Enchanting owls: Your guide to Michigan’s winter birds

Each winter, Michigan’s landscapes transition from bustling migration activity and bursts of color to leafless trees and frozen ground. This quiet season allows us to hear and see large feathered visitors from the north, such as snowy owls (pictured), boreal owls,...

Can you identify that leafless tree?

By Bill Cook MSU Extension Forester and Biologist, retired Bewilderment often greets the dormant season forest visitor in terms of tree identification. However, that’s because most of us have been trained to look at only the leaves and are left unfamiliar with the...

Hunting the EUP’s hunting access program lands

By Marquita Mullen, CLMCD The Hunting Access Program (HAP) in the Eastern Upper Peninsula (EUP) has gained recognition and popularity over the years as evidenced by the increase in hunters since the program started in the EUP. The Hunting Access Program provides...

Youth in the Outdoors survey & weekly prize drawings

Starting November 13, students 18 years old and under can complete a Youth in the Outdoors Survey to the Newberry DNR Customer Service Center to be entered into a weekly prize drawing through January 12. The quick, four-question survey is an opportunity for youth to...

Cookhouse stew: A burning urge

By Bill Cook MSU Extension Forester and Biologist, retired Heating with wood is not only a passion for some, but also environmentally smart and helps keep dollars local. Down to only a single winter’s worth of seasoned firewood, it was time to buy another truckload,...

The magnificent forest gets undressed

By Bill Cook The annual color change makes autumn the favorite season for many. While gorgeous, it’s part of a much longer physiological and ecological process of tree survival during a harsh season. Hiking through southern Alger County in mid-September revealed the...