Bobcats nearly vanished after the logging boom of the 1880s. Now that populations are rebounding, the state is proposing to allow hunting and trapping in the southern Lower Peninsula.
Rural Michigan
Posted inMichigan Government
Michigan DNR camping reservations up 8 percent. Book now for busy sites.
Popularity of outdoor activities hasn’t abated since the pandemic. State officials say sites such as Grand Haven, Ludington and Young state parks generally sell out.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
As Michigan DNR camping reservations soar, parks want COVID funds soon
State lawmakers have proposed spending close to $1 billion in federal COVID stimulus funds to help state and local parks upgrade deteriorated facilities. With record crowds during the pandemic, park officials want Lansing to step up plans to put that money to work.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Northern Michigan studio belonging to iconic artist listed for sale
Gwen Frostic created a business around her wildlife art that survives 21 years after her death. A new owner will get a chance to own this piece of the state’s history near the Lake Michigan shore.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
As omicron rages, rural Michigan shrugs shoulders and resists vaccine
Inside the effort to change people’s minds in Cass County, which has the lowest vaccination rate in Michigan. ‘People just don’t want to deal with COVID.’
Posted inBusiness Watch
Much of Michigan is rural. What will it take for small towns to thrive?
The areas are struggling economically because of population losses and other issues. State officials hope a new office of rural development will stem the decline.
Posted inMichigan Government
Jesus Hitler, an ‘adrenaline junkie’ and the plot to train Michigan neo-Nazis
How two troubled young men tried to start a separatist compound — and what it says about the white-power movement in Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Changing Great Lakes latest threat to Michigan’s cherished Fishtown
A nonprofit is raising foundations of shanties along the Leelanau Peninsula because of increased flooding and water levels from climate change.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Study: Fish can recover from mercury pollution faster than thought
The results, published this week in the journal Nature, showed that mercury levels in plankton and fish fell more quickly than expected once new sources of mercury were cut off.
Posted inMichigan Government
Critics say prisons give rural Michigan towns unfair edge in redistricting
Advocates call it ‘prison gerrymandering’ and say urban cities are denied truly fair representation because inmates are counted as residents of their prisons. Others say it’s not so simple.