With the amount of wet weather Michigan experienced this spring, area residents may see an increase in mosquito activity, according to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). While generally considered annoying pests, mosquitoes could also be the cause of several serious illnesses since they are an ideal vector for some diseases, including West Nile Virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), both of which can affect humans, birds, deer and horses. Mosquitoes [...]

The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently confirmed the reappearance of the fish-killing pathogen viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS) in Clare County’s Budd Lake. In the spring of 2006, VHS was responsible for large quantities of fish dying in Lake St. Clair, the St. Clair River, the Detroit River, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River. In addition, the disease has also been confirmed in New York and Wisconsin bodies of water. Since [...]

After years of discussion and appraisals, Commerce Township will be gaining approximately 500 acres of state-owned land to be used as a public outdoor recreation facility. Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Rodney Stokes authorized the DNR to move ahead with the land transaction at the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) meeting on Thursday, June 9. The transaction includes 502 acres of the east unit of the Proud Lake Recreation Area, which will be sold [...]

The Natural Resources Commission voted 4-3 Thursday, June 9 in favor of lifting the current ban on deer baiting and feeding 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 deer in a privately-owned facility in Kent County. At that time, the NRC made an informal commitment to review the baiting and feeding ban after [...]

While much focus has been given to the potential Asian carp invasion of the Great Lakes, another Asian invader has recently been discovered in Michigan — the brown marmorated stink bug, also known as Halyomorpha halys. Native to eastern Asia, the brown marmorated stink bug was first discovered in Allentown, Penn. in 1998. Since then, it has spread quickly and inhabits most eastern states in addition to Oregon and California. It’s believed that the bug [...]

The Oakland County Health Division will be testing water samples collected at 44 public beaches on 37 county lakes this summer — including 13 lakes area beaches — with the help of four college interns. “These interns are students usually studying environmental health sciences who need internships for a completion of a degree,” said Mark Hansell, the Environmental Health Services Unit supervisor for the Oakland County Health Division. The monitoring program started on Monday, June [...]

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is requesting volunteers to participate in a stewardship day being held at the Highland Recreation Area from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 25. This will be the last garlic mustard pulling workday of the year at the recreation area. Garlic mustard is an invasive species that crowds out native wildflowers and tree seedlings, which can change the ecology of the natural area and impact the [...]

The state House of Representatives has voted 103-6 in favor of a piece of legislation that would give all property owners contributing to lake assessments the ability to dissolve lake improvement boards. Lake improvement boards are established to provide maintenance and improvement of inland lakes, often dealing with issues such as weed control, dredging, or installing an augmentation well. Local units of government can instruct lake improvement boards to undertake lake improvement projects via resolution. [...]

Although the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was given the green light to make an offer on property adjacent to the former Aggressive Marine site on Union Lake in Commerce Township, a deal between the DNR and the property owners has yet to be finalized. Ron Olson, chief of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division, said he’s optimistic that the deal will eventually go through. “It’s up to (the property owners) to get the [...]

Volunteers and personnel at Kensington Metropark in Milford Township lucked out on Saturday, May 14, as the weather was perfect for the metropark’s annual bird count, which allowed it to be “one of our best counts ever,” according to Nature Center Supervisor Bob Hotaling. “The weather cooperated. Sunday would’ve been a problem, and it was too hot Friday. But Saturday was fine. We got lucky,” he said. Close to 30 people split into seven different [...]