Birmingham, AL: For 2016, Browning Trail Cameras has taken their highly celebrated and versatile Dark Ops series camera and made it even better. For this year, the Dark Ops Elite HD trail cameras have had a number of new features added to improve the trail camera experience while continuing to be one of the most versatile and valuable cameras on the market.The first of these upgrades that you will notice is that their proprietary camouflage pattern has been enhanced by including elements of both branches and foliage to improve your ability to conceal the cameras. Then, the design team took already optimal trigger speeds and recovery times and made both of them even faster to take the performance level of these cameras even higher. So moving into 2016, these cameras will now have trigger speeds of four-tenths of a second and less than one-and-a-half second recovery times. Read more

Nearly absent from much of Michigan due to the effects of DDT, other pesticides and habitat loss, Michigan’s osprey population continues to rebound. In southern Michigan, monitoring efforts are in place to track the revitalization of this species.

This year, four osprey chicks from area nests were outfitted with “backpack” GPS telemetry units, funded by Huron Valley Audubon with donations from DTE Energy and a private donor. The GPS backpacks will help scientists track the young birds’ daily movements and seasonal migration patterns.

The chicks were hatched on platforms at Kensington Metropark, Pointe Mouillee State Game Area and the Strong Unit of the Detroit International Wildlife Refuge and on a cellular tower in Milford. Crews from MD Tower Services, Newkirk-Electric and Earthcom Inc. climbed the towers in order to access the chicks for both banding and transmitter deployment. Brad Pieczarka also assisted with climbing. Read more

Officials at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park have announced the temporary closure for safety reasons of 10 backcountry campsites and three backcountry cabins in the wake of this week’s torrential rainstorms.A map graphic shows the area where the storm damage has occurred at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park.The cabins and campsites are scheduled to reopen July 28. Read more

Young man pours bag of seed into seed drill

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced that the application period is now open for the Deer Private Land Assistance Network (Deer PLAN) grant program.

A total of $50,000 is available, through a competitive grant process, to support private-land deer habitat improvement projects in the northern Lower Peninsula. The focus area for 2017 will include Alcona, Alpena, Crawford, Montmorency, Oscoda and Presque Isle counties.

“The focus area concentrates habitat projects in a region to provide greater benefits to deer hunters in areas where habitat issues have been identified,” said DNR Deer Program biologist Ashley Autenrieth. Read more

Upcoming meeting to detail available cost-sharing programsPrivate landowners interested in helping to maintain or improve Upper Peninsula deer wintering habitat can learn more about the subject and cost-share programs available to aid in those efforts at an upcoming meeting the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has scheduled for July 20. Read more

Birmingham, AL- For the upcoming 2016 season, if you’re looking to hit a “home run” with your trail cameras, Browning Trail Cameras has taken their “best of the best” high-end trail cameras and made them even better. For 2016, the Platinum Series Recon Force FHD trail cameras have been equipped with a series of new features designed to ensure that Browning Trail Cameras will remain some of the best purchases you can make when gearing up for your hunting season.The first big change a customer can see on a Platinum Recon Force FHD camera is that Browning Trail Camera’s revolutionary camouflage pattern has been made better by adding elements of both branches and foliage to improve your ability to conceal the cameras. Then, the design team took the easy to use set-up feature and made it even more user-friendly by adding a 2-inch color monitor that makes it easier to navigate the menu options while also allowing the user to check both images and videos while in the field. With that said, one of the more overlooked uses of this feature is that it makes it so much easier toyou’re your camera exactly where you want it because the monitor will display a live feed of what the camera is seeing when your first turn on your camera. Read more

To accomplish its mission, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been aided greatly by enlisting the invaluable help of volunteers. The state’s holdings are too vast and the task is too big for the agency to handle all on its own.That DNR mission is the commitment to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. Read more