After careful consideration of properties it manages on behalf of Michigan residents, the DNR has selected 10 that are much better suited for private ownership. The department is preparing these surplus properties – in Antrim, Baraga, Benzie, Berrien, Delta, Gogebic, Midland and Oakland counties – for sale via online auctions open now through June 15 and 16.

Scott Goeman, DNR Real Estate Services manager, said that while these properties no longer fit the department’s goals of efficient management and broad access to public outdoor recreation opportunities, they could fit nicely into potential bidders’ future plans.

“We are responsible for more than 4.6 million acres of public lands, and we regularly review those lands to evaluate how well they fit with our overall management strategy,” said Goeman. “Sometimes, it becomes clear that, due to a number of factors – for example, if a parcel is landlocked by private property, isolated from other DNR-managed land or doesn’t support optimum outdoor recreation opportunities – it makes more sense to remove that parcel from our management.

“Just because some properties are no longer right for the DNR, though, doesn’t mean they won’t be perfect for private ownership,” Goeman said. “These 10 properties available at auction right now offer a variety of landscape and natural features – lake frontage, river access and mature forests, for example – that should appeal to many different buyers.”

The parcels fall into three main categories: waterfront properties, larger-acreage properties and a few under an acre in size.

“Unfortunately, line-of-duty deaths in law enforcement have become an increasingly frequent occurrence,” said MCOA president Kyle Bucholtz, who patrols Huron County. “It is critically important we do not become accustomed to the idea of losing officers or forget the fallen officers of our past.”

Each year, during National Police Week, active Michigan conservation officers salute and place a state of Michigan flag at each gravesite to honor the fallen.

Eleven of Michigan’s fallen conservation officers are honored at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D.C. – where (prior to COVID-19) up to 40,000 people would attend the May services to honor fallen heroes.

This year, the DNR Law Enforcement Division was informed by the Officer Down Memorial Page of two recently discovered fallen Michigan conservation officers now undergoing the process of being recognized at the memorial.

Investigators Elgin McDonough, 38, from Algonac, and Karl Zimmerman, 35, of Marine City were killed immediately in a 1932 automobile accident near Webberville, while traveling from Lansing to Macomb County.

The two men died when their vehicle struck an unlit farm wagon that was hauling wood. Zimmerman had only been on the job for three days.

Green died Aug. 9, 2015, when the aircraft he was piloting crashed while he was on his way to a mandatory training in northwest Michigan.

“I just had a bad feeling that morning that something wasn’t going to be right,” Karla Cole, Green’s widow, said. “I had been at work for about an hour when the trooper arrived. My heart sank.”

Green is remembered for his commitment to Belle Isle and his hometown, Detroit. He worked as Detroit police officer before becoming a conservation officer in 1996.

“He was very familiar with Detroit and downtown and worked hard to bring Belle Isle back to what it should be – a family place,” Cole said. “We would pack the kids in the car when they were little and drive them around the island just to ride around and see the deer.”

Green is survived by his two sons, Antonio and Brice, and five grandchildren, two of whom were born after his death. Cole said Green instilled his love for fishing into his children, which has been passed on, particularly to one of her grandsons.

“My husband would have liked that, he really taught my boys about fishing, he took them on the lake a lot at the cottage. He would get a big kick out of seeing my grandson with a pole in his hand.”

Conservation officers stay connected with family members of the fallen.

Preceding Green’s death, Vernon Scott Averill died in 1986 from brain tumors sustained after two poachers beat Averill in the head after he issued them tickets for spearing fish along the Acme Creek, near Traverse City, in 1980.

“It makes my son (Randy Averill) and I proud to see that people remember him (Averill) and that we’re still treated as family by the DNR,” said Susan Ewing, Averill’s widow. “It’s important to honor the job that conservation officers and law enforcement officers do in society. He (Vernon) realized a lifelong dream when he became a conservation officer and loved all aspects. He worked hard, a lot of hours and always treated everyone with respect.”

Ewing and Randy still reside in northwest Michigan.

Welling was killed at the age of 54 on Sept. 10, 1972, the night before celebrating his 24th wedding anniversary, and before his granddaughter, Stacy (Welling) Haughey, Michigan DNR Upper Peninsula field deputy, was born.

“In many ways my grandpa has been a part of my life,” Haughey said. “I feel his courage and spirit in my heart, and I am lucky because all my life I have had a hero watching me from heaven and guiding my journey.”

Haughey oversees DNR operations in the Upper Peninsula. Her grandfather was killed while patrolling for illegal bear hunters near Hermansville, located in the Upper Peninsula’s Menominee County. He was intentionally struck and dragged by a vehicle while conducting a shining check with his partner.

“I’m sure these words and thoughts about my grandfather echo the memories and emotions that are experienced by those who have known a fallen officer,” Haughey said. “The impact of loss is a powerful thing that cannot be fully realized until it happens to you.

“The loss of our friends and protectors proves the dangers that exist in our society and proves the need to have peace officers at our doorstep – we need them whether it is in the middle of night, Christmas day, or a perfect Sunday afternoon – they are there to protect us in times we are most vulnerable.”

Welling was laid to rest at a cemetery in the Upper Peninsula. He was later relocated downstate when his wife moved back to her hometown of Coe.

Conservation officers often provide on-the-ground assistance during wildfires.

“He took me on a few missions,” Mellon Jr. said of his father. “He particularly liked the woods, trees and plants. He knew all the various tree species, which he taught me. He was an influence for why I became an outdoorsman. I liked small game: rabbits, grouse, peasant hunting.”

Mellon Jr. has six children and passed down his love of hunting to his one son and encourages others to enjoy the great outdoors.

“By all means get out there,” he said.

Bucholtz offered a suggestion on remembering Michigan’s 16 brave, dedicated and fallen conservation officers.

“Please take a moment to genuinely reflect on what each of these fallen conservation officers gave in service to the people of the state of Michigan,” he said. “In the truest sense of the word, each of these fallen officers and the loved ones they leave behind are heroes.”

Read more about each of Michigan’s fallen Conservation Officers at Michigan.gov/ConservationOfficers.

Through mass marking assistance by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Great Lakes states, including Michigan, mark popular game fish like steelhead, Chinook salmon, Atlantic salmon, brown trout and lake trout.

Most trout and salmon with an adipose fin clip also have a coded-wire tag in their snout. The tag is small, like the tip of a lead pencil, so it must be removed by lab technicians. Anyone catching and wanting to keep an adipose fin clipped fish should turn the head into a local drop-off station in Michigan.

Randy Claramunt, Lake Huron Basin coordinator with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said the DNR relies on the help of anglers to supplement the marked and tagged fish program.

“We have creel clerks at some ports, but there are several areas that we don’t have staff, including on river systems with unique fisheries, such as Atlantic salmon or steelhead,” he said. “To get enough tag returns to learn about these species, we need the help of our anglers to voluntarily turn in heads.”

The Great Lakes Salmon Initiative recognized the need for community science and teamed up with Captain Chuck’s II in Ludington, Moonshine Lures, Jay’s Sporting Goods, Blood Run Tackle and Collins Design and Build to sponsor 33 rewards worth $100 each. Fish with tags submitted before Nov. 1, 2021, will be eligible for the rewards, which will be selected randomly from all entries received by that date.

Additional details about the reward program:

• Each head with a tag that is turned in equals one drawing entry.
• Tagged fish must be submitted by Nov. 1, 2021.
• Eligible tagged fish include steelhead, brown trout and Chinook or Atlantic salmon.
• Your contact information (name, address, phone number) and catch data (date, location, body of water) must be included with each head.
• The drawing will occur around February 2022.
• The head must be left at a Michigan drop-off location.

According to Jay Wesley, Lake Michigan Basin coordinator, fish tag returns help biologists understand survival, age and movements of important sport fish.

“We are particularly interested in confirming the wild contribution of Chinook salmon to the fishery, movement and wild contribution of steelhead in lakes and rivers, and survival and movement of Atlantic salmon,” Wesley said. “This reward program will help incentivize anglers to become community scientists and help us collect valuable data.”

For more information on how to recognize a tagged fish and how to fill out the proper information, visit Michigan.gov/TaggedFish.