“From sighting in rifles to sprucing up the old deer blind, preseason activities can be a hectic time for firearm deer hunters,” said Capt. Pete Wright, DNR Law Enforcement Division. “The five-day quiet period creates a window of time, just before the opener, when hunters can catch their breath and the woods have a chance to calm.

“This period is like pushing a reset button, allowing deer to settle back into their day-to-day patterns, which in turn increases the chances of a successful hunt.”

During these five days, it is unlawful to transport or possess a rifle or shotgun with buckshot, slug load, ball load or cut shell in an area frequented by deer. Unloaded firearms securely encased or carried in the trunk of a vehicle may be transported to or from a hunting camp. Refer to the 2023 DNR Hunting Regulations Summary for more information.

If you’re hunting for small game or waterfowl, or fur harvesting, you can still carry the appropriate firearm for your season. Small game and waterfowl hunters may carry shotguns with shotshells for hunting small game, but cannot possess buckshot, slugs, ball loads or cut shells during this time. Fur harvesters may carry rimfire firearms (.22-caliber or smaller) while actively hunting or checking traplines during the open furbearing animal season.

Contact the Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800 to report trespassing, shooting or other related natural resource violations.

Questions? Email DNR-LawEnforcement@Michigan.gov.

This amazing turnout for the Mi Trees effort has helped the DNR move toward its goal of planting 50 million trees by 2030 in partnership with 1T.org, a global initiative to plant 1 trillion trees. Much of Michigan’s landscape is privately owned or in urban and community areas, making public participation an important part of the effort.

Why plant a trillion trees? Forests are important for the health of the planet and for us. From simply providing beauty to our landscapes and communities, to creating wildlife habitat, slowing climate change, providing renewable materials for everyday products and even improving mental health, trees are essential.

The Michigan DNR plants about 6 million trees a year on state forest land, with forest management practices that are certified as sustainable by two independent organizations.

If you want to join the effort, find tips to pick the right tree and plant it correctly at Michigan.gov/MiTrees. Be sure to tag them on our map to share your achievement and help us get closer to the Trillion Trees goal.

Questions about tree planting? See our handy guide or contact DNR forestry experts Kevin Sayers, Mike Smalligan or Lawrence Sobson.

The Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit is getting in the holiday spirit this month. Contribute to the “Stuff a Truck” toy donation drive and get a photo with Santa and Mrs. Claus Nov. 24-25, and decorate cookies with Mrs. Claus Nov. 25.

Other November events at the OAC include Birding Belle Isle Nov. 12, STEM Family Night – a night of hands-on activities linking nature with science, technology, engineering and math – Nov. 16, plus archery, nature education programs for kids, family hikes and much more. Find more info about these and other programs on the Outdoor Adventure Center events calendar.

Experience one of Michigan’s most unique state parks on horseback during the shoreline horseback riding season at Silver Lake State Park in Mears Nov. 1-30. During this special season, equestrians can ride the Lake Michigan shoreline for a $10 registration fee per horse per day.

Don’t miss “Michigan Makers,” a special exhibit at the Michigan History Museum in Lansing, running through Dec. 3. Discover the stories of Michigan’s tinkerers, artists, thinkers and makers, who might just inspire you to create something new yourself!

And sign up now for the Dec. 9 snowshoe lacing program at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Ontonagon, part of the DNR’s Outdoor Skills Academy. Learn how to lace traditional cross-country snowshoes, an excellent way to explore Michigan’s wintry outdoors, and walk away with your own hand-laced pair.

Find a complete list of events at Michigan.gov/DNRCalendar.

Funding and technical support are provided through a 27-year partnership of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, DTE Energy Foundation and ReLeaf Michigan.

See which communities received tree planting grant awards. The grants will help purchase a variety of trees to be planted this fall or next spring.

“Trees make our communities and neighborhoods beautiful, healthy and vibrant places,” said Kevin Sayers, DNR Urban and Community Forestry program coordinator. “This program promotes planting the right types of trees in the right places to ensure they stay healthy and provide benefits for all.”

The ongoing partnership between the DTE Energy Foundation, the DNR and ReLeaf Michigan aims to support and engage cities, schools, nonprofits and other community-based organizations in caring for the environment, beautifying neighborhoods and properly planting trees away from utility infrastructure.

“ReLeaf Michigan and the Michigan DNR play a crucial role in maintaining, protecting and expanding our state’s natural resources, including urban forests,” said DTE Foundation President Rodney Cole. “The DTE Foundation is thrilled to be part of that mission and to see how these new plantings benefit communities.”

First, the easy part: Move a fall task to your spring to-do list. Hold off on clipping dead plant stems until 50-degree days return. If left over winter, they’ll provide protection for perennial plants. The hollow spaces in stems will give small critters and pollinators places to hibernate. Learn about the benefits of “leaving the leaves.”

Although some local ordinances allow fallen leaves to be burned or removed curbside, why not use dead leaves as free mulch? They will insulate plants and slow erosion, keeping garden soil in place. Turtles, toads, salamanders, moths and butterflies all spend winter tucked under leaves.

You could even use leaves to enrich next year’s garden.

Harvest festivals

Fall harvest festivals at state parks – with hayrides, pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, costume contests, haunted trails, nature programs, horse-drawn carriage rides and other family-friendly activities – continue throughout October. Activities in state park campgrounds are typically open only to registered campers, but some parks also offer events for all visitors to enjoy.

Archaeology Day

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an archaeologist? Check out Michigan Archaeology Day, Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Michigan History Museum in Lansing. This free event for all ages celebrates the investigations and artifacts that tell the stories of 14,000 years of Michigan history. You can see and learn about the work of Michigan archaeologists, make a clay pinch pot, watch a flintknapper make stone tools, try throwing a spear using an atlatl, join a scavenger hunt, see in-depth special presentations and more.

Outdoor Adventure Center

October at the Outdoor Adventure Center offers a variety of fall fun for all ages, including archery, nature education programs for kids, family hikes and much more:

• Learn more about our feathered friends with birding programs at Belle Isle Park in Detroit Oct. 8 and an off-site event at Sterling State Park in Monroe Oct. 15.
• Don’t miss the Michigan DNR showcase at the Detroit Harvest Fest and Food Truck Rally Oct. 7-8 – find us near the Franklin Street entrance of this event to learn about Michigan’s natural resources, parks, trails and more.

That’s just a sampling of what’s happening this month at the OAC. Find more info about these and other programs on the Outdoor Adventure Center events calendar.

Snowshoe making

Learn to weave a pair of traditional wooden snowshoes, which can be used for winter hiking, gift-giving or home décor, during the DNR Outdoor Skills Academy’s snowshoe-making class at Ludington State Park Oct. 28-29.

The class will be offered again in November, along with a venison processing and cooking clinic. Get more details about these and other “how to” programs at Michigan.gov/OutdoorSkills.

Read on to learn about opportunities around the state this month. For more ideas on how to volunteer, contribute and provide input to make a difference, visit Michigan.gov/DNRVolunteers.

Volunteer workdays at state parks, hatcheries

Several state parks in southern Michigan will host volunteer stewardship workdays. Volunteers are needed to help restore natural areas by removing invasive plants that threaten high-quality ecosystems. Workdays will take place at:

• Waterloo Recreation Area (Washtenaw County), 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7.
• Yankee Springs Recreation Area (Barry County), 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7.
• Island Lake Recreation Area (Livingston County), 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8.
• Bald Mountain Recreation Area (Oakland County), 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Oct. 14.
• Ludington State Park (Mason County), 10 a.m. to noon Sunday, Oct. 15.
• Muskegon State Park (Muskegon County), 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 21.
• Fort Custer Recreation Area (Kalamazoo County), 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22.
• Belle Isle Park (Wayne County), 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Oct. 28.
  Warren Dunes State Park (Berrien County), 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 28.
• Pinckney Recreation Area (Washtenaw County), 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29.

Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery Visitor Center in Van Buren County also will host a volunteer stewardship workday 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18. Volunteers will help with invasive species removal, trail and visitor center maintenance, seed collections and much more.

Fall Volunteer Day at Mears State Park in Oceana County is Saturday, Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers will help get the park ready for winter by putting up snow fence, taking down benches, grills and tables, painting tables and more. Volunteers who work all day can camp for free for the weekend (camping isn’t a requirement to volunteer – all are welcome).

More details about each workday and how to register can be found on the DNR volunteer events calendar.

Saturday, Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to noon, volunteers are needed to spread native grass seeds and remove invasive vegetation to help restore oak savanna habitat at Canonsburg State Game Area in Kent County. Volunteers will plant mast-producing trees – an important fall and winter food source for a wide variety of Michigan wildlife – in the Traverse City Forest Management Unit in Kalkaska County Saturday, Oct. 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Find more details and registration info on the On the Ground webpage.

Weigh in on state land review plans

There’s still an opportunity to review and share feedback on DNR staff recommendations on whether to keep, exchange or sell state-managed land in 11 counties – Baraga, Benzie, Clare, Clinton, Genesee, Ionia, Manistee, Mecosta, Newaygo, Shiawassee and Wayne. Comments on the latest round of the state land review process will be accepted through Oct. 11.

Splake – a hybrid cross between lake trout and brook trout – have been stocked in Lake Superior most years since 1971, with annual stocking since 1990.

Marked splake have been central to that stocking effort since 2021, as part of an evaluation study. At the Marquette State Fish Hatchery in Michigan’s central Upper Peninsula, staff from the DNR’s Lake Superior and Northern Lake Michigan management units, as well as field staff from across the state, put in long hours carefully marking the splake by hand.

These fish are then stocked in the spring at three Lake Superior ports: Copper Harbor, Keweenaw Bay and Munising. Splake stocked at each port are given a unique mark or fin clip consisting of a single fin or a paired clip, which has two fins. The goal is to create nearshore fishing opportunities in the smaller bays of Lake Superior, where some fisheries are available year-round.