy to slow the spread of viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS). Anglers who purchase spawn or minnows for bait should make sure it is certified…
Lansing — A series of statewide public meetings will be held on proposed changes to trout fishing regulations to give anglers a chance to provide input on the draft plan. A copy of the draft plan is available online to review at www.michigan.gov/dnrfishing . A year ago, the DNRE’s Fisheries Division presented a proposal to the public for modifying regulations governing…
HERE WE GO AGAIN. Last year, Rep. Joel Sheltrown (D- West Branch) introduced a bill that would force the DNRE to sell 475 acres of prime forestland in Iosco County’s Oscoda Township to an individual for the purpose of developing a golf course. The bill passed the House, but lost steam in the Senate. Now an identical bill, SB 730, has been introduced in the…
Traverse City, Mich. — The Department of Natural Resources and Environment will host an open house for the Traverse City area on Wednesday, June 30, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the DNRE’s Traverse City Field Office, located at 970 Emerson Rd. in Traverse City. The purpose of the open house is to provide information and receive public comment on proposed…
Lansing — The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has adopted its first-ever comprehensive statewide deer management plan designed to guide management decisions into the future. The plan is the result of more than two years of effort by DNRE staff and deer management partners from around the state. The Deer Advisory Team, a group composed of 24 representatives of groups…
DNRE Report Lansing — The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for authority to use lethal methods to control problem wolves. “The grey wolf has been fully recovered in Michigan, and the state has demonstrated its ability to wisely manage this species,” said DNRE Wildlife Division Chief Russ Mason. “We are in the…
Lansing — The early breakup of winter across the state has triggered a fever that’s impacting over 100,000 residents. It’s called turkey fever and it’s brought on by melting snow, warming temperatures and greening grasses. Those affected complain of an itchy trigger finger and a burning desire to head out into the woods with a locator call in hand in…
Gaylord, Mich. (AP) — A judge in Otsego County has thrown out a case against a man charged under Michigan’s ban on baiting and feeding deer in the Lower Peninsula, saying the ban is too vague. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment that it’s not clear whether the ruling Thursday by 87th District Court Judge Patricia Morse effects…
Lansing, Mich. — Late last month, HB 5481 cleared both the state House and Senate and was sent to the Governor’s office for final approval. The bill allows anglers to possess, in addition to one day’s limit of fish, an additional two days’ possession limit of fish that are either frozen, canned in a sealed container, or cured by smoking or…
As spring brings the season for wildlife to give birth, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment reminds Michigan residents to resist the instinct to try to help seemingly abandoned fawns or other baby animals. “The truth is, the animal doesn’t need help – even if a fawn appears to be abandoned, its mother is almost always nearby,” said DNRE…
AP Environmental Writer Traverse City, Mich. (AP) — An initial six-week mission to catch and kill Asian carp lurking on the Great Lakes’ doorstep turned up none of the despised fish, suggesting few if any have eluded an electric barrier designed to block their path to Lake Michigan, officials said recently. Beginning in mid-February, teams of biologists and commercial fishermen…
