GW:  The kids should love this…

The Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Wildlife Division is offering a fun way for educators to integrate Michigan’s unique flora and fauna into their curriculum while still meeting the required educational standards. Teachers and their students now have an opportunity to experience A Year in the Life of a Michigan Black Bear.

Throughout the school year, students will learn about the life cycle of the Michigan black bear, general black bear biology and behavior, and how the DNR manages and maintains a healthy black bear population. An educator guide with activities and video lessons will be provided.

Classes also will have the chance to “follow” a black bear by using actual data points from a radio-collared bear to track it through its seasonal movements and see what a year in a bear’s life is really like.

This program is free of charge and open to all interested educators of grades 6, 7 and 8. Classes will need access to a computer lab and the internet in order to use the mapping application to follow the bear. Educators also will need access to the internet (YouTube) in their classrooms as well as a projector to make it easier for all students to see the video lessons.

Classrooms that participate in the program will be eligible to enter the Year in the Life of a Bear contest, where students can use what they learned to tell the story of a year in the life of a Michigan black bear. Students can choose to retell the actual journey of the bear they followed or get creative and use the information to interpret a typical bear’s yearly activities. Contest winners will be awarded prizes, provided by the Michigan Bear Hunters Association and the DNR, for their classrooms. Prizes are limited to one per school.

For more information and to sign up, please visit www.michigan.gov/wildlife and click on the “Education” button. Applications are due by Aug. 1 in order to receive the materials for the upcoming school year.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and a consortium of partners announced today that the fungus known to cause significant rates of illness and death in North American bats has been detected for the first time within the state’s borders. White-nose syndrome (WNS) has been found in three Michigan counties: Alpena, Dickinson and Mackinac. Read more

WEST POINT, MS – It’s the time of year for planting spring food plots and one way to ensure a successful crop is proper seed bed preparation. Many planting failures can be attributed to poor seedling survival or lack of germination due to incorrect planting depth and poor seed bed prep.

“If you’re planting small seeds like clover, chicory, brassicas or alfalfa, it’s especially important to have the correct seed covering,” said Jesse Raley with Mossy Oak GameKeepers. “These seeds only need to be covered with about a quarter-inch of soil. Many times when small seeds are broadcast onto a very finely disked and fluffy seed bed, even a moderately heavy rain can cause them to be buried too deep resulting in an uneven stand.” Read more

Looking for an opportunity to get outside and give back to Michigan’s natural resources? On Saturday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., volunteers will gather in Grayling to plant an acre of jack pine seedlings.

The jack pine forest provides the primary nesting habitat for the rarest member of the wood warbler family, the Kirtland’s warbler. Very restrictive habitat requirements result in nests in just a few counties in Michigan’s northern Lower and Upper peninsulas, in Wisconsin and the province of Ontario and, currently, nowhere else on Earth. Kirtland’s warblers are ground-nesters that prefer jack pine stands more than 80 acres in size, where the nest can be concealed in mixed vegetation of grasses and shrubs below the living branches of 5- to 20-year-old trees. Read more