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Awards from Walmart’s Acres for America program and the Life Time Foundation will direct $1 million to the project

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Thursday announced $5.6 million in 10 grants through Walmart’s Acres for America program that will help to permanently protect more than 148,000 acres of wildlife habitat across nine states. The grants will leverage $107.3 million in public and private matching funds for a total conservation impact of $112.9 million.

The Acres for America program is a nearly two-decades-long partnership between NFWF and Walmart.

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GW: “…stable governance has not been achieved…”

The Boone and Crockett Club board of directors passed a new position statement supporting the delisting of recovered wolf and grizzly bear populations and resuming state management and oversight of the two species. The position statement was passed last week during the Club’s 136th Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. For most of its history, the Club and its members have been actively involved in wolf and grizzly bear policy, research, and developing best management practices. The Club understands the biological, sociocultural, economic, and political factors associated with managing these two species, and is well-positioned to help promote results-driven, successful conservation strategies moving forward.

“Keeping species at no risk of extinction listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) misuses the ESA, wastes the resources of the ESA program needed for other species, impedes conservation, and erodes support for the ESA,” the statement reads. “The Boone and Crockett Club maintains that state and tribal wildlife agencies have the expertise and the capacity to successfully manage recovered wolves and grizzlies and refine their management policies to ensure populations remain robust and to mitigate any new challenges that arise. These agencies and their associated commissions are also in the best position to address the effects on wildlife and people from wolf and grizzly conflicts.” Read more

As winter begins across Michigan, bird-watchers are eagerly awaiting the arrival of winter finches moving in large numbers outside their typical range.

The latest winter finch forecast from the Finch Research Network predicts that purple finches, common and hoary redpolls, pine siskins and nomadic white-winged crossbills will move through the state this winter. As crops of berries, seeds and cones deplete throughout the winter, we could see some late movements of evening grosbeaks, pine grosbeaks and red crossbills into Michigan, though most movements will likely occur west of Lake Superior.

These birds depend on cone and berry crops of the boreal (northern) forest for food each winter. When there is not enough food, they will migrate outside their usual wintering grounds. This unusual migratory movement is called an irruption, which will bring northern finches south into lower Ontario, the Great Lakes and beyond. Irruptions don’t happen every year, which makes winter finch sightings particularly magical.

Learn how to identify, find and attract some of these winter gems. Read more

Looking to cut down a fresh-from-the-woods Christmas tree? You have options!

First of all, though, cutting of Christmas trees is not allowed in Michigan state forests. Only dead and downed trees in certain areas are available to people who have purchased a $20 fuelwood permit.

However, you can buy a $5 permit to cut a tree in Michigan’s three national forests: the Huron-Manistee in the northern Lower Peninsula and the Hiawatha and Ottawa forests in the Upper Peninsula. Permits allow people to cut a Christmas tree within designated areas of the forest. Read more