Michigan’s trout season will officially start the last weekend of April, and to celebrate the opening weekend, the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) along with the Friends of Proud Lake Recreation Area will be hosting the Proud Lake Trout Festival on Saturday, April 30. A catch-and-keep fishing tournament will start at 6 a.m. and last until 10 a.m. with an award being presented for the biggest fish. A pancake breakfast will also be a [...]

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners General Government Committee interviewed three candidates Monday, April 11 to fill a void left on the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (HCMA) Board of Commissioners. With the resignation of Peter Walters, the Board of Commissioners needs to appoint a representative for the county to serve on the seven-member board. Five HCMA commissioners — one each from Wayne, Macomb, Oakland, Livingston, and Washtenaw counties — are appointed by each county’s respective board [...]

The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has decided to raise Great Lakes muskies at its Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery this year as opposed to the northern muskies they have raised in the past. “This is a key turning point in our muskellunge production program,” said DNR Fish Production Manager Gary Whelan. “This strain of muskellunge is native to most of Michigan; the northern muskellunge is native to only a small portion of the [...]

The Friends of the Rouge (FOTR) are looking for volunteers for their annual Spring Bug Hunt on Saturday, April 30. The event allows volunteers to see a wide variety of aquatic insects, crayfish, snails, and clams that make up the bottom of the Rouge River food supply and support the fish and turtles. The presence or absence of these aquatic invertebrates reflects the quality of both the water and habitat of the river. The FOTR [...]

For the 16th year, the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR), along with volunteers from around Michigan, will be conducting a statewide frog and toad survey. The annual survey efforts help biologists keep track of the frog and toad population and distribution in Michigan. Since the 1980s, declining populations of frogs, toads, and other amphibians have been documented worldwide. According to studies, habitat loss, pollution, disease, and collection have all contributed to the decreasing numbers [...]

If you’re wondering if your water consumption habits are eco-friendly or how your daily actions can affect Michigan’s water quality and what you can do to improve it, you can now find out by visiting miwaterstewardship.org, a new interactive website aimed at encouraging Michigan residents to take voluntary, proactive steps to protect Michigan’s water quality. The site was launched earlier this month by the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Eaton Conservation [...]

Temperatures are warming, and the ice and snow are melting: It’s time for migratory birds to make a pit stop in Michigan as they begin to travel back to their breeding grounds. And this annual stop along the migration pathway presents one of the few opportunities for Michigan residents to see species of waterfowl that they normally do not get to see the rest of the year. To take advantage of such an opportunity, Kensington [...]

State officials have signed a settlement agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to better regulate ballast water from commercial vessels. Although the EPA issued its first “Vessel General Permit” (VGP) in 2009 to help regulate invasive species transported in ballast water, Michigan — along with other Great Lakes states and environmental organizations — felt it was inadequate to protect the Great Lakes, as the EPA only required ships to use the antiquated “swish [...]

Contaminated soil was discovered last spring near the service area at Kensington Metropark, and since then engineers from the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (HCMA) — along with Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr, and Huber Consultants, Inc. — have been testing and preparing a final assessment of the site for the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The contaminated soil was first discovered when three fiberglass underground fuel storage tanks were removed last spring. Since all three storage tanks [...]

What holds greater weight: biological science or social science? That seemed to be the question posed to the state’s Natural Resources Commission (NRC) at a Thursday, March 10 meeting as members listened to public testimony on whether the state should continue deer baiting and feeding bans in the Lower Peninsula. The ban was enacted in 2008 as part of the state’s Emergency Response Plan for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) after the detection of a CWD-positive [...]