GW: I was shocked to see how a Democrat running for the 85th district of the Michigan House of Representatives criticized the incumbent, Ben Glardon, for voting for an increase in hunting license fees. It was the sportsmen and women who supported the idea and here is just one example of how it’s working. The losers will spin anything to get elected and it’s sickening.
When hunting license fees went up in 2014 (for the first time in 17 years), hunters were told that a good portion of the increased revenue would be used to improve wildlife habitat across the state. The question on many hunters’ minds this fall as they purchase their deer license has been: How is that money being spent?
A prime example is the Department of Natural Resources’ new Deer Private Land Assistance Network, a grant program funded by hunting license sales that is designed to improve deer habitat on private land in the northern Lower Peninsula.
Commonly known as the Deer PLAN, the grant program, which is administered by the DNR’s Wildlife Division, aims to produce tangible deer habitat improvement benefits and reduce negative impacts to agricultural operations, while fostering positive relationships between the DNR, sportsmen’s organizations, private landowners, and other partners.
Deer PLAN grants were awarded for the first time in 2014 to 12 recipients, and another 10 projects were approved for completion in 2015. The grants can be used for projects within six counties in the northern Lower Peninsula — Presque Isle, Montmorency, Alpena, Crawford, Oscoda, and Alcona — for work ranging from selective timber cuts and planting of mast (fruit and nut)-producing trees, to the creation of wildlife breakout areas and food plots. To participate in the program, landowners who receive grants are required to pay a minimum of 25 percent of the project costs. Read more
