These two days include:

• Free Fishing Weekend. Fish for all in-season species, all weekend long, without a license. All other fishing regulations apply. To get more details or find a local event, visit Michigan.gov/FreeFishing.
• Free ORV Weekend. Legally ride 4,000 miles of designated routes and trails and the state’s six scramble areas without purchasing an ORV license or trail permit. Visit Michigan.gov/ORVinfo for the latest ORV trail, safety and closure information.
• Free state park entry. To encourage people to pursue free fishing and other outdoor fun, the DNR waives the regular Recreation Passport entry fee that grants vehicle access to Michigan’s 103 state parks, 1,300 state-managed boating access sites and many other outdoor spaces. Learn more about all the Passport provides at Michigan.gov/RecreationPassport.

Free Fishing and Free ORV weekends each take place on back-to-back days twice a year, but the “Three Free” Weekend happens only in June.

Protect yourself and the outdoors

For the best outdoor experiences, the DNR urges everyone to put safety first when enjoying Michigan’s woods, water and trails.

• Helpful safety tips – for ORV, boating, beach, fire and other topics – are available at Michigan.gov/DNREducation in the Safety Information section.
• Boaters can help prevent the spread of invasive species by removing mud and debris from all surfaces, draining water from all bilges, wells and tanks, and drying all equipment.
• The DNR also encourages anglers to review fishing safety tips and other helpful information at Michigan.gov/HowToFish.

Additionally, the DNR encourages people to #RecreateResponsibly. Before you head out on the trails or water, visit our Do Your Part website to learn more about how you can stay safe and protect the health and beauty of our great state.

In June and July, these birds often are found on lakes and golf course ponds, feeding on lush lawns while molting – the annual loss of their flight feathers, which takes about two weeks. Canada geese are unable to fly during molting, so putting up a temporary barrier between your yard and the water may help keep flightless geese away from your property. Geese are especially attracted to lawns that are heavily fertilized, watered and mowed.

“If you live on a lake and geese frequently visit your yard, try making your lawn less attractive to them by allowing your grass to grow long and cutting down on fertilizer and water, or try planting shrubs to create a barrier between your lawn and the water,” said Barbara Avers, waterfowl and wetland specialist with the DNR.

Intentionally feeding Canada geese can attract them to the area as well, so don’t – especially if you are having conflicts with geese. Such artificial feeding can make them comfortable around people; it also can increase overcrowding and potentially spread disease among the birds.

Summer is a great time to trade the gym for the great outdoors and lend a hand while you’re at it. Volunteers are key to keeping the forests we love clean and beautiful, helping to protect nature and wildlife.

As a thank-you, we’ll send the first 100 volunteers a Smokey Bear buff to show off their outdoor pride this summer. You can wear this multi-functional wrap as a headband, bandana, neck gaiter or in many other ways.

Open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at Lighthouse Park in Port Huron, the festival celebrates this gentle, prehistoric giant, a mascot for Great Lakes recovery. From the 1800s, lake sturgeon declined in the Great Lakes due to habitat loss and degradation and overfishing. Since the early 2000s, federal, state and tribal agencies have partnered in rehabilitating lake sturgeon.

For nine years now, thousands of people have gathered on shore each June to mark the migration of the sturgeon that return to the Blue Water area to spawn. Festivalgoers can enjoy a live sturgeon touch tank, hands-on activities, dozens of vendor booths, workshops, Native American drum ceremonies, hand-release of baby sturgeon, food trucks, live music and more. You can even “adopt a sturgeon” that scientists have tagged and are tracking in the wild.

At the festival, passengers can board the Huron Lady Sturgeon Cruise and experience a rare, close encounter with lake sturgeon underneath the Blue Water Bridge. The one-hour, narrated cruise takes riders on the St. Clair River and Lake Huron to interact with biologists who are catching, tagging and releasing the fish. The cruise sets off at 11 a.m. and tickets are $30. Festival admission is free.

Get full festival details at SturgeonFestival.com.

While 574 homes, businesses and structures were threatened, just 20 were destroyed – all outbuildings.

“We place a priority on saving homes whenever possible,” said DNR state fire supervisor Dan Laux. “Our firefighters are proud to defend their neighbors and communities from harm.”

The annual DNR wildland fire report shares further details on the 2021 fire season, including fire prevention efforts, fire causes and more. (It’s useful information for 2022, too; halfway through this year, DNR crews already have fought more than 140 wildfires!)

A key takeaway: the No. 1 cause of fires for 2021 again was yard debris burning, starting 34% of fires.

“It’s disappointing that debris burning, a preventable fire cause, continues to top the list every year,” said DNR fire prevention specialist Paul Rogers. “Safe burning saves lives. Don’t burn on a windy day, stay near your fire and always have a water source nearby.”

Other major fire causes were escaped campfires (10%), power lines (9%) and equipment (8%). Equipment can cause fires when sparks from machinery ignite dry leaves, or when hot equipment brushes over long grass. Most fires, at 80%, originated on private property.

In addition to fighting fires, staff made improvements to forest roads, removed hazardous trees, assisted with forest health work and conducted 57 carefully planned prescribed burns to renew the landscape.

Prescribed burns are conducted to set back invasive plants and renew fire-dependent forest and grassland ecosystems. Burns benefit species such as turkeys and pheasants, the endangered Karner blue butterfly and the Kirtland’s warbler.

Learn about wildland firefighting and fire safety at Michigan.gov/FireManagement.