The day starts at 9:30 a.m. in the Michigan Room, first floor of Lansing Community College’s Downtown Campus, 600 N. Grand Ave. in Lansing. (Parking is available on first floor in the ramp.) 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 [email protected].

This season, these elusive visitors have been seen across the state. While exciting for us, these visits to Michigan can pose unfamiliar threats to the owls. Unfamiliar urban landscapes put them at risk from curious humans, rodent poisoning, and vehicle and power line collisions.

Here are a few quick tips for viewing these majestic visitors, while helping to keep them stress-free and safe:

• Give them space. When snowy owls visit Michigan in winter, they don’t often display signs of fear toward humans. A good rule of thumb is to view the owls from a great distance, using binoculars or a scope, rather than approach them.
• Don’t lure owls with audio recordings. While it might be tempting to use audio recordings to attract snowy owls closer to you, hearing another owl’s call – even a recorded one – can be stressful to them.
• Don’t lure owls with live bait. This practice can be dangerous for owls when it’s done by photographers and birders looking to get a glimpse. Owls learn to associate people with food and can be drawn to dangerous places, like roads or airports, where people can be found.
• Submit your eBird observations to scientists but keep them hidden from the public. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to keep your eBird checklist hidden and why discretion is sometimes needed to protect certain birds, like owls.

If that sounds like your dream adventure, grab three friends and apply to the 2025 Lighthouse Keeper Program at Tawas Point Lighthouse located in Tawas Point State Park. Opportunities are available from early June through late October.

For just $250 per person, keepers will live along the Lake Huron shoreline in a historic lighthouse keeper’s dwelling for two weeks. The living space features modern accommodations, including two bedrooms that can sleep four adults, a fully equipped kitchen and bathroom with a shower. Learn about the recent restoration of the Tawas Light in this Showcasing the DNR story.

During their stay, lighthouse keepers help greet visitors, lead tours, provide information about the historic structure and perform basic facility maintenance. The keeper schedule is designed to allow time to enjoy recreational activities, soak up the stunning surroundings and explore the region, all while providing valuable volunteer services. The total per-person service commitment is about 60 hours over the two weeks.

“Volunteering at the Tawas Point Lighthouse is a unique experience that combines the region’s cultural history and natural sciences,” said Don La Barre, Tawas Point Lighthouse site historian. “You’ll dive into the lighthouse’s fascinating history, which dates back to the 1870s. Join us as a volunteer lighthouse keeper in the 2025 season and make your mark on this historic landmark!”

Keepers apply in teams of four. Team members must be at least 18 years old and able to climb the 85 steps to the top of the tower.

There is a $40 nonrefundable application fee. Applications are due by Friday, Feb. 28, and successful applicants will be notified no later than March 14.

For more information and application details, visit the Michigan History Center’s Lighthouse Keepers webpage or email [email protected].

With the 2025 MI Birds webinar series, you can learn about where to spot birds, the public lands and other habitats they depend on, and the ongoing efforts to conserve them. When you RSVP to save your spot for each webinar, you’ll get a reminder email leading up to each event.

• Lantern-lit snowshoeing, presented by Van Riper State Park on the grounds of the Michigan Iron Industry Museum in Negaunee Feb. 7.
• At Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Paradise, both guided snowshoe hikes and lantern-it snowshoe events Feb. 8, Feb. 15 and Feb. 22.
• A lantern-lit guided snowshoe hike at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Ontonagon Feb. 8.
• A lantern-lit hike at Orchard Beach State Park in Manistee Feb. 14.
• Candlelight cross-country skiing at Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area in Metamora Feb. 15.

In addition to a lantern-lit trail, the Porkies Winter Snowburst Carnival at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park in Ontonagon, Feb. 22, will feature a youth treasure hunt, a chance to learn how to ski, cardboard sled races, fireworks and more.

Find more details about these and other cold-weather events at Michigan.gov/WinterFun.

Do:

• Report observations of six or more dead birds using the DNR’s Eyes in Field reporting form or calling the DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory at 517-336-5030.
• Clean bird feeders every one-two weeks in a 9:1 solution of water and bleach, scrubbing away any debris.
• Wear gloves while cleaning feeders and thoroughly wash hands when finished.
• Let feeders dry fully before refilling.
• Fence in your feeders, if possible, to prevent deer access and reduce the risk of chronic wasting disease.
• Remove and disinfect feeders if sick or dead birds are found.

Don’t:

• Handle or attempt to capture sick or dead birds.
• Let your pets near bird carcasses.
• Place seed directly on the ground or use platform feeders, which attract large numbers of birds, deer and rodents.
• Feed wild birds if you have backyard poultry.

Visit Michigan DNR’s HPAI Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about the virus and how you can help keep Michigan’s birds safe.

Learn more about Michigan birds and backyard bird feeding tips at MI Birds, a public outreach and education program created by Audubon Great Lakes and the DNR. MI Birds engages Michiganders in caring for public lands vital to birds and communities.

This spring, we’re looking for:

• More than 1,300 summer park workers and many seasonal park rangers.
• 30 seasonal park interpreters to lead activities and present fun programs tied to each park’s unique natural and cultural resources as part of the explorer guide program.
• Dozens of nature educators who can deliver engaging, hands-on programming for K-12 students at visitor centers and for the Nature Awaits fourth grade field trip program.

For many, working with the DNR is a unique and rewarding experience. Whether the duties are in an office, in the field or on the water, it’s about helping people connect with and enjoy our state’s natural resources and outdoor stories! Get a glimpse of several DNR positions (including park interpreter and park ranger) in the Michigan DNR Careers video playlist.

All DNR jobs

In addition to these opportunities, there are postings for positions such as license sales technician, marketing strategist and fisheries census clerk. Visit Michigan.gov/DNRJobs for more information about these active DNR job openings, and check back often for updates.

While coyotes are an integral part of our ecosystem, some residents may see them as a nuisance.

“If there’s an unwelcome coyote in the area, look for possible attractants that might make the area appealing,” said Rachel Lincoln, a wildlife outreach coordinator with the DNR Wildlife Division.

“Is there a nearby patch of woods or natural area that provides shelter? Are there food sources, such as bird feeders, that attract small mammals or an abundance of rabbits?” Lincoln said. “Where possible, modify or remove the things that are attracting coyotes or the small mammals they prey on.”

It could be as simple as removing bird feeders and keeping trash cans indoors until the morning of trash pickup. This short video on “hazing” tactics provides ideas you can try to help maintain coyotes’ natural fear of people and reduce opportunities for coyotes or other animals to get used to finding ready food sources.

If you’ve tried these tactics but coyotes still hang around your property, or you’re concerned about their presence in the area, contact a nuisance wildlife control business for help. These businesses are permitted by the DNR to remove certain wildlife, including coyotes, from private property.

If hunting is allowed in your area, coyote hunting and trapping seasons are available statewide. Check local laws and review the statewide hunting and trapping regulations for coyotes in the current Furbearer Harvest Regulations Summary at Michigan.gov/Trapping.

Learn more about coyotes and how to handle conflicts with wildlife at Michigan.gov/Wildlife.

Questions? Contact the DNR Wildlife Division at 517-284-9453.

Native to only Michigan and Montana in the Lower 48 states, grayling historically were found in coldwater streams in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and were common in the Manistee and Au Sable rivers — the city of Grayling, Michigan, along the Au Sable, is named after the Arctic grayling. Despite the importance of grayling as a food source, sport fish and cultural resource, habitat destruction, unregulated timber harvest and pressures from non-native fish species led to the extirpation (local extinction) of grayling from Michigan by 1936.

Previous attempts have been made, without success, to bring back Arctic grayling to Michigan waters, but new technologies and methods have improved the likelihood of effective reintroduction. The grayling eggs being reintroduced will be placed in streamside incubators that will allow them to imprint on the waters in which they are placed, helping them thrive. MAGI partners will closely monitor the hatching and development of the fry, as well as follow up on how they move through these systems as they grow.

The return of grayling to Michigan is a yearslong process, and this initial handoff of eggs begins the reintroduction phase of this effort. In November 2023, three Michigan lakes were stocked with Arctic grayling that were surplus from the DNR’s grayling broodstock. While establishing the broodstock was an important milestone in the reintroduction process, this stocking did not (and was not intended to) establish a self-sustaining wild Arctic grayling population.

More details on the Arctic grayling reintroduction event will be released as available. Learn more about the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative at migrayling.org, or plan your visit to the Oden State Fish Hatchery at Michigan.gov/Hatcheries.

Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan

The crew of the research vessel (RV) Lake Char began work on Lake Superior as soon as the ice melted and continued through early November. The Marquette Fisheries Research Station’s work focuses on lake trout, though species studied this year also included lake whitefish and burbot.

Data from the spring 2024 Lake Superior surveys showed a slight increase in adult lake trout populations in nearly all areas. The summer juvenile lake trout survey indicated slight increases in recruitment (reproduction and survival) on the west side of the Keweenaw and Munising areas and a slight decline in all other locations, with stable populations overall. During the field season, 257,100 feet (48.7 miles) of assessment gill net was deployed for these surveys at 123 sampling stations across the lake.

The RV Lake Char surveyed waters around Isle Royale in spring to assess the status of lake trout populations around the island. The crew also conducted surveys in the deepest waters of Lake Superior (and all the Great Lakes) — about 1,320 feet — to survey siscowet lake trout populations. The RV Lake Char crew finished the survey season with lake trout survey work at Klondike Reef, a remote location 40 miles from shore, in October and then surveyed nearshore lake trout spawning reefs near Munising in early November.

Nearshore Great Lakes fisheries assessment work from Upper Peninsula ports involved 10 miles of trawling in Lake Michigan’s Little Bay de Noc and Big Bay de Noc. In addition, over 25,000 feet of survey gill net was used in four locations in northern Lake Michigan (Big Bay de Noc, Little Bay de Noc, Naubinway and Manistique) and two locations in southern Lake Superior (Keweenaw Bay and Huron Bay). Catch data from these fall surveys provide useful metrics for assessing fish community change and populations of species including walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, northern pike, lake sturgeon and invasive Eurasian ruffe.

This winter, the Marquette Fisheries Research Station staff will perform maintenance in preparation for the 2025 field season and process the samples and data collected during 2024. These surveys provided data for collaborations with researchers from Purdue University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, State University of New York-Brockport, Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University.

Lake Michigan

Three surveys accounted for the majority of the Great Lakes survey work for the Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station staff and the survey vessel (SV) Steelhead in 2024.

Spring gill net survey

Since 1997, the DNR has participated in a spring gill net survey, in collaboration with other Lake Michigan agencies. The objective is to assess recreationally, commercially and ecologically important fish populations, with a focus on lake trout, burbot, lake whitefish and yellow perch in Michigan waters. The information collected is used to inform ongoing research and management efforts for multiple species in Lake Michigan. Due to the broad area covered and multispecies focus, this survey provides the most comprehensive information on the status of adult Lake Michigan fish populations.

The spring gill net survey was conducted at eight ports this year: St. Joseph, South Haven, Saugatuck, Grand Haven, Arcadia, Leland, Elk Rapids and Charlevoix. Across all ports, more than 100,000 feet of experimental bottom gill net was deployed and provided data on more than 5,000 fish.

Lakewide acoustic (forage fish) survey

From late August to early September, the SV Steelhead and crew conducted the prey fish survey, a multiagency effort measuring the abundance of alewife, rainbow smelt, bloaters and other prey fish throughout Lake Michigan. This survey uses hydroacoustic (high-precision, recordable fish finder) gear. Results inform research and interjurisdictional trout and salmon management around predator/prey balance and lower food web changes in Lake Michigan, including the lakewide “predator-prey ratio” analysis to ensure prey fish can support the lake’s salmon and trout populations.

The hydroacoustic survey comprised 25 sections spanning nearshore and offshore regions around the basin. Areas surveyed this season by the SV Steelhead stretched from waters offshore of Beaver Island in the north around the Michigan shore to St. Joseph in the south.

Strong offshore winds Aug. 2–21 resulted in persistent coldwater upwelling along the eastern shoreline. These environmental conditions likely changed normal fish distributions and abundance estimates relative to previous survey years. Despite this challenge, preliminary results suggest relatively similar densities of age-1 (1+ years old) alewife and higher abundances of bloaters compared to previous years. However, young-of-year alewife abundance was estimated to be very low in 2024.

Bottom trawl survey

The SV Steelhead crew completed the annual bottom trawl survey in September and October at three of the ports sampled during the spring gill net survey (Saugatuck, South Haven and Grand Haven), as well as at the port of Pentwater. Ten trawl samples were collected at each port, covering a range of water depths from 25 feet to 120 feet. This survey provides information on the overall status of the nearshore fish community, including the presence, range expansion and effects of invasive species, and the status of yellow perch recruitment.

Other assessments

Charlevoix Fisheries Research Station staff also used small vessels for targeted surveys in 2024. Staff assisted Central Michigan University researchers with scuba surveys of mussel populations in large rivers and continued a multiyear assessment of spawning reefs in northern Lake Michigan. Reef assessments included characterization of habitat quality, deployment and collection of egg-sampling gear, and tagging of lake whitefish with acoustic tags to assess movement and spawning site use.

Lake Huron

The 2024 field season for the Alpena Fisheries Research Station and research vessel (RV) Tanner began in April with the annual spring lake trout assessment. The crew surveyed 14 locations in U.S. waters of Lake Huron from Drummond Island to Port Sanilac to determine the abundance and distribution of both young and adult lake trout. The catch rate of adult lake trout was similar to that of recent years, and most young lake trout (both hatchery-reared and wild-born) continue to be collected in northern Lake Huron.

Following the conclusion of the lake trout survey in late May, commercial fishery sampling in June, and tending Great Lakes Acoustic Telemetry Observation System, or GLATOS, receivers for fish movement studies in July, the RV Tanner completed a sonar and trawl survey of outer Saginaw Bay that targeted cisco. Cisco are important Great Lakes species that help maintain healthy predator species and provide fishing opportunities, as well as serve as an indicator of ecosystem health. Because of this, cisco are a focus of ongoing restoration efforts by multiple natural resource agencies around Lake Huron.

In the fall, the RV Tanner crew completed the annual Saginaw Bay fish community survey. This survey is done each September in partnership with the Lake St. Clair Fisheries Research Station and RV Channel Cat, and the 2024 Saginaw Bay assessment covered 16 net stations and 24 trawl sites. Survey catches showed a high abundance of young-of-year walleye in the bay (the second highest on record!), and adult walleye gill net catch rates that were similar to recent years’ numbers. However, both gill net and trawl catch rates of adult yellow perch in Saginaw Bay remained very low. A highlight of the survey was an encounter with two juvenile lake sturgeon, confirming their survival from ongoing stocking efforts in the Saginaw River system.

Soon after departing Saginaw Bay, the RV Tanner once again made its way to the eastern Upper Peninsula for an annual fish community survey in the Les Cheneaux Islands, where the gill net catch rate of yellow perch increased, and other indicators of perch population health were within sustainable ranges.

St. Clair-Detroit River System

The field season in Great Lakes waters of southeast Michigan kicked off with northern pike, mooneye and smallmouth bass tagging in Lake St. Clair and tributaries during March, April and May. The tags, which are surgically implanted into fish and send a signal to receivers in GLATOS, allow scientists to track movement of fish throughout the region and the Great Lakes as a whole. While data from northern pike and mooneye tagging is still coming in, the results from smallmouth bass tagging suggest that Lake St. Clair smallmouth bass exist in multiple, smaller subpopulations rather than one large lakewide population. These subpopulations occupy well-known areas of the lake such as Anchor Bay and the Mile Roads and appear to mix very little with smallmouth bass from other locations.

The annual lake sturgeon assessment in the North Channel of the St. Clair River showed continued recruitment of young lake sturgeon into the adult population—which means that young lake sturgeon are surviving into adulthood. The North Channel sampling location is considered a “hot spot” for young lake sturgeon, and this is supported by DNR survey data. During the past 27 years, survey crews have encountered individual fish from each year class born between 1997 (the year the survey began) and 2019 (the most recent year class that, because of their age and size, can effectively be caught by the sampling gear). In 2024, the DNR tagged 24 juvenile lake sturgeon in the North Channel with tags that are detected by GLATOS (like the northern pike, mooneye and smallmouth bass mentioned above) and more will be learned about the specific movements and habitat use by these fish in the coming years. New molecular analysis of fin clips from captured lake sturgeon shows that most fish larger than 63 inches are females, while those less than 63 inches long are evenly split between males and females.

Since 2021, DNR staff have completed lakewide surveys on Lake St. Clair in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The partnership completed a netting survey that targeted larger-bodied fish in offshore areas of the lake in 2024, complementing other netting and electrofishing surveys completed in 2021 through 2023. These surveys will be conducted on a rotational basis to monitor any changes that occur in Lake St. Clair and inform future fisheries management decisions.

The 56-year-old RV Channel Cat made a weeklong trip to Lake Erie in early August to conduct a bottom trawl survey that documented walleye and yellow perch reproduction and an abundance of 8-inch and larger yellow perch. The RV Channel Cat and crew then returned to Lake St. Clair to collect lake sturgeon using 35 individual trawl tows. The individual sturgeon captured in this survey, which sometimes exceed 100 pounds, are rarely encountered in the North Channel survey efforts described earlier. August concluded for the crew with a micro-mesh gill net survey to describe the Lake St. Clair forage fish community. Micro-mesh gill nets were deployed at six locations and commonly captured logperch, yellow perch and round goby.

The RV Channel Cat closed out the year with a trip to Lake Erie in early October for the annual walleye assessment. Catch rates in the survey gill nets were the third highest observed since 1992, and the catch included many year classes (ages) of fish, which represents strong walleye reproduction in Lake Erie since 2015.

To learn more about how the DNR manages Michigan’s fisheries for current and future generations, visit Michigan.gov/Fishing.