MUCC Recognizes Jim Hammill for 50 Years of Service to Conservation

Justin Tomei • June 29, 2022

Jim Hammill’s career cannot be summed up in one article.

Through a 1994 New York Times story, we gain some insight into a man whose compassion, leadership and ingenuity are fingerprints spread across Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“His task is to try to preserve the Upper Peninsula as a wolf habitat, which means maintaining adequate prey, chiefly white-tailed deer, while guarding the wolves from their chief predator: man,” the Times read.

Hammill collared wolf number zero one in Michigan in 1992 – the first of the state’s newly-developed wolf recovery plan. 

There are few conservation arcs that replicate what Hammill has accomplished. He served our state’s department of natural resources at a time when it was common to promote the shooting of wolves and offer a bounty on them.

Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) Past President George Lindquist presented the award and recounted being in United States Fish and Wildlife Service meetings with Hammill in the late 90s regarding wolves.

“Jim warned that although hunters were the biggest supporters of having wolves on the landscape, if the DNR fails to manage and control the population, and with the rate of population growth that was happening, public support for wolves in the U.P., would drop right off,” Lindquist said. “Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened.”

Having Hammill’s more than 50 years of experience to lean on is critical for MUCC, said Amy Trotter, executive director.

“Jim’s ability to present scientific data in a way that is understandable, unbiased and uncharged has helped me work through sticky issues during my time here at MUCC,” Trotter said. “ I have appreciated his expert testimony to the current Wolf Management Advisory Council as we deliberated wolf management and it is so important to continue to engage the scientific community in these discussions to counter the misinformation out there.” 

Hammill has held active leadership roles in Safari Club International,  participated in the Michigan Moose Lift to reintroduce moose to Michigan in the 1980s and then was a member of the Michigan Moose Advisory Council and, he serves on the Upper Peninsula Habitat Work Group and regularly advises and consults on natural resources management.

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. 
More Posts