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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

Nature Awaits: Expanding fourth-grade classrooms, one state park field trip at a time

Through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Nature Awaits program, fourth grade students are connecting their classroom learning to the natural world through a 90-minute guided field trip to one of more than two dozen Michigan state parks. For many students, especially those from urban and low-income communities, the trip is also their first visit to public lands or one of the Great Lakes — places central to Michigan’s outdoor heritage.
Nature Awaits: Expanding fourth-grade classrooms, one state park field trip at a time
Students follow along with a DNR educator making bear claw hand motions

Joint research team continues moose survival study effort

Some 40 people from the DNR, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Northern Michigan University and Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians recently participated in an ongoing research project investigating moose survival in the Upper Peninsula. Over four days, the collaborative group accomplished its goal of collaring 41 moose and recollaring two moose from a smaller effort last year. In all, 56 collared moose in the western U.P. are now providing researchers with valuable information on their health and movements.
Joint research team continues moose survival study effort
team of wildlife experts works with sedated bull moose

Don’t put all your (fish) eggs in one basket

Reefs used to be common in Saginaw Bay, and organizations like the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and others are working to restore reef habitat for the benefit of fish like lake whitefish and walleye, as well as many other aquatic species.
Don’t put all your (fish) eggs in one basket
Lake whitefish are shown over a rock reef. Photo by Inspired Planet Productions

Ongoing study seeks answers to Michigan’s stagnant moose population

Michigan wildlife researchers are preparing to conduct the second phase of a collaborative study that aims to figure out why the Upper Peninsula moose population remains stubbornly stagnant. This month, researchers from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Northern Michigan University plan to capture up to 43 moose from the animals’ core range in the western U.P. and outfit them with GPS tracking collars. In the project’s first phase, in early 2025, 20 moose were captured and collared.
Ongoing study seeks answers to Michigan’s stagnant moose population
Researchers work to collar a moose

A collaborative effort to protect Michigan’s bats

Michigan’s ecologically and economically important bat populations are facing serious challenges, including habitat loss and becoming infected with white-nose syndrome. In response to the rapid decline of Michigan’s bat population, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community organized a collaborative research effort known as the Bat Blitz.
A collaborative effort to protect Michigan’s bats
close-up of silver-haired bat's face

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