The group claims to be the largest statewide conservation organization in the nation. Its board president said, ‘It’s tight right now.’
Rural Michigan
Posted inOutdoors Life
Looking for a native plant sale? Here are 30+ in Michigan
Native plants provide benefits to the environment and to gardeners.
Posted inTalent & Education
Michigan pits small, big schools for funding. It’s an unfair fight, leaders say
Michigan increasingly requires schools to apply for grants to fund special programs like career tech. That may disadvantage small schools, where superintendents complete applications between plowing school and substitute teaching.
Posted inTalent & Education
Up North Michigan, schools struggle between pull of home and promise of college
Students’ stark choice in northern Michigan: Go to college and never come back — or stay with smaller paychecks. That’s put school districts in a conundrum about how best to educate them.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Strengthening rural governance in Michigan
We need to move beyond treating structural, systemic struggles in rural Michigan as isolated examples. We must help communities prepare for fast, unpredictable change with strong governance.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
5 things to know as Michigan lawmakers try again on dam safety reforms
A bipartisan group in the state House wants to boost Michigan’s weak dam safety standards while requiring owners to prove they can afford to maintain their dams.
Posted inOutdoors Life
Michigan fishing regulator to draft resolution against Consumers dam sale
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission may not have authority over Consumers Energy’s plan to sell 13 dams, but it wants to have a voice.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
St. Clair County public health gets ‘MAGA’ makeover, from fluoride to vaccines
The medical director of a health department on Michigan’s Thumb is bucking a decades-long trend in public health leadership. Not all are thrilled.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan falls behind in race to save disappearing farmland
Thousands of farms and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland have been lost to development and other economic pressures in recent years. Michigan does less than most to stem the tide.
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan town keeps zoning blocking trustee’s gravel mine
A northern Michigan township official wanted to end zoning, which would help him build a gravel mine. The township board just said no.