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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

A first-time bowhunter’s big moment

The story of 8-year-old Olive’s first time bowhunting, and the 10-point buck she harvested, is one of thousands across Michigan, where young people are forging new bonds with the natural world through hunting, conservation and stewardship.
A first-time bowhunter’s big moment
Olive and Lyndsay Dean pose with a harvested buck

100 years of Michigan bear hunting – a success story

As Michigan marks 100 years of regulated bear hunting, the sport has never been more popular. Whether hunting with hounds or with bait, bear hunters say the experience is uniquely exhilarating.
100 years of Michigan bear hunting – a success story
Don Drown with harvested bear

How do you spruce up a city? Pint-sized forests packed full of trees

Micro forests, also known as Miyawaki forests, were developed in the 1970s by Akiro Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist and ecologist who was inspired by Japan’s sacred forests to develop a new, small-scale method of forest building. These forests are planted in urban areas and mimic the forest layers and biodiversity of much larger forests. They can help absorb carbon to counteract climate change, remove pollutants from the air and improve the health of the people who live near them. They also are hotspots for insects and small animals in urban spaces.
How do you spruce up a city? Pint-sized forests packed full of trees
Community members participating in the Rochester micro forest planting

Lake trout live long and prosper in Lake Superior

The oldest known lake trout in the Great Lakes, 62 years old at the time of capture, was recently documented by researchers at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Marquette Fisheries Research Station. This fish was collected from Klondike Reef in Lake Superior in the fall of 2023 by a team of intrepid researchers from the DNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Purdue University.
Lake trout live long and prosper in Lake Superior
Otolith from lake trout showing 62 years of growth

Accessibility days: Events offer accessible kayaks, pontoon rides and more at state parks

Events like DiversAbility Day – a collaboration between the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and community organizations – offer opportunities to experience numerous outdoor activities that are accessible to people with disabilities.
Accessibility days: Events offer accessible kayaks, pontoon rides and more at state parks
Participants from the DiversAbility Day at Interlochen State Park on a pontoon ride

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