If you are a fan of Michigan state parks and trails and have always wanted to add your voice to the discussion that shapes them, consider applying by mid-March for vacancies on three key advisory bodies that work with the DNR.

• Michigan State Parks Advisory Committee

The DNR is accepting applications for an opening on the 12-member Michigan State Parks Advisory Committee. Volunteers serve terms of up to four years and meet six times a year virtually or at locations around the state. The ideal candidate will be a resident of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The committee advises and makes recommendation to the DNR on state parks policy and provides guidance on state park development, management, stewardship, funding and planning.

If interested, Read more

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has released a final environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing potential environmental impacts from the statewide management of gray wolves.?

Issuing the final EIS is a key step in a process that started in 2023, when FWP originally released the draft EIS. The draft EIS was made available for public review and comment from Oct. 20, 2023, through Dec. 19, 2023, and again from Feb. 8, 2024, through March 9, 2024. The additional 30-day comment window was to offer an opportunity for additional input from Tribes and affected counties.

“This final EIS means the update to the 2003 Wolf Plan is nearly complete,” said FWP Director Christy Clark. “We appreciate the comments and feedback we’ve received on our draft documents from people across the state and country. That input is critical in ensuring we have a plan that is effective in managing wolves moving forward.”

FWP analyzed two alternatives in the final EIS. Alternative 1, the “no action” alternative, would represent the status quo. Read more

For the past several years, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has worked with local hound handlers to monitor lion populations. This unique and beneficial relationship is an efficient way to monitor a highly elusive species.

“We contract with hound handlers from the public,” said Molly Parks, FWP’s carnivore coordinator. “The hound handlers are very skilled with highly trained hounds. That’s exactly the skill we need to make this research project work.”

The local handlers bring a high level of integrity to the data being collected.

“They care deeply for the resource and are committed to collecting high quality data. Plus, they are trusted members of the community and can help communicate results,” Parks said.

Routine population monitoring began in 2019, when FWP developed a mountain lion monitoring and management strategy. Each winter, the hound handlers contract with FWP to use their dogs to track, tree, and biopsy dart the cats to collect a DNA sample in a new monitoring area.

New this season, FWP biologists are also deploying GPS collars on a subset of the treed cats to collect additional data. The data collected from both biopsy darts and GPS collars will be combined with 25 years of lion ecology research and lion harvest data is combined in statistical models that estimate ecoregional lion abundance and density, predict the effects of lion harvest on those populations, inform management recommendations and set quotas.

The information gathered from field monitoring and results from population models are considered by the Lion Ecoregional Population Objective Committees (LEPOC), which are made up of hunters, livestock producers, hound handlers and others who have an interest in mountain lion management and live in the lion ecoregion. The LEPOC makes recommendations to FWP regarding population targets and highlight localized areas of concern. FWP staff propose quotas to the Fish and Wildlife Commission based on the LEPOC recommendations. The commission makes the final decisions on quotas and regulations each year.

“This field work is really the core of our lion monitoring,” Parks said of the program. “We couldn’t do it without lion hunters and hound handlers.”

WATCH: Mountain Lion Research in SW Montana

Excerpt from Grizzly Bears of Montana, Second Edition

A Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks bear management specialist kept track of the same female grizzly for 21 years. Here are the highlights from his journal of Grizzly Bear 500.

January 1979

In a snow-covered den high on a slope of the Rocky Mountain Front in Montana, a grizzly bear is born. The one-pound cub nestles in her mother’s fur. Nourished on rich milk, she grows rapidly. When she emerges from the den in late May with her mother, she weighs about 10 pounds.
Read more

If you’re as passionate about trails as we are, and you’d like to help shape state-designated routes and pathways throughout Michigan, apply for one of several volunteer positions now open for two of the DNR’s advisory workgroups.

“The DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division, which oversees our statewide trails system, relies on input and guidance from residents to help us maintain, improve and grow the thousands of miles of motorized and nonmotorized trails in communities around the state,” said Tim Novak, state trails coordinator. “We’re excited to share these workgroup openings and continue the work of providing outdoor spaces for everyone to enjoy and explore, efforts that help elevate Michigan’s reputation as the Trails State.”

Positions are available on both the Nonmotorized Advisory Workgroup, or NAW, and the Off-Road Vehicle Advisory Workgroup, also known as ORVAW. Read more

Brrr … it’s cold outside! But for many of our feathered friends, winter in Michigan is just another season. Get to know a few of our small and resourceful winter birds and the clever survival tactics they use to stay warm and find food throughout the winter.

The black-capped chickadee is an expert at staying cozy in cold temperatures – shivering and contracting opposite muscle groups to stay warm, and even lowering its body temperature at night and entering regulated hypothermia to conserve energy. These birds are frequent visitors to backyard bird feeders, carrying sunflower seeds to store in tree bark for later, when food is scarce.

How to ID:  Read more

Valentine’s day isn’t the only big event for birds-of-a-feather this year. The 28th edition of the annual Great Backyard Bird Count is coming up Feb. 14-17, and anyone who wants to join is welcome.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint project of the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada to help scientists track changes in bird populations over time.

Roughly 300,000 people worldwide participate in the annual event. Their combined records reported 7,920 species during last year’s citizen science project. These records are extremely valuable to researchers, ornithologists and other conservationists who are keeping tabs on the world’s avian species.

The count takes place each February to get a snapshot of bird distribution just before spring migrations carry many species back to their nesting grounds. Read more