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Showcasing the DNR

Showcasing the DNR

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Topics range from fishing and hunting to history and outdoor recreation. This is a weekly feature story sent on Thursday.

Recent stories

Why didn’t you stock my lake?

“Why don’t you stock [insert body of water here]?” It seems like a simple question, but there is a lot that goes into the decision to stock or not to stock a lake or stream. We dive into some of the reasons in this Showcasing the DNR story.
Why didn’t you stock my lake?
DNR staffers inserting tracking tags into young muskellunge

It’s a gold rush for fish!

Fish populations are rebounding in the Tittabawassee Impoundments’ Four Lakes six years after a dam failure and catastrophic flooding in the area. A variety of entities, including the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division, have stepped up to help restore the area to its former state.
It’s a gold rush for fish!
Two DNR staffers are pictured with a walleye and northern pike captured and released in Secord Lake

How Michigan can live with black bears

Successfully coexisting with bears is just as much about how bears are perceived by people as taking tangible actions such as managing bird feeders and trash disposal.
How Michigan can live with black bears
Black bear eating birdseed from a bird feeder

Michigan estimates UP wolf population from remote camera images

For the first time, researchers from Michigan State University and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources have successfully estimated Michigan’s wolf population using remote cameras deployed throughout the Upper Peninsula. The camera survey method, which began with a pilot proiect in 2022 and has since expanded, produced monthly estimates that generally align with wolf biology – lower counts during winter when the wolf population is at its lowest due to mortality, then increasing in the spring after pups are born.

Michigan estimates UP wolf population from remote camera images
A wolf pack is shown walking down a road on a late winter day.

Long live the sturgeon!

According to previous research, lake sturgeon have a lifespan of up to 150 years. But a new study published by researchers from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources suggests that lake sturgeon may live longer than previously thought — much longer.
Long live the sturgeon!
A spawning lake sturgeon in the Sturgeon River in Baraga County.

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