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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

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.

After 11 years, Good Neighbor Authority ‘wildly successful’ in Michigan

Michigan has become a national leader in implementing the Good Neighbor Authority, a congressionally authorized program to co-manage federal land that brings millions of dollars into the state through timber sales, supports jobs and protects wildlife. Since joining the program in 2015, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has teamed with the U.S. Forest Service to manage nearly 50,000 acres within Michigan’s three national forests: Huron-Manistee in the Lower Peninsula and Ottawa and Hiawatha in the Upper Peninsula.
After 11 years, Good Neighbor Authority ‘wildly successful’ in Michigan
salvaging red pine from the Huron-Manistee National Forest after a severe windstorm damaged timber

Such a night

Great nights out in nature are never really a rare thing, but the combination of the company of the author's visiting brother, a roadside diner, fishing success and some incredible animal encounters made this a truly exceptional night.
Such a night
A common snapping turtle digs at a gravel nest along a roadside

Another severe winter hampers UP deer herd

This past winter, with its heavy snowfall, marks the third severe winter in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in the past five years and could significantly impact the peninsula’s white-tailed deer population. The DNR uses cutting-edge technology called the Snow Data Assimilation System, or SNODAS, to monitor snow depth as part of the agency’s extensive deer management.
Another severe winter hampers UP deer herd
map graphic showing winter snow depth in the Upper Peninsula during the winter of 2025-26

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