DNR awards $148,300 in deer habitat improvement grants in the Upper Peninsula

Community groups, conservation clubs and even K-12 students in the Upper Peninsula will improve hundreds of acres of land to support the deer population through a matching grant program partially funded by deer license revenue.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is awarding a total of about $148,300 to 15 projects as part of the 2025 Upper Peninsula Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative. There are 14 new projects and one carryover from last year.

The projects include tree and shrub planting, turning forest trails into wildlife corridors, protecting existing habitat with fencing and other enhancements to private or non-state-owned land.

Partners include conservation districts, deer hunting groups, sportsmen clubs, schools and others. Grants can range from $2,000 to $15,000. Applicants match at least 25% of the cost either financially or through in-kind contributions.

Bill Scullon, grant coordinator and a U.P.-based field operations manager for the DNR’s Wildlife Division, said the program has introduced many people to conservation, created a host of working relationships and expanded the stewardship network through the years.

“This initiative had developed a true collaborative approach to improving deer habitat across the Upper Peninsula,” Scullon said. “Oftentimes a one-time project becomes a multiyear project and it’s great to see so many landowners, clubs and industrial partners coming back to contribute year after year.”

State support comes from the Deer Range Improvement Program, or DRIP, a public fund created by the Michigan Legislature in 1971. Through the fund, $1.50 from every deer hunting license goes to improve and maintain deer habitat, acquire land for deer management and payments in lieu of taxes to local governmental units on purchased lands.

Now in its 17th year, the grant program has awarded 162 grants totaling $1.28 million in DRIP funding. Partners have contributed $953,701 to the projects.

Here are this year’s partners, grant amounts and a summary of each project:

Western Upper Peninsula

• U.P. Whitetails Association of Dickinson County: $6,296 to plant chestnut trees on private property in Dickinson County and protect previously planted trees and shrubs. Ten landowners with 20-plus acres will receive four chestnut trees each.
• Gogebic Conservation District: $10,777 to enhance early spring forage on more than 150 acres near deer-wintering areas on Gogebic County-owned land. The project includes extensive mowing on previously enhanced land and closing off, cultivating and seeding the area around a decommissioned timber sale access road.
• Iron-Baraga Conservation District: $15,000 to enhance deer-wintering habitat on private lands and school forests in Iron and Baraga counties. The grant provides seedlings and trees to landowners at a reduced cost. School students will also help plant seedlings, shrubs and trees.
• Marquette County Conservation District: $14,987 to improve deer-wintering habitat in the Big Bay and Huron Mountains areas. The project includes a volunteer planting day across 80 acres and seeding and tree-planting on another 100 acres.
• Ontonagon Conservation District: $10,044 to improve woody habitat on 200-400 acres in the East Middle Branch and Lake Gogebic deer-wintering areas. Eligible landowners will be selected for plantings and fencing and other tree-protection measures.
• Ruffed Grouse Society: $7,450 to maintain and rehabilitate logging roads and hunter trails in Iron County on more than 950 acres owned by Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands. This is a carryover project from 2024.

Central Upper Peninsula

The U.P. Whitetails Association and Al Ettenhofer, the nonprofit group’s cofounder, will receive six grants to improve deer habitat on various sites in Delta County. Each of the projects involves seeding the land with a wildlife mixture of oats, white ladino clover, red clover, alfalfa and chicory. Here are more details on the Delta County projects:

• $9,759 for “Arnold International Deer Strip,” to improve six acres owned by Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands.
• $8,127 for “Break UP Green,” to improve five acres within the Whitefish River deer-wintering area on land owned by Shaw Cannon.
• $10,500 for “Nelson’s Sanctuary Project,” to improve 6.5 acres of private land.
• $4,703 for “Pearson’s Paradise,” to improve 2.5 acres of private land.
• $5,962 for “Ray’s Deeryard,” to improve three acres of private land.
• $7,357 for “Secret Seeds,” to improve 4.5 acres of private land.

Eastern Upper Peninsula

• Alger Conservation District: $11,673 to convert forest trails into wildlife corridors on 90 acres of private land to prepare wintering deer herds for the season and provide for an early spring diet. Conservation district staff will work with landowners and contractors to prepare and seed sites, plant trees and install signs.
• Burt Township Schools/Alger Conservation District: $10,673 to improve deer habitat on about 600 acres of school forest by planting native trees and shrubs. This project was authored by a Burt Township student, who will be heavily involved the planning, implementation and reporting of the project. The Alger Conservation District will administer the project.
• Straits Area Sportsmen’s Club: $15,000 to continue partnering with the U.S. Forest Service to improve two forest openings totaling 13 acres in the Hiawatha National Forest in Mackinac County – land that is accessible for public hunting. The project involves planting fruiting shrubs for deer, grouse and other wildlife species.

Find out more about the DNR’s U.P. Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative.

An accompanying photo is available below for download. Caption information follows.

Whitetail deer: Deer habitat in Michigan's Upper Peninsula will be enhanced thanks to a new round of Department of Natural Resources grants to community partners.