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MDNR Report

Beginning March 1, sport fishing guides operating in Michigan will need an inland guide license to take clients on guided trips on inland lakes, rivers or streams. The license is required for anyone guiding on any water except the Great Lakes, Great Lakes connecting waters and bodies of water with a surface area of less than 5 acres.
Great Lakes connecting waters refers to specific bodies of water in Michigan that connect the Great Lakes: the St. Marys River, the St. Clair River (beginning at the Fort Gratiot Light), Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River (beginning at the imaginary line extending due south of the Windmill Point Light, Wayne County, and ending at the imaginary east/west line drawn through the most southernly point of Celeron Island).

An inland sport fishing guide can get a license by completing the following steps:

MDNR Report

Updated guidelines for co-management of fishery resources in parts of Michigan’s Great Lakes are now in effect for the next 24 years. The new Great Lakes Fishing Decree between Indian tribes and the DNR was approved last fall by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. In the months since the decree’s signing, the State of Michigan and tribal governments have been preparing to implement the provisions of the document.

This decree is necessary because five tribes – the Bay Mills Indian Community, the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians – reserved fishing rights in the 1836 Treaty of Washington. Those rights were affirmed by federal courts more than four decades ago, resulting in the need for a co-management framework that allows for sharing of the fishery resource. This decree is the third since 1985, and each one has included a fishery management structure that dictates who can fish where, when and how, and what can be brought home or sold. 

By Louie Stout

Bass and bluegill continue to dominate Union Lake gamefish, according to a Michigan fisheries survey.

Union is an impoundment on the St. Joseph River south of Battle Creek in Northwest Branch County. It’s a popular tournament destination averaging about 16 events a year.

The shallow, stumpy watershed has a maximum depth of around 16 feet.

Michigan biologist Matt Diana was there to survey the population and found it has the typical mix of river species and sport fish.

MDNR Report

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A 4-year-old doe harvested in Benzie County, Michigan, during the 2023 deer hunting season has tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. This is the first bTB-positive wild deer from that county.

Benzie County is located on the Lake Michigan shore south of Traverse City.

Bovine tuberculosis is an infectious, zoonotic disease affecting both humans and animals. The disease is primarily spread through respiratory secretions when infected animals expose uninfected animals through nose-to-nose contact or contaminate shared feed and water.

MDNR Report

The Michigan DNR Wildlife Habitat Grant Program is accepting applications now through March 18. 

“Healthy, abundant wildlife habitats not only benefit wildlife, they also provide value to Michigan residents by offering more opportunities for hunting, trapping and wildlife viewing, improved soil conservation and support for critical ecosystems,” said DNR Wildlife Division Chief Sara Thompson.

“Through the productive partnerships that make such works possible, the Wildlife Habitat Grant Program helps create food plots, build wintering deer complexes, plant native grasses, regenerate aspen and other tree species, and do many other things that yield benefits long after the initial projects are completed,” Thompson said. 

Funding is available for local, state, federal and tribal governments, profit and nonprofit groups, and individuals through an open, competitive process. Minimum grant amounts will be set at $15,000, with the maximum being the amount of funds available for that grant cycle. The 2024 overall available grant amount is approximately $1 million.