Michigan DNR dedicates Ronald A. Olson Island Bridge, a tribute to longtime parks and recreation chief

A 142-foot-long bridge installed last fall over the Tahquamenon River just got an important addition: a name. Friends, family, Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials and other colleagues gathered Monday morning at the Lower Tahquamenon Falls to dedicate the Ronald A. Olson Island Bridge, honoring the man at the helm of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division as chief for 17 years.

The fabricated, all-aluminum pedestrian bridge at Tahquamenon Falls State Park, located in Paradise in the eastern Upper Peninsula, officially opened for use over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The bridge itself is an apt symbol for Olson, who has built a career around bringing people together and encouraging them to aim for destinations they can’t yet see.

“When it comes to possibilities in parks and recreation, nobody is better at building bridges and getting people to the table than Ron Olson,” said DNR Director Dan Eichinger.

“Ron lives and breathes Michigan state parks, trails and waterways, and he will talk – and listen – to anyone, anywhere about ways to protect and improve these treasured resources so that every resident and visitor can enjoy them and be inspired to love them as much as he does,” Eichinger said. “I am proud to be here today and share in this much-deserved celebration of Ron’s remarkable contributions.”

The bridge’s installed naming plaque reads: “Ronald A. Olson Island Bridge. In honor of his dedication, hard work and accomplishments with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation Division.” Read more

General

Michigan conservation officer, Monroe firefighter recognized for water rescue of stranded teenager

The fast-thinking actions of Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Nick Ingersoll and Monroe Charter Township Fire Department Capt. Dave Nadeau earlier this year are credited with saving the life of a 14-year-old boy who was stranded in cold water at the Dunbar Quarry.

The two men received Lifesaving Awards from the DNR Law Enforcement Division during Thursday’s meeting of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, hosted at the DNR Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit.

“On behalf of the department, I am proud to recognize CO Ingersoll and Capt. Nadeau for their quick assessment of the situation, which required them to risk their own safety to save another,” said Chief Dave Shaw, DNR Law Enforcement Division. “We are grateful for the teamwork with the Monroe Charter Township Fire Department, Michigan State Police and other responding agencies that turned this into a successful lifesaving effort.”

The rescue happened Thursday, May 19, after Ingersoll heard a dispatch call about a person who was yelling “Help!” at the Dunbar Quarry – the local name for a deep portion of Lake Monroe (a private lake), located near East Dunbar Road and Hull Road in Monroe County.

Within five minutes, Ingersoll met emergency responders from Monroe Charter Township Fire Department and Michigan State Police trooper Mitchell Lehman, who were already on scene. Capt. Nadeau attempted to toss a throw rope to the boy, who was clinging to a rock cliff and displaying early signs of hypothermia. Read more

General

ScentLok Hydrotherm V2 Waterproof Parka and Bib

New for 2022: ScentLok Hydrotherm V2 Waterproof Parka and Bib deliver versatile protection and critical comfort to late-season bowhunters

When the rut kicks in and mature buck activity ramps up, Mother Nature often starts to take sides. She’s rarely in the hunter’s corner. Instead, she whips up cold temperatures, wind, rain, ice and snow – elements that send many hunters down the ladder and back home or even keep them there in the first place. Yes, bowhunting success requires preparation. Ultimately, however, it requires showing up; shot opportunities come from being on stand and ready.

“Warm” and “dry” are the two most important words to bowhunters facing challenging late-season conditions. Achieve both and hunters put themselves in a position to succeed. Sitting longer – especially during the rut – means more opportunities.

Designers and distributors of proven-deadly apparel solutions for bowhunters for 30 years, ScentLok offers comfortable, tech-laden scent-control clothing options that give archers and other hunters every advantage. New for 2022, the improved ScentLok Hydrotherm V2 Waterproof Parka and Bib effectively defy the late-season elements that send unprepared hunters home. Read more

Hunting

Henry Repeating Arms Donation Raises Over $35,000 In Memory of Childhood Cancer Victim

HENRY REPEATING ARMS
107 W Coleman Street, Rice Lake, WI 54868

Henry Repeating Arms Donation Raises Over $35,000 In Memory of Childhood Cancer Victim

RICE LAKE, Wis. – Leading lever action firearms manufacturer Henry Repeating Arms is proud to announce that its latest Guns For Great Causes campaign raised $36,400 for the family of Danica Brianne Mulholland. After losing their 12-year-old daughter to a three-year battle with brain cancer, the Levittown, Pennsylvania family is receiving a check from the sale of 50 Henry Golden Boy lever action rifles to assist with any outstanding medical and funeral expenses.

Danica was undergoing treatment for a grade IV medulloblastoma when Henry Repeating Arms CEO and Founder Anthony Imperato jumped at the opportunity to assist the family through the company’s charitable branch, Guns for Great Causes. Henry Repeating Arms donated all the rifles, and Baron Engraving of Trumbull, Connecticut, donated their services to create the engraved artwork in tribute to Danica’s life. The “Danica Strong” edition rifles sold out within two hours of the initial release announcement, and auctions of the first and last serial numbers brought in an additional $4,000 total. Since 2020, the program has distributed over $325,000 to individual families of sick children. Read more

Firearms

2022 Michigan Bear Forum

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26
Little Bear East Arena
275 Marquette St. in St. Ignace

Interested in Michigan bear management? Join us at the 2022 Michigan Bear Forum.

All are welcome to attend the forum to learn about the bear hunting quota and regulation recommendations for the 2023-24 seasons, 2021 bear harvest data, population estimates, research and season updates, and trend indicators for each bear management unit.

If you are unable to attend but would still like an opportunity to provide input, a summary of the forum discussion and questionnaire to collect input will be sent out to DNR email subscribers after the forum.

Questions? Contact Cody Norton at 906-202-3023.

Hunting

Research on the Rapidan WMA: Brook and Brown Trout Interactions Revealed

About the time tulip poplars, oaks, maples, and hickories are burnished the color of an ending season, brown trout and brook trout from Georgia to Maine turn their attention to a new beginning:  procreation.  The colorful flanks of these trout mirror the spectra of leaves that carpet the floor of the Appalachian Mountains. Brown trout sport a warm honey beneath black peppercorn spots all covered in a chrome sheen. Worm-like markings lay over the dark olive backs of brook trout, flanked with shades of yellow specks punctuated by drops of ox blood, each fish dotted in its own constellation.

Brook trout are native to streams that vein over Appalachia; brown trout are a European import, well established for decades. With shortening shadows and cooler temperatures, both species lay their eggs in gravelly redds where oxygen-rich water bathes through them the winter-long as they incubate.  Brown trout may have a competitive edge over the native brook trout, particularly at lower elevations where warmer water favors brown trout. Other interactions between the two species are not well understood.

To learn more about how brook trout fare over a long span of time in the presence of brown trout, biologists John Odenkirk and Mike Isel with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (VDWR) examined a large amount of data—nearly 25 years’ worth of information—on brook and brown trout in the Rapidan and Conway rivers of northern Virginia. Sport Fish Restoration dollars—federal excise taxes paid by fishing tackle manufacturers—funded their work. Odenkirk and Isel published their findings in the scientific Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, March 2022 issue. Read more

Fishing

FPC Succeeds in Appeal of Lawsuit Challenging Ban on Shooting Ranges

CINCINNATI, OH – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) and FPC Action Foundation announced its successful appeal in Oakland Tactical Supply, LLC v. Howell Township, Michigan, which challenges zoning restrictions imposed by the Township that prohibit shooting ranges for long guns. Because of this key decision, the case can now proceed at the trial court under the standard outlined in NYSRPA v. Bruen. The opinion can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“The district court should decide, in the first instance, whether Oakland Tactical’s proposed course of conduct is covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment,” reads the Sixth Circuit’s decision. “If the district court concludes that Oakland Tactical’s proposed course of conduct is covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment, it should then determine whether historical evidence—to be produced by the Township in the first instance—demonstrates that the Ordinance’s shooting-range regulations are consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.”

“Howell Township must now prove that its training restrictions are based on analogous historical regulations,” said FPC Law’s Director of Constitutional Studies, Joseph Greenlee. “And because analogous historical regulations do not exist, we’re optimistic that the Township’s restrictions will be held unconstitutional.” Read more

Gun Control

Maryland’s Gun Licensing Law Unconstitutional, Argues FPC in New Brief

RICHMOND, VA – Today, Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) announced the filing of an important appellate brief, joined by FPC Action Foundation and Independence Institute, in Maryland Shall Issue v. Hogan, a case that challenges Maryland’s gun licensing and training requirements. The brief can be viewed at FPCLegal.org.

“No law during the colonial, founding, or early republic periods required any American citizen to obtain a license before possessing a firearm,” argues the brief. “Only overtly racist licensing laws existed, which targeted slaves, free African Americans, and Indians—all of whom were denied Second Amendment protections. These discriminatory laws do not justify Maryland’s licensing law, and to the contrary, reveal its unconstitutionality.” Read more

Gun Control

SAF Sues California Over Gun Show Ban

The Second Amendment Foundation has filed a federal lawsuit challenging California’s Senate Bill 264, a ban on gun shows held on public property that was passed and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom.

Joining SAF are the California Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. B&L Productions, Inc., d/b/a Crossroads of the West; Gerald Clark; Eric Johnson; Chad Littrell; Jan Steven Merson; Inc; Asian Pacific American Gun Owners Association; and the Second Amendment Law Center, Inc. The case is known as B&L Productions v. Newsom.

SAF is represented by noted civil rights attorney Donald Kilmer, who successfully represented SAF in overturning the ban on gun shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego County, where the defendants were ordered to pay plaintiffs close to half-million dollars in combined damages and attorney fees

Named as defendants in this case are California Gov. Gavin Newsom in his official capacity as Governor of the State of California, Attorney General Robert Bonta in his official capacity as Attorney General of the State of California, Karen Ross, in her official capacity as Secretary of California Department of Food & Agriculture, and Todd Spitzer, in his personal and official capacity as District Attorney of Orange County. The 55-page federal complaint was filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Read more

Gun Control
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