Michigan: DNR to Replace Newberry Facilities With Mass-Timber Buildings
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will use mass timber – an innovative technology to build large buildings from wood – to construct a $5 million facility in Newberry.
The new building, still in the design stages, will house both the DNR’s customer service center and field offices in Newberry, in the eastern Upper Peninsula. Current facilities are outdated. The new building will include about 10,000 square feet of office space, 16,500 square feet of garage space and a community room that will be available for public use. Funding was approved when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the fiscal year 2021 budget last week. Read more
RIVERTON, Wyo. (Oct. 5, 2020) Time to get your grill ready because Hi Mountain Seasonings, the flavor leader in jerky and seasonings, is launching its “Steak Lover’s Bundle Giveaway” promotion today. One lucky winner will walk away with a steak package that includes two bottles of Original Steak Western Style Seasonings, Steak Rub, Merlot with Garlic & Rosemary Finishing Sauce, Pinot Noir with Garlic & Honey Finishing Sauce, Soy Ginger Marinade, Zesty Western Marinade a wireless thermometer to ensure the steak is cooked to perfection every time.
Entering to win is simple. Simply go to the Hi Mountain Seasonings Facebook page, and click on the promotion or just CLICK HERE. When prompted, fill in your name and email address and you are entered. One entry per person. All entries must be completed by midnight on October 30th. One entry per person, but everyone will be given an opportunity for more entries. When you enter you will be given a unique share URL. When a new participant enters the Giveaway via that unique URL, the original participant will be given additional entries. The winner will be announced on the website and notified via email. Read more
Due to COVID-19, we were not able to have our LIVE Auction that is normally only available to attendees at our annual business conference. This year we are holding the auction online using GalaBid and extending the event to POMA’s friends and family. The auction will begin October 1st at 11 am EST and will close October 15th at 9 pm EST. We have some amazing items available, and are so thankful to all the participants from across our industry that have donated items. There may even be some new items joining the auction block during the event. Read more
Welcome youth photographers! The CMP would like to announce a contest for all junior athletes, to define the shooting sports through their lenses.
The shooting sports mean something different to all of us, but we can all agree that they certainly have some sort of impact on our lives. We would like to see how the shooting sports have impacted yours, whether through the People who have influenced you, the Places where you grow as a competitor or through the Things that you use.
This competition is all about your personal views of the shooting sports and we would love to see the variety and positivity that shooting has brought to the lives of our young supporters.
The CMP Photography Contest will begin Wednesday, September 30, and run through Sunday, November 15.
During that time, you may submit your photo(s) with a small caption of what the photograph captures in your eyes. You may submit one photograph in every category (People, Places, Things). All photos that are submitted by November 15 will be pre-selected by CMP Staff, with the top 25 in each category released for voting on our Facebook page by all of our athletes and fans. Voting will end on Monday, November 30.
In order to enter, simply snap a photo and without major editing (you may adjust minor color, exposure, contrast, dust corrects), send it to JSlosnerick@thecmp.org, with a maximum size of 4MB. (Please keep the original photo – we may request access to that at a later time.) Read more
The Leading Outdoor Enthusiast Marketplace Teams With 12 Survivors to Create A World Class Survival Kit 50% Off Retail Pricing
The Woodlands, Texas – Everest.com, the nation’s first outdoor lifestyle-focused, multi-merchant marketplace announced today that the company has teamed with 12 Survivors to create and offer a top-notch survival package to Everest Caliber members, with free shipping, at an almost $100 discount.
The Personal Survival Package features all the innovative gear you need to get you through an unexpected adventure or a last-minute overnight expedition. Each package comes equipped with supplies by 12 Survivors including an Ignite-110 Headlamp, 20F Sleeping Bag, Ultra Mini First Aid Kit, a Sharp & Spark fire starter and Pocket Water Purifier. Read more
DNR partners with Circle Power to repurpose former mine sites as large-scale solar power operations
Circle Power of Royal Oak has been awarded a 5-year land lease agreement with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to develop large-scale solar arrays on two former mine sites.
“Enabling opportunities for cost-effective, renewable energy is good for the environment, for Michigan’s beautiful outdoor spaces, and for the people of Michigan,” said DNR Director Dan Eichinger.
“Our department is entrusted with taking the best possible care of the state’s natural resources and creating quality outdoor experiences. It is just as important that we do our part to foster the development of renewable energy sources that will provide new sources of power for northern Michigan, increase local tax bases and repurpose old mining sites for greater public benefit.”
The two sites to be developed for solar power include the Groveland Mine in Dickinson County, a former 347-acre iron mine tailings site gifted to the state and 7 Mile Pit in Crawford County, a 169-acre property previously use for sand and gravel mining the state acquired through tax reversion.
The two projects will be developed through Circle Power’s affiliate, Copper Country Power I, LLC. Circle Power is backed by Amber Infrastructure and its U.S. parent, Hunt Companies, Inc.
The energy produced at these sites would supplement, or help to replace, current nonrenewable forms of energy generation, like oil, gas and other fossil fuels. The projects would continue Michigan’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and lowering energy costs by moving to renewable energy sources.
“We look forward to working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on the 7 Mile Pit and Groveland Mine projects,” said Jordan Roberts, managing partner at Circle Power. “This is an important opportunity to provide low-cost power to Michigan residents while supporting the state’s renewable energy goals.”
At this early stage in the development process, it is unclear how long it would be before construction of the arrays would be completed.
Both these sites are located on land used by industry and left in a degraded condition. Building large-scale solar arrays on these properties is one means of revitalizing these underused places.
Criteria for establishing these sites included open lands with minimal forest cover, no conflicts with rare, threatened and endangered species or sensitive ecosystems, and consistent with local zoning plans and ordinances.
In June, the DNR put out a request for proposals, with Utopian Power, LLC of South Lyon and Telamon Enterprise Ventures, LLC of Carmel, Indiana responding, in addition to Copper Country Power I, LLC.
A DNR joint evaluation committee reviewed the proposals. Award recommendation was made based on which bidder offered the best value to the state of Michigan.
“An installed project could provide $50,000-$100,000 per year in lease payments to the DNR in addition to generating state and local revenue through property taxes,” Roberts said.
Michigan Energy Options, an East Lansing non-profit organization under contract with the DNR, worked on evaluating the proposal. The firm has assisted the DNR with the technical aspects of understanding solar energy.
“The potential development of two former mining sites for large-scale solar power, in my opinion, checks all the boxes,” said John A. Kinch, executive director of Michigan Energy Options. “The siting doesn’t negatively affect the natural lands and waters the DNR manages and, further, it is a great reuse of industrial legacy properties. It doesn’t affect private landholdings. What the project does do is to drive the creation of more clean, renewable energy in Michigan, with the DNR leading by example. My nonprofit is excited to be working on these and future projects with the DNR.”
NEWTOWN, Conn. – NSSF®, the trade association for the firearm industry, tonight expressed its strong support for President Donald Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to become an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We are pleased to lend our support to President Trump’s nomination of Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court and urge the Senate to approve her nomination as expeditiously as possible,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “We are confident Judge Barrett will serve our nation with distinction as an Associate Justice of our nation’s highest court and her service will reaffirm the importance of originalist jurists when protecting the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.”
About NSSF
NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.
The Trump administration announced yesterday that it would restrict the import of certain products from the Xinjiang region of China due to forced labor and human rights concerns.
Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mark Morgan announced the issuance of Withhold Release Orders (WROs) to detain imports suspected of being made with forced labor from the following entities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China:
Xinjiang Junggar Cotton and Linen Co. and its subsidiaries – Cotton
Hefei Bitland Information Technology Co. – Computer parts
Yili Zhuowan Garment Manufacturing Co. – Apparel products
Baoding LYSZD Trade and Business Co. – Apparel products
Lop County No. 4 Vocational Skills Education and Training Center – All products
Lop County Hair Product Industrial Park – Hair products
This action is the latest in the administration’s effort to combat forced labor and other human rights violations in the Xinjiang region, home to China’s Muslim Uyghur community. In July, the administration listed the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) as a specially designated national (SDN) under U.S. sanctions laws enforced by the Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC) by the Treasury Department; this bars all transactions that benefit the XPCC or its subsidiaries and affiliates with a 50-percent-or-greater controlling share by XPCC. The Commerce Department has also placed companies connected to the Xinjiang region on its Entity List subject to technology export controls. Read more
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association
Attracting and holding wildlife requires a few basic ingredients: food, cover, and water. Fortunately, most Michigan deer hunters have little trouble locating habitat that produces at least one of these necessities, and therefore, whitetail deer. However, if one wants an edge, food plots can tip the scales. In the process of establishing these magnetic environments, things don’t always go as planned.
To minimize the use of herbicides is a worthy goal for many reasons; to do so takes work. Herbicides, such as glyphosate, have the ability to cut time afield, as opposed to tilling repeatedly from spring to planting time in August for fall food plots. Applying only one spray before planting would mean I’d have to count on my 72 year-old Ford 8n tractor to do its part.
The work began in early spring before the weeds were able to fight back. The old tractor has a weak battery that should have been replaced long ago, but my innate cheapness coaxes it to cooperate with the assistance of a trickle charger. Two of the tires need a shot of air. Check, check.
Out to the field where the 6-foot disk harrow would chop, cut, and pummel the weeds into oblivion – at least for a little while. The process would be repeated numerous times through spring and summer before the weeds gained an upper hand. Along the way, fertilizer and lime were broadcast
1956 Allis Chalmers IB with rigged spreader
and allowed to break down well in advance of planting time.
Unfortunately, my ATV is temporarily out of commission, so I called on another old tractor to step up. My 1956 Allis Chalmers IB is an industrial tractor, not typically suited for field use, but I’d have to give it a go to keep on schedule. After all, it’s the only machine I have that can power the electric motor of the spreader with its 12-volt configuration. With a bit of redneck engineering, it worked as planned – not counting the soft soil where the turf tires almost failed to plod through.
To seed the first part of August means a certain amount of management is in order to pull it off.
A look at turnip seed inside the hand spreader
One last disk operation in July followed by some finer grooming with drag implements made to “fit” the field were successful.
Then, it was time to wait for the weeds to germinate, so they could be zapped with the glyphosate. The idea was to get the field as “clean” as possible. Again, the old Allis was rigged with a sprayer sitting atop a carrier attached to the receiver. To make the sprayer fan out properly, it had to be at the correct height. Success was gained again and the job was complete on August 1st.
Once the spray was dry, I became the motor for a broadcast seed spreader strapped onto my shoulders and walked the plots and cranked the handle. Then, before the pending rain washed out our plans, my pal, Joe, pulled an 8-foot cultipacker behind the old Ford and pushed the seed into the soil.
The timing couldn’t have been better, as Mother Nature pitched in with the missing ingredient: rain. Although we’ve had some hot and dry weather since, enough of the precious liquid from above has made this attempt at farming a success, as evidenced by the healthy brassicas. Believe it or not, the seed had begun germinating in less than 48 hours and nothing will stop it now – except those nibbling deer. But, that’s the whole idea.
Brassica foliage trimmed by deer. Plants less than one month old.
Known for its quiet serenity, scenic lake, 5-mile walking trail, bird-watching opportunities and many other draws, Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve in Brooklyn, Michigan, now also will be recognized for its connection to the Underground Railroad.
The National Park Service recently accepted Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve into the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Such designation is aimed at the places with significant ties to the Underground Railroad, the effort of enslaved African Americans to become free by flight from their bondage.
The Watkins Farm was owned by early settler Royal Watkins (1788-1876), who was fervently opposed to slavery. From the time the farm was established in 1834, Royal Watkins and his wife Sally employed African and Native Americans. One employee was John White, formerly known as Felix White, who had escaped enslavement in Kentucky and was the target of an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt.
The plot to capture John Felix White began in the fall of 1847. Kentucky slave-trader George Brasher assembled seven men to help locate and capture White. They had been told they’d find White working at the Watkins Farm. Instead, with the help of the area’s most prominent Underground Railroad activist Laura Smith Haviland, John White escaped capture. The man the Kentuckians found working in the field was a white field hand sent out in disguise. When confronted, Royal Watkins said, “I suppose he is in Canada, as I took him, with his trunk, to the depot, yesterday, for that country.” Read more
