Object Type: Folder
In Folder: Audiovisual Materials
A group of Wyman Nursery employees sort and bundle just-harvested tree seedlings. Located in the Upper Peninsula near Manistique, the DNR's Wyman Nursery has raised trees for replanting Michigan's forests since 1927. The trees from Wyman help to quickly regenerate cutover areas, replant tracts harvested because of disease and rehabilitate areas scorched by wildfire.
A conservation officer stands with robotic decoys - a deer and a turkey - used to apprehend illegal hunters. The decoys, which move to look real, are placed along roads where illegal hunting is a problem, and conservation officers are at hand to apprehend people who attempt to shoot them from their cars or the roadside. Robo-deer and robo-turkeys, have helped conservation officers catch hundreds of illegal hunters in Michigan.
A family enjoys breakfast in their cabin at Lime Island State Recreation Area. The 980-acre island sits on the St. Marys River Navigation Channel between the Upper Peninsula and Canada. Features of the island include that it was the site of summer camps of Woodland Indians approximately 5,000 years ago, lime kilns were constructed there in the early 1700s, and it was a 20th century sportsmen's club.
New conservation officers preparing to take their oath. Michigan conservation officers (COs) are fully commissioned as state peace officers, with full power and authority to enforce Michigan's criminal laws. COs are a unique class of law enforcement officer, whose duties include enforcing regulations for outdoor recreational activities such as off-road vehicle (ORV) use, snowmobiling, boating, hunting and fishing. They also are empowered to arrest those who commit felonies, misdemeanors and civil violations of Michigan law.
Visitors to Holland State Park beach relaxing near the north pier light.
A conservation officer inspects a boat of angers' catches to make sure the meet length requirements.
DNR employees aboard the Alpena Fisheries Research Station boat Chinook collect spines from a walleye for the annual Saginaw Bay fish community survey. Each fish is identified, counted and measured for total length. Target species, where more information is required, also will be weighed and examined to determine sex, maturity, stomach contents and more. Scales or spines are collected to allow the age of the fish to be determined later. The survey requires that most of these fish are sacrificed, but biologists learn an enormous amount about the health of the fish populations and often the same specimens are provided to others for more study; any fish remaining of any consumption value are donated to food pantries.
Equestrians relax after riding the trails at one of the state's seven equestrian campgrounds.
Bat flying at Millie Hill Bat Viewing Site. The site is actually an old mine entrance that has a protective steel grate that allows bats to enter and leave, but keeps people out of the mine shaft. The Millie Mine is a critical hibernating and breeding location for up to 50,000 bats—one of the largest known concentrations of bats in the Midwest. Big brown and little brown bats from all over the region come here to hibernate during the cold winter months.
A black-necked stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) looking for food. This shorebird is abundant along wetlands and coastlines in the southern United States, but a relatively rare breeding species in Michigan.
A DNR employee inspects a bear den in preparation of attaching a radio collar to the black bear (Ursus americanus) within. The radio collar will help DNR biologists track the bear and allow for checkups to aid in their research of the species in Michigan.
Ice fishermans catch/bait bucket with mostly common shiners and a yellow perch.
A group of Wyman Nursery employees harvest tree seedlings. Located in the Upper Peninsula near Manistique, the DNR's Wyman Nursery has raised trees for replanting Michigan's forests since 1927. The trees from Wyman help to quickly regenerate cutover areas, replant tracts harvested because of disease and rehabilitate areas scorched by wildfire.
Hunter Marc Anthony with his white-tailed deer kill on the Fort Custer Freedom Hunt, a special firearm hunt put on by the DNR Wildlife Division for hunters with disabilities.
DNR employees carefully remove a tranquilized black bear (Ursus americanus) from its den in order to fit it with a radio collar. The radio collar will help DNR biologists track the bear and allow for checkups to aid in their research of the species in Michigan.
DNR employees work with a subdued elk as part of a capture operation for the DNR's four-year research project to evaluate the movement patterns, population characteristics and health of elk near Atlanta in Montmorency County. A helicopter was used to drive the elk into open areas, where an individual animal could be captured in a net fired from a special net gun. Once ensnared, the elk was subdued by field researchers, and then fitted with radio collars, provided a field checkup for basic health signs and given an antibiotic shot. Scientists also took hair, blood and fecal samples. The operation captured 20 bulls and 20 cows, achieving its capture goal.
Anglers head out across the ice on a blustery winter day to do some ice fishing.
A group of snowmobilers unloads and prepares to hit the trail. Michigan attracts thousands of snowmobile enthusiasts each winter.
DNR employees attach a radio collar to a tranquilized black bear (Ursus americanus). The radio collar will help DNR biologists track the bear and allow for checkups to aid in their research of the species in Michigan.
A woman hunter shows off her ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) kill.
Conservation officer recruits work on target practice and shooting skills. Conservation officers are fully commissioned as state peace officers, with full power and authority to enforce Michigan's criminal laws. They are a unique class of law enforcement officer, whose duties include enforcing regulations for outdoor recreational activities such as off-road vehicle use, snowmobiling, boating, hunting and fishing. New conservation officers undergo nearly 10 months of extensive recruit training.
Careful handling of an eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus catenatus).
Fisheries Division employees use gill-nets to survey inland lakes for cisco, also known as lake herring. The survey has two purposes - to find out where cisco populations exist and to, potentially, serve as brood stock lakes should the DNR ever decide to re-introduce the creatures into other waterways.
A pilot looks at the devastation caused by the Sleeper Lake Fire.
Young angler shows off his catch of yellow perch (Perca flavenscens).
The ashes and burnt remains of a cabin that was destroyed in the Sleeper Lake wildfire. The 2007 lightning-caused fire which burned more than 18,000 acres in the eastern Upper Peninsula. It was the third largest fire in Michigan's history
A State Park Explorer guide shows children the basics of fishing at one of Michigan's state parks. Explorer programs are hands-on, environmental and educational activities. The State Park Explorer guides lead programs and hikes for park visitors that feature each location's unique natural, cultural and historic resources.
The crew of the DNR's Survey Vessel Steelhead prepare a trawl mesh bag by attaching a digital sensor. The crew conducts an annual hydroacoustic (sonar) and mid-water trawl survey of alewives and other prey fishes (like the mottled sculpin) in Lake Michigan to get a snapshot of current conditions. Once the survey work is completed, estimates of total prey fish abundance are generated by managers and are used to balance predator-prey dynamics. Fisheries managers then adjust salmon stocking rates to keep alewife abundance in check with lake productivity levels.
A woman snowshoeing as part of a Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program. BOW is a national program created to introduce women to traditionally male outdoor activities. In Michigan, DNR's BOW program are offered year round at many locations and range from basic introductory courses to specific outdoor experiences.
A conservation officer issues a citation to jet skiers. COs are a unique class of law enforcement officer, whose duties include enforcing regulations for outdoor recreational activities such as off-road vehicle (ORV) use, snowmobiling, boating, hunting and fishing.
Outdoor and environmental education coordinator Gary Williams helps a boy fish as part of an introductory fishing program for youth at the Pocket Park at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. The children received a crash course on fishing, a little bit of basic biology, and then were turned loose around the facility's Lower Peninsula-shaped fish pond to target the 5,000 or so hybrid bluegills stocked there.
A group of DNR employees and volunteers work on handing off coralled Canada geese individually to be banded. The DNR is responsible for banding hundreds of ducks and geese each year, with quotas set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service according to local conditions. The banding process is performed by DNR employees and trained volunteers. Once the age and sex are recorded, a metal, pre-numbered, federal ID band is placed loosely around the goose's leg and gently pushed closed with a pair of pliers. Waterfowl hunters across the United States and Canada are asked to report any harvested birds with federal identification leg bands. Doing so assists waterfowl managers when it comes to setting future hunting seasons and bag limits.
Fire officers spray a portion of smoldering forest as part of the fire suppression efforts of the Sleeper Lake wildfire. The 2007 lightning-caused fire which burned more than 18,000 acres in the eastern Upper Peninsula. It was the third largest fire in Michigan's history
A couple of fly fishers fishing for Salmon in Grand Rapids, with onlookers.
