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Published: 13 November 2025

MDNR Report

When you think of reefs, the Great Lakes don’t immediately come to mind; instead, most people picture the coral reefs associated with tropical waters and colorful fish. But Saginaw Bay once had many rock reefs, created by glacial activity, that provided an important type of habitat for the bay’s aquatic species. Over time, reef habitat was lost, buried by sediment due to logging, manufacturing and agricultural activity in the area. To restore this lost reef habitat, the DNR and many partner organizations worked together on a portfolio of reef habitat projects, including the recently completed Channel Island Reef.

A nearshore reef, Channel Island Reef is constructed in the bay near Channel Island (aka Spoils Island). It is made of natural rock that rises several feet from the bottom but still sits a few feet below the surface of the water. Locally sourced limestone was used, which creates crevices and ledges perfect for spawning fish to deposit eggs into and for young fry (newly hatched fish) to hide from predators. The reef will get lots of wave action, which will keep sediment from building up and wash oxygenated water over fertilized fish eggs, increasing their survival.

“Restoring rocky reefs can help make native fish species – like lake whitefish and walleye – more resilient,” said Jeff Jolley, the DNR’s Southern Lake Huron Fisheries Management Unit manager.

These species use reef habitat for spawning, making it essential for supporting strong fish populations, especially whitefish, which are in decline elsewhere in the Great Lakes.

Jolley said that while walleye are now thriving in the bay, much of the population currently relies on river spawning. That makes it vulnerable—if just one or two river systems experience a disaster, blockage or habitat decline, the effects could ripple across the entire population. By restoring and enhancing diverse spawning habitats, biologists aim to build resiliency into the population.

“It’s similar to diversifying an investment portfolio,” said Jolley. “Spreading the ‘risk’ across multiple spawning areas helps ensure the walleye population remains strong even if one site falters.”

In the coming years, fisheries biologists will study activity at the reef, learning more about how fish use the reef and its beneficial effects on the ecology of Saginaw Bay.

Learn more about the project: Channel Island Reef: Increasing fish spawning habitat and resilience in Saginaw Bay | Michigan Sea Grant.

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Published: 06 November 2025

MDNR Report

Michigan elk hunters would have longer harvest periods for the 2026-27 hunting cycle under draft proposals by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The proposals would lengthen both elk hunting periods in the northern Lower Peninsula, home to Michigan’s elk herd.

• Hunt Period 1 would run from the second Saturday in September through the second Sunday in October – a 30-day, continuous period. Currently, Hunt Period 1 is broken up into three, four-day hunts stretching across August and September – 12 total hunting days.
• Hunt Period 2 would run from Dec. 1 through Dec. 15 – a 15-day period. Currently, Hunt Period 2 runs from Dec. 13 through Dec. 21 – a nine-day period.

Combined, the two hunting periods would provide 45 total days of harvest time, more than double the current 21 total days of harvest time. The proposals, which do not affect the 2025 elk hunting season, must be approved by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission.

In addition to making Hunt Period 1 longer and continuous, the change would move the period later in the season when the weather is generally colder and better for elk hunting.

“Shifting the period later in the year should give hunters more favorable weather conditions,” said Scott Eggeman, a Gaylord-based field operations manager for the DNR Wildlife Division. “And a monthlong, continuous hunting period would provide hunters with more opportunities, allow flexibility to choose when they want to hunt and help them safety and effectively target an appropriate elk by reducing the pressure on them to make a kill quickly.”

The proposed change to Hunt Period 2 not only lengthens the period but also moves it further away from the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays. Currently, Hunt Period 2 ends Dec. 21; under the proposal, it would end Dec. 15.

In another proposed change, hunters would have 72 hours to register their elk with the DNR. Currently, elk must be registered within 24 hours of harvest.

The draft proposals do not include any recommended changes to Michigan’s elk management unit boundaries or the annual elk drawing.

Feedback on these draft proposals can be emailed to DNR-Elk-Hunt@Michigan.gov by Jan. 23, 2026.

Final proposed elk regulations and elk license quotas for 2026-27 will be presented to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission at its March 2026 meeting. As with all regulations, the final recommendations will be available through a link to the March agenda when it is available on the NRC webpage. Additional input can be provided directly to the NRC at that time.

The final regulations will be adopted at the April 2026 NRC meeting.

Details

Published: 31 October 2025

MDNR Report

Sixty moose have been killed in vehicle collisions over the past four years in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, with most of the crashes occurring on stretches of highway in the western U.P.

The fall and summer months, when moose are particularly active, are the most common times for collisions. About a third of all moose deaths from vehicle collisions occur in September and October, according to statistics compiled by the Michigan DNR Wildlife Division and the Michigan Department of Transportation.

On June 17, a female moose raising twin calves was killed by a vehicle at one of the hotspots – U.S. 141 in northern Iron County – likely removing three moose from the population because calves are dependent on their mother.

Over the past decade, the moose population in Michigan’s core range (Baraga, Marquette and Iron counties) has remained between 300 and 500 animals, and DNR wildlife biologists are researching the reasons behind why the population has remained relatively stagnant.

There have been no known human deaths from moose-vehicle collisions, but the potential is always there when a car traveling 55-65 mph or more meets a 1,000-pound animal, said Tyler Petroelje, the DNR’s northern Michigan wildlife research specialist.

“In a sense, Michigan has been very lucky,” Petroelje said. “But at the same time, I think that’s one of those things that is a reality – it could happen at any point.”

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