Landowners can do their part by recycling or crushing containers such as empty cheeseball tubs and being “BearWise” about securing garbage, said Cody Norton of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. He pointed to cases in Florida, Wisconsin and Tennessee in which bears got their heads stuck in food containers.

“Container openings of a certain size can result in bears and other wildlife getting their heads or other body parts stuck in them, leading to injury or death,” said Norton, the DNR’s bear, furbearer and small game specialist. “It’s important to remember that the opening diameter is more important than the size of the container.”

Then, in late May, a Hillman resident spotted the bear in trail camera photos taken on his wooded acreage and alerted the DNR. With the landowner’s permission, state biologists set up a baited enclosure trap and caught the animal safely on June 2. After anesthetizing the bear, they cut the lid off its neck and collected body measurements and other data.

Norton said the trapping, chemical immobilizing and data-collecting effort provided DNR staff with valuable training and information that can inform future research and bear-management strategies. Michigan is home to about 13,000 black bears – 1,700 of them in the northern Lower Peninsula.

To learn more about living with black bears and minimizing bear encounters, visit BearWise.

“This funding will empower these communities to elevate and share their local stories, which is vital to the understanding and preservation of our state’s rich history,” said Sandra Clark, director of the Michigan History Center, which shares management of the America250MI Committee with the Historical Society of Michigan.

Round 1 awardees

Funded projects are in Allegan, Berrien, Calhoun, Cass, Chippewa, Clinton, Emmet, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Gratiot, Houghton, Huron, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Kent, Lenawee, Mackinac, Macomb, Marquette, Menominee, Monroe, Montcalm, Muskegon, Oakland, Oceana, Ottawa, Saginaw, Sanilac, St. Clair, Tuscola, Washtenaw and Wayne counties.

See the full list of Round 1 award recipients, grant amounts and project descriptions.

The America250MI program received nearly 100 proposals, seeking more than $2.2 million in funds, during the 45-day grant application period. Applications came from all regions of the state.

“The volume of applications demonstrates the necessity of this funding,” said Larry J. Wagenaar, executive director and CEO of the Historical Society of Michigan. “Local organizations are essential to preserving and promoting Michigan history, and we are proud to support their efforts in the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.”

The committee requested that all grant applications incorporate the program’s 5 Guiding Themes (Unfinished Revolutions, Power of Place, American Experiment, We the People and Doing History). Successful applications showcased a commitment to partnerships, exhibited lasting community impact and provided new opportunities to invest in Michigan’s historical organizations.

Round 2 details

The second round of applications will open Nov. 1, 2025, and close Jan. 15, 2026.

To stay up to date about Round 2, visit the America250MI website.

The Hunters Feeding Michigan program makes a positive difference in communities across the state by connecting hunters, wild game processors and charities to provide high-protein, nutritious venison meals to those in need.

This conference offered the opportunity for Michigan and other states to share their knowledge about building and growing successful wild game donation programs. Attendees, shown above, also got the chance to prepare and serve a meal (with venison donated through Hunters Feeding Michigan) to those in need in downtown Pontiac.

“We’ve learned a lot, and other states have learned a lot, about how to make the most of our efforts to help feed people in need,” said Joe Presgrove, DNR Hunters Feeding Michigan program specialist. “Joining in this national conversation helps us step up our game when it comes to reducing food insecurity in Michigan communities.”

Wild game donation program representatives from states including Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Tennessee also attended the conference.

The Hunters Feeding Michigan program offers hunters a way to share their harvest by donating their deer at a participating processor. A network of processors and charities channels the venison donations to those in need. Monetary donations also help support the program. Learn more at Michigan.gov/HuntersFeedingMichigan.

Questions? Contact Joe Presgrove at 517-643-3809.

This federally endangered and (Michigan) threatened pollinator faces a challenging journey for survival, but collaborative conservation efforts between the DNR and the Michigan Natural Features Inventory are helping to sustain their habitat at Allegan State Game Area in southwestern Michigan.

This short video shares more about the work at Allegan SGA.

A relatively small butterfly, with a wingspan measuring no more than an inch, the Karner blue feeds exclusively on wild blue lupine, a native, fire-dependent, perennial wildflower often found in oak savannas and barrens. Karner blue butterflies are an important indicator of healthy, specialized habitats, and conservation of those habitats helps protect other plants and pollinators that also thrive in these rare ecosystems.

As Michigan celebrates 50 years of endangered species law, a milestone marking decades of dedicated partnerships and efforts to protect our state’s most vulnerable plants and animals, this little butterfly represents a big hope for continued conservation success.

Questions? Contact Rachel Lincoln, DNR wildlife communications representative, at 517-243-5813.

“When the fund was created in 1983, it had three main goals: to restore populations of endangered and threatened species through management and protection, to maintain present populations of animals and plants, and to promote appreciation and awareness of these species through education and first-hand opportunities to experience wildlife,” said DNR wildlife communications representative Rachel Lincoln.

One way to promote the fund and build more buzz about the plight of threatened and endangered species was the introduction, in 2006, of the wildlife habitat license plate. For the first time, Michigan residents could choose a plate (then featuring the common loon) that would both send a portion of their plate registration fee to the fund and allow them to publicly display, on their vehicles, support for wildlife conservation.

Since 2006, the wildlife habitat license plate has raised over $4.8 million for the Nongame Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund. After the loon, the plate also has featured the elk and, currently, the Kirtland’s warbler.

Want to learn more? Try the Sept. 1, 2024, “Wildtalk” podcast for a deeper dive into a variety of threatened and endangered Michigan species and the benefits provided through the Nongame Fish and Wildlife Fund.

Questions? Contact Rachel Lincoln, DNR wildlife communications representative, at 517-243-5813.

Before the meeting, the public is invited to enjoy Coffee with the Commissioners at 8:30 a.m., a chance to sit down and talk with NRC members in a less formal setting.

The meeting follows at 9:30 a.m. and includes a presentation on the preliminary deer harvest survey report, an update on the steelhead task group report with Trout Unlimited, recognition of former NRC member David Cozad, a legislative update and several land transactions. See the draft meeting agenda and remaining 2025 meeting dates at Michigan.gov/NRC.

For more information or to request time to speak at the meeting, email NRC@Michigan.gov.

What can you do? It’s important to recognize that birds will often abandon their nests and eggs when they are moved. It’s also important to be aware that, outside of a few exceptions, most species are federally protected, and so are their eggs and nests.

While it can be inconvenient, the best and recommended course of action for the majority of cases is to leave the nest until the eggs hatch and the young fledge from the nest. Guidance from Audubon Great Lakes breaks down the different rules and regulations protecting bird nests, which can help you determine what to do if you stumble across one in a less than ideal location.

The full article is brought to you by MI Birds, an outreach and education program of the DNR and Audubon Great Lakes.

Questions? Contact Emily Osborne-Kim (Audubon Great Lakes) at 414-841-5273 for information about the article. Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453 for tips on handling a bird nest.