The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will host the 30th annual Saginaw Bay Waterfowl & Outdoor Festival Saturday, Aug. 2, and Sunday, Aug. 3, at Bay City State Park.

With family-focused amenities like food trucks, bounce houses and activities for kids, the festival highlights the Saginaw Bay’s world-class migratory waterfowl destinations, the sport of waterfowl hunting and wetland conservation.

The festival runs 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday. Event admission is free, but a Recreation Passport is required for all vehicles entering the park.

“The Saginaw Bay region is a unique natural area with wetland habitats that attract tens of thousands of migratory birds each year,” DNR field operations manager Nate Levitte said. “This is a great opportunity to experience the arts, skills and traditions of waterfowl hunting. Whether you’re interested in waterfowl hunting, birding, wildlife watching or environmental conservation, the Saginaw Bay Waterfowl & Outdoor Festival is the perfect place to connect with the waterfowl heritage that makes this region special.” Read more

July 21, 2025

People using the Chippewa Hills Pathway trail system, near Alpena, over the next five years likely will notice timber harvest activity and changes to the landscape. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is sharing highlights and background to keep the public informed about what to expect, as work is anticipated to get underway as early as this week.

Key points 

• Planned harvests include aspen and oak clear-cuts, oak clear-cuts, thinning of red pine and irregular thinning of oak-aspen stands.
• Sections of the trail system will be closed at some times during harvest operations.
• Clear-cuts are a strategic and effective forest management tool that can promote forest health and help limit the spread of invasive species.
• More info on the specifics of trail section closures will be posted at the north and south trailheads and updated as harvesting progresses.

Background

Planned harvests along the Chippewa Hills Pathway over the next five years include aspen clear-cuts, oak clear-cuts, thinning of red pine and irregular thinning of oak-aspen stands. Read more

The Eastern Arizona Counties Organization (ECO) has made an important contribution of $25,000 to support the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s (AZGFD) Range Rider Program that is directed by the department’s Mexican Wolf Interagency Field Team.

Created in 1993, ECO includes Apache, Cochise, Gila, Graham, Greenlee and Navajo counties. The ECO counties have developed a leading role in natural resources and public lands management issues in eastern Arizona, including forest and watershed restoration, travel management and public land access, threatened and endangered species management, rural economic development, and recreation issues.

“The Arizona Game and Fish Department and its conservation partners are grateful to ECO for their support of the Range Rider Program,” said Jim deVos, AZGFD Mexican wolf coordinator. “One of the key activities AZGFD engages in is reducing livestock production/wolf recovery conflicts on the shared landscapes. Based on the number of documented depredations since 2019, when range riding was initiated, we have seen a decline in depredations which I believe can rightfully be attributed to the Range Rider Program.” Read more

A mountain biker safely managed a close encounter with a bear while riding on the Starry Goat Trail on national forestland near Troy last week.

The incident occurred when the biker, riding alone, noticed a bear approaching along the trail. The biker quickly dismounted, retrieved bear spray from his bike’s water bottle cage, and discharged it when the bear came within range. The bear reacted immediately, retreating approximately 20 yards into the woods. The bear sat at the base of a tree and the biker rode off without further incident. Thankfully, no injuries were reported. The bear’s exact species remains unconfirmed, though the biker believed it was a grizzly bear based on its characteristics.

The Starry Goat Trail, located off Callahan Creek Road west of Troy, remains open but users are urged to remain cautious of possible bear activity. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff set up cameras on the trail to try and identify the bear but did not see any activity and recently pulled the cameras. Read more

The following news release was issued earlier today by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
July 15, 2025
Media contact: Lynsey Mukomel, 517-290-1734

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) is reminding Michiganders to be on the lookout for the invasive spotted lanternfly.

“Spotted lanternfly is a persistent nuisance in outdoor spaces,” said MDARD Director Tim Boring. “By staying informed and reporting sightings in areas without confirmed populations, Michiganders play a vital role in supporting our collective efforts to slow the spread of this invasive pest and safeguard the environment.”

As of July 2025, spotted lanternfly populations have been confirmed across southeastern Michigan, including parts of Lenawee, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, and Wayne counties. Residents of these counties do not need to report sightings, but should:

• Stay calm. Spotted lanternfly does not pose a risk to human or animal health.
• Consider contacting an arborist who is a certified pesticide applicator for information about appropriate treatment methods if there is a large infestation on your property.
• Focus pest management in areas where spotted lanternfly is most abundant.
• Be diligent if you choose to apply pesticide yourself. Always follow the instructions on the pesticide label and wear appropriate personal protective equipment.

Michiganders who live in areas without confirmed populations should:

• Take photos. Photos are necessary to verify a report and aid in identification.
• Provide details. Note the date, time and location of the sighting.
• Report it. Submit a report of your sighting online using?the Eyes in the Field tool. Read more

Contact: Nick Van Bloem, 517-388-7043

GW:  Read along to understand how Joe Biden’s plan to grow our national debt has come to fruition.  My favorite park, Rifle River Recreation Area, gets an upgrade to glampers; however, not a dime went toward clearing the fallen ash trees that prevent fishing from the banks.  Dang shame!

As Fourth of July holiday festivities wind down, Michigan state parkgoers have even more to celebrate. Thanks to a historic $273 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, 122 of 168 (73%) planned improvement projects at state parks have been completed or are in progress.

This unprecedented investment, which was outlined in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Building Michigan Together Plan, has been crucial to the state parks system, allowing the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to significantly reduce a decades-long backlog of vital repair and maintenance projects and support the development of a new state park in Flint – the first in Genesee County. Read more

A 9-year-old boy from Livingston County, Michigan, is reportedly home and doing well following an incident Friday in which collapsing sand at the Silver Lake State Park sand dunes, in Oceana County, temporarily buried the boy.

The child, who was visiting the Silver Lake area with family, was digging a hole in the sand, located near the pedestrian access on the northeast side of the dunes, when sand collapsed and covered him in about 5 feet of sand for more than five minutes.

Emergency responders were notified by Mason-Oceana 911 at 9:28 p.m. Michigan Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Logan Turner and Silver Lake State Park Ranger Cody Anscombe were patrolling the public off-road vehicle area of the dunes and were the first emergency responders to arrive at the scene.

At 9:30 p.m., Turner and Anscombe met the group of bystanders who dug the child out of the sand and were carrying the child toward the DNR employees. Read more

By Laura Carlson

There’s a point in every parent’s week where you glance at your kid—shoulders slumped over a tablet, face bathed in blue light—and wonder when they last got dirt under their fingernails. The answer’s often embarrassing. And it’s not your fault alone. Somewhere along the modern parenting roadmap, the natural world became optional. Richard Louv coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” to describe the creeping absence of green space in children’s lives, and it’s a term that hits home like a thud of boots on a trailhead. But this isn’t about guilt; it’s about getting your family out of the glow and into the grit of the real world, one tree climb, one bug hunt, one muddy-knee moment at a time.

Following Curiosity Instead of Calendars

One of the easiest mistakes you can make as a parent is treating nature like a field trip: scheduled, brief, and a little too clean. But the natural world doesn’t run on Google Calendar. It rewards spontaneity and invites detours. When you step outside without a detailed plan and just follow where your kids’ questions go. Read more