Michigan’s Recent DNR Land Transactions

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Here are some highlights of land transactions from the first quarter of 2026. To view the full details, click the View more button below.

Moose walk along a forested road

Michigamme Highlands

The DNR purchased conservation easement rights over approximately 73,063 acres across Marquette, Baraga, and Iron Counties. The property contains environmentally important private forest lands that were threatened by conversion to non-forest use. The private landowner will manage the property under the terms of the Conservation Easement, which will be enforced by the DNR. The acquisition of the conservation easement prevents subdivision of the land, provides permanent public access to these unique lands, and requires the property to be sustainably managed as a working forest, which will provide wood fiber to the market and help to support the local rural economy. Acquisition of the rights in land was made possible by a United States Forest Service Forest Legacy Program grant of $15,075,000, a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant of $4,200,000, and a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant of $1,00,000. For more information, see our showcasing story: Showcasing the DNR: Protecting the wildest of Michigan’s wild places

snowmobilers on a wintry forest trail

Verdant Recreational Trail

The DNR purchased approximately 15 miles of recreational trail easements in Keweenaw and Houghton Counties. Acquisition of the easement rights permanently secures and connects trail access in perpetuity, providing public recreation opportunities and securing trails for future generations. The trails are dedicated to U.P. Snowmobile Trail No. 3 and provide dual use for trail ORV B. The easement rights were purchased with the Michigan Permanent Snowmobile Easement Fund.

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Wildlife

Lake Macatawa acoustic telemetry project shows surprising muskie movements

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April 13, 2026
Contact: Addie Myers, 989-778-0389 or Jay Wesley, 616-490-5090

The Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division has partnered with the Michigan Muskie Alliance, Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System (GLATOS) and Grand Valley State University to track movement of muskellunge in Lake Macatawa (Ottawa County) with acoustic telemetry.

An acoustic transmitter tag that was used in the Lake Macatawa muskellunge research.In April 2025, acoustic telemetry tags — provided by the Michigan Muskie Alliance — were implanted in 20 Great Lakes strain muskellunge from Lake Macatawa. These acoustic tags are about the size of an AA battery and have a life of approximately seven years. After tagging, the fish were returned to the lake.

Next, eight GLATOS receivers were placed in Lake Macatawa. This equipment and other receivers in the GLATOS network “listen” for signals from fish that have been implanted with acoustic transmitters. As of November 2025, there were over 69,000 detections of the 20 tagged muskie by GLATOS receivers. Read more

Fishing

Crews work through the night to increase water flow?through Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex

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Contact: Laurie Abel, 517-599-6703 or Kathleen Lavey, 517-930-4218

a crane operator lifts a gate high in the air Sunday evening, having just removed it (and others) from Cheboygan Dam to increase water flowCrews worked through the night?Sunday?to increase the flow of water through the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex, using a crane to remove gates from the dam, adding?pumps?and bringing in a load of?electric cable needed to reopen the hydroelectric station and further increase flow.

“We had a productive session overnight and we are continuing our work today,” said Mike Janisse, leader of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Incident Management Team that is leading the effort to mitigate flooding while preserving the dam and lock.

Efforts late Sunday included the following:

  • Using the crane – so large it took?multiple?trucks to carry – to remove gates from the dam.?Although?all of?the dam’s six?gates?have been open, removing the doors increases the water flow capacity.
  • Bringing industrial wire from Illinois to Cheboygan, where it will be installed to fully open the dam’s hydroelectric station, which also will increase flow. Work began last night and continues today.

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General

XS Sights to Display New Products at 2026 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits

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XS® Sights will be displaying its newest sights and accessories for personal defense, hunting, and target shooting at the 2026 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits in Houston, Texas, April 17-19. All NRA members are encouraged to stop by booth # 1716 in the George R. Brown Convention Center to meet with the XS team and learn more about the numerous XS products engineered to deliver an improved shooting experience.

Among the new products are the soon-to-be released Glock Gen 6 ACRO Optic Plate, the HK VP9 Optic Plates (ACRO and RMR footprints) and Fiber Optic Sights for target and competition shooting, as well as 5+ magazine extensions for Walther PDP and S&W M&P pistols. XS will also have many other products on display including their legendary Big Dot night sights, the R3D 2.0 sights, and handguards for Henry and S&W lever action rifles. Read more

Optics

Kimber, Mfg., Inc., Announces its Summer Centennial Promotion

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Kimber, one of America’s leading manufacturers of premium 1911 pistols, today announced the launch of its Summer Centennial Promotion Featuring the 2K11 Independence a limited-time consumer rebate program celebrating the company’s heritage of American firearm craftsmanship.

Running April 1 through July 4, the promotion highlights the Kimber 2K11 Independence, a limited-edition pistol chambered in .45 ACP featuring a distinctive custom Cerakote finish and modern performance upgrades.

Consumers who purchase a qualifying Kimber 2K11 Independence pistol during the promotional window will be eligible to receive a $250 cash rebate. Read more

Firearms, Promotions

Davidson’s Exclusive Distributor for New TANDEMKROSS TKX22 Light Rifle

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PRESCOTT, Ariz. – Davidson’s has added TANDEMKROSS to its family of product lines and is proud to be the exclusive distributor for the new TKX22 Light Rifle.

Established in 2012 with a single part sold out of a home office, TANDEMKROSS has since grown to become one of the most recognized names in rimfire around the globe. Their mission is to deliver performance and excellence to make good firearms great! They accomplish this with dedication to high quality products, unparalleled customer service, incredible value, and practical solutions to real problems.

TANDEMKROSS is in New Hampshire and all TANDEMKROSS branded products are proudly made in the USA. With humble beginnings, TANDEMKROSS has grown to offer one of the largest and most elaborate product library for rimfire firearms available.

Initially stocking several accessory SKUs, Davidson’s has also entered into an agreement with TANDEMKROSS to be the exclusive distributor for their first complete rifle, the TKX22 Light Rifle.

Light and Premium

Less than three and a half pounds. That’s the unloaded weight of TANDEMKROSS’s TKX22 Light Rifle. It is the lightest semi-auto .22lr rifle of its type. To call it competition-ready is an understatement.

Performance and reliability are guaranteed as each individual component of this rifle has been field tested for years by the best rimfire competitors. Every rifle is built with TANDEMKROSS’s TKX22 Receiver, Spitfire Lightweight Barrel, M-LOK® fiber optic sights, Manticore LITE Trigger Assembly, KrossFire Bolt, and Spartan charging handle and includes one Assembled DoubleKross Magazine (a double-ended magazine with two independent 10-round compartments).

Thanks to its weight and bright fiber optic sights, the TKX22 is optimized for quick target acquisition and rapid target transitions. The TKX22 also serves as a great suppressor host for backyard plinking or small game hunting with its 1/2″x28 threaded barrel.

A wide range of optics can be mounted via the extended 0 MOA picatinny rail machined directly into the receiver. M-LOK® on the barrel provides additional mounting options for optics, lights, lasers, thermals, and more. Users wishing to set up their TKX22 Light Rifle for more static shooting can also use the M-LOK® on the bottom of Magpul®’s MOE® X-22 stock for bipods, ARCA rails, or more.

With all these plus other features like trigger pull-weight adjustment and compatibility with factory Ruger® 10/22® parts and magazines, the TKX22 Light Rifle truly offers something for everyone.

The TKX22 is offered in four different colors of the X-22 stock: Black, Stealth Grey, OD Green, and FDE. MSRP for each is $1,449.99. Consumers will likely see a better price at their local Davidson’s and Gallery of Guns FFL retailers. Read more

Firearms

FPC Statement on Trump Administration’s Decision to Support Biden Gun Control Rule

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On February 7, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14206, “Protecting Second Amendment Rights.” It sounded promising, but it has since proven to be little more than empty rhetoric.

The following month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a disappointing decision upholding the ATF’s “Frame or Receiver” rule, a relic of the Biden Administration. Rather than dismissing the appeal or withdrawing the Biden ATF regulation before the Court ruled, the Trump Administration chose to continue defending the gun control rule, allowing the Court to issue a decision that preserved President Biden’s regulatory overreach.

In May 2025, FPC provided the Trump White House, DOJ, and ATF with a complete, print-ready proposed rule to address the Court’s decision following months of dialogue with key officials. But the Administration has since sat on its hands.

Adding insult to injury, the Administration informed us yesterday that “At this time, the [Trump Administration] has decided to maintain the current definition of firearm ‘frame’ and ‘receiver’ contained in that final [Biden Administration] rule.”

Whoever is steering the Trump Administration is aiming the Titanic directly at the iceberg.

To put this latest disappointment in context, FPC has provided the Trump Administration, the White House, DOJ, and ATF, with dozens of lawful actions that could be taken to protect peaceable gun owners and the right to keep and bear arms. Nearly all of those proposals have been ignored.

Instead, in case after case, the Trump Administration has adopted authoritarian, anti-American positions to restrict Second Amendment rights and prosecute those who exercise them. Read more

Gun Control

Motion to Enjoin Unconstitutional California Firearm Tax Filed in FPC-Backed Lawsuit

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Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced that a motion for summary judgment has been filed in Poway Weapons & Gear v. CDTFA, an FPC-supported case challenging California’s unconstitutional 11% excise tax on the gross receipts from the retail sale of firearms, “firearm precursor parts,” and ammunition.

The plaintiffs include Poway Weapons & Gear and Sacramento Gun Range. The plaintiffs are represented by David H. Thompson, Peter A. Patterson, Megan M. Wold, Nicholas A. Varone, and Athanasia O. Livas of Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, along with C.D. Michel, Anna M. Barvir, and Tiffany D. Cheuvront of Michel & Associates, P.C.

The motion was filed on April 8, 2026.

The motion in Poway Weapons & Gear v. CDTFA was filed in Sacramento Superior Court in California.

A ruling in the plaintiffs’ favor would strike down California’s gun and ammo tax, which singles out a right the state disapproves of for special unconstitutional taxation.

“This unlawful tax scheme is designed to destroy the right to keep and bear arms, and California cannot be allowed to get away with it. You cannot specially tax the exercise of a constitutional right – full stop. If courts allow an 11% tax today, nothing stops them from making it 50% or 100% tomorrow. We are suing to end this direct attack on the rights of peaceable people, and we intend to win,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. Read more

Gun Control

Sandbags, pumps in place around Cheboygan Dam; more rain expected Sunday

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An aerial view shows water going through the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Saturday.

April 11, 2026

Contact: Laurie Abel, 989-599-6703 or Kathleen Lavey, 517-930-4218

An aerial view of the Cheboygan Lock and Dam shows water coming through the dam into the spillway. Precautions are being taken to keep from flooding.Work crews strategically placed more sandbags today around the Cheboygan Lock and Dam, while large pumps were running to move water around the structure.

The measures are part of continuing efforts to move water through and around the dam and lock to help get ahead of additional rain and snow melt forecasted over coming days.

“The DNR is actively engaged with our partners to prevent the failure of the dam to the fullest extent possible,” said Mike Janisse, leader of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Incident Management Team.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency Friday and activated the State Emergency Operations Center as rising waters from spring rains and melting snow threaten to overwhelm the dam in the city of Cheboygan.

The sandbagging, which began earlier this week, is intended to provide a buffer for rising water and help channel the water. The pumps are being used to move water from behind the dam to the spillway in front, where it can continue flowing out toward Lake Huron.

A wooden timber debris screen, built years ago in front of one of the dam’s gates was removed to help increase water flow through the dam. Engineers carefully reviewed historic photos to make sure the structure could be taken down without damaging the dam itself.

Additional water level monitoring equipment also has been installed by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Cheboygan County emergency managers are encouraging residents to sign up for alerts through Be Alert or to call 211 if they need information about preparedness and possible evacuation. Read more

General

Marguerite McDonald’s Grizzly Bear

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McDonald with bear

 

Montana 1964 from the Boone & Crockett Club

By PJ DelHomme 
Images Courtesy of Yellowstone Gateway Museum of Park County 

She could wrestle that bear if she hadn’t had a rifle.

At a remote ranch just outside Yellowstone Park, Marguerite McDonald had a visitor one night…

The Silver Tip Ranch is a remote dude ranch that requires visitors to hike, mount a horse, or ride in a wagon a dozen miles through the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and across the state line into Montana. Originally homesteaded by G. Milton Ames in 1913, the area was (and still is) thick with grizzlies. Ames killed eight bears in the first spring on his homestead. In 1922, Joseph “Frenchy” Duret was trapping bears in a meadow near the ranch. That spring, a park ranger found Frenchy’s body, which a grizzly had most obviously mauled. At the trap site more than a mile away, the ranger found Frenchy’s rifle that the bear had used as a chew toy.

Before we dive into the details of how this enormous grizzly bear met its demise, we should point out that many facts in this story are blurry. What follows is a compilation of newspaper and magazine articles, blog posts, and personal narratives that all end with one live caretaker and one dead bear. We’ve done our best to highlight the facts and note conjecture.

McDonald with bear 2
TROPHY STATS: SCORE: 24-3/16 B&C points   |   LOCATION: Gardiner, MT   |   HUNTER: Marguerite McDonald   |   DATE: 1964

In the 1960s, Marguerite McDonald and her husband Jack were year-round caretakers for the Silver Tip. In 1964, Jack took the long trip from the ranch to Gardiner for supplies. Marguerite stayed behind with just the dogs for company. Read more

Hunting, Wildlife
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