Commercial Guiding Bills: What’s Myth and What’s Fact?
The Senate Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee passed out an MUCC-supported commercial guiding package (SBs 103,104 and 105) today. Commercial guiding in Michigan is woefully unregulated. Nothing in state law prevents a serial poacher or felon from guiding. For more than 10 years, Michigan United Conservation Clubs has worked to provide much-needed sideboards for an…
Read MoreOn the Ground: Volunteers remove thousands of feet of old barbed wire from Potterville State Game Area
On Saturday, May 20, 11 volunteers joined MUCC’s On the Ground (OTG) program in partnership with Eaton Conservation District and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to remove old, degraded barbed wire fencing at Potterville State Game Area in Eaton County. This small but mighty crew removed approximately 10,000 feet of barbed wire from the…
Read MoreBrush Hour! Reese Middle School Volunteers Remove Invasive Vegetation and Build Brush Piles at Denmark Township State Game Area
On Wednesday, May 10, 32 students and faculty from the Reese Middle School Out-of-Doors Club participated in MUCC’s On the Ground Jr. program. Students cleared invasive vegetation from Denmark Township State Game Area and built brush piles as part of a grassland improvement project. This grassland is home to various wildlife from ring-necked pheasants and…
Read MoreSenate guiding bills to provide data, prevent poachers from guiding
Senate Bills 103, 104, 105 Quick Hits: Currently, Michigan has little regulation for inland hunting and fishing guides. Nothing stops someone from guiding who has been convicted of egregious wildlife violations. Guide data reporting would be required to help manage our natural resources. Commercial guiding regulation has been a priority of the conservation community for…
Read MoreOn the Ground celebrates 200th habitat improvement project in the Manistee National Forest
On the Ground, MUCC’s volunteer stewardship and habitat improvement program, celebrated its 200th habitat improvement project in Manistee County this past weekend. In a partnership project with the US Forest Service, Cadillac-Manistee Ranger District and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division, volunteers planted more than one thousand native wildflower plugs in a restored…
Read MoreMay NRC Recap
The deer hunting regulatory cycle began in earnest at the May Natural Resource Commission (NRC) meeting. Chad Stewart, Michigan DNR deer and elk specialist laid out a number of proposed regulation changes which can be found in his presentation HERE. Wildlife Conservation Order #7 of 2023 lays out the proposals and associated regulatory language. MUCC…
Read MoreOn the Ground Spring Update
It’s been a busy spring field season for On the Ground! Since April 1, 267 volunteers have joined us in improving more than 69 acres of wildlife habitat on public land throughout the Lower Peninsula. On Saturday, April 29, volunteers gathered at Port Huron State Game Area to improve edge-habitat within woodcock openings in the…
Read MoreOn the Ground Junior: Grand Traverse Academy students provide unBEElievable habitat improvement in Benize County
On Thursday, May 4, 2023, 74 middle school students and faculty from the Grand Traverse Academy in Traverse City volunteered to improve wildlife habitat in the Little Betsie Grouse Enhanced Management Site (GEMS) in Benize County. Students rotated through four different stations where they completed activities relating to wildlife and habitat. At one station students…
Read MoreMay NRC Preview
Deer regulations will be on the agenda for the May 11 Natural Resources Commission (NRC) meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 9 am, Thursday, May 11, at 5708 Cornerstone Drive Lansing, MI 48917, West Campus Rooms M119-121. Wildlife Conservation Order Amendment #7 of 2023 is up for information at the May meeting, proposing changes to…
Read MoreWhat does the DNR and National Guard’s Camp Grayling agreement really mean?
The announcement of a counter-proposal to the National Guard’s request for leasing an additional 162,000 acres has left some with more questions than answers. On April 21, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Guard. A week later, the DNR announced that it rejected the 162,000-acre…
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