MUCC August Policy Insider

Justin Tomei • August 16, 2022

MUCC

Our traditional email campaigns have proven to be a valuable and effective tool for reaching legislators, but our tracking shows that text messages to our members prove to be an even more effective method of communication.

If you click this link , fill out the form with your cell phone number, make sure both boxes are checked at the bottom, click submit. After that you will get an automated text, respond with YES, and you are all set. 

State Issues

The Coalition to Protect Michigan’s Resources (CPMR), of which MUCC is a member, filed a motion in federal court in July to intervene in the ongoing Great Lakes Consent Decree Negotiations. CPMR believes “the Great Lakes fishery resources are threatened through the abandonment of sound biological principles that we believe should guide decisions related to the fishery, abandonment of a roughly 50-50 shared allocation of the fishery set forth in the 2000 Decree and and abandonment of terms from the 2000 Decree that have allowed tribal commercial and state recreational fisheries to coexist for decades.” A hearing on the motion is scheduled for August 25th.  

Public comment on the proposed expansion of Camp Grayling is still open, and members of the public should get their comments submitted by the end of August. MUCC opposes the expansion of Camp Grayling except in a national emergency, per a 1989 policy resolution.

Legislature

The legislature has limited calendar days until lame duck begins after the November election.

Natural Resources Commission

At MUCC’s June convention its members unanimously passed a resolution reaffirming the organization’s belief in an independent, transparent, Natural Resource Commission. MUCC authored a blog on the issues driving that resolution which can be found here . 

The August NRC meeting in Detroit saw MUCC ask the NRC for Michigan turkey hunters to have the ability to purchase a second turkey tag during the 234 hunt period. A number of fisheries orders are also up for consideration this fall. The September meeting will be back in Lansing on September 8, 2022.

Federal

The Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management passed the House in December , and a Senate version of the bill was introduced in late April. The bill has been languishing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry chaired by Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow. MUCC has begun an action alert urging Senator Stabenow to hold a hearing on the bill as soon as possible. That action alert can be found here . 

Recent Posts

May 2025 NRC Recap

By Justin Tomei • May 8, 2025
The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) met for their May meeting today at Lansing Community College West Campus. The commission voted to return antlered opportunities to the Independence and Liberty hunts at the May Natural Resources Commission meeting. The amendment to restore this opportunity passed after Commissioner Walters withdrew his amendment from April to only partially restore antlered opportunity during these hunts. MUCC testified for the complete restoration of antlered opportunity during these two hunts, per a member passed policy from our 2025 Annual Convention. The commission also voted on, and ultimately accepted, a proposal to allow archery antlerless take in the high snowfall zone in the Upper Peninsula. Additionally, the commission also chose to leave on the table and postpone indefinitely the order to reopen the illegally partially closed coyote season. This prevents the order from dying after today's meeting and makes it eligible for action at a later date. This amendment will remain postponed until the June meeting at the earliest.  MUCC has created the Coyote Coalition to assist in unifying the voice of conservationists in support of Proposal G. To join the Coyote Coalition, visit https://www.mucc.org/coyotecoalition . The commission did adopt proposed fall turkey regulations unanimously. The June commission meeting is Thursday, June 12 in Bay City. To ensure our natural resources remain protected and managed thoughtfully and our outdoor heritage defended, join Michigan United Conservation Clubs today: http://bit.ly/JoinMUCC .

On The Ground: Volunteers at the Annual Jack Pine Planting Day

By Olivia Triltsch • May 8, 2025
In total, volunteers improved about 6 acres of habitat and planted around 6,000 trees in this stand to continue regeneration.

On the Ground Junior: Spring Event Recap

By Katelyn Helsel • May 7, 2025
Our student volunteers have been hard at work improving wildlife habitat on public lands! MUCC’s On the Ground Junior (OTG Jr.) program, a subset of the On the Ground program, is a fully funded field trip program that brings grade-school classrooms into the outdoors to improve fish and wildlife habitat in their local communities. Through activities like native plantings, brush pile building, and invasive species removal, students gain hands-on experience with conservation and positively impact the world around them. Students also participate in educational activities like predator-prey tag to teach them about population dynamics and other natural resources concepts. So far this spring season, MUCC welcomed 69 students, teachers, and chaperones who participated in multiple OTG Jr projects with more on the way! In total, they improved over 12 acres of wildlife habitat. Read on for a recap of each OTG Jr project and see what all our awesome student volunteers have been up to. 
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