2021 Wildlife Division Annual Report

Dear Wildlife Enthusiast,

Thank you so much for reading our 12th Michigan Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division annual report. This report highlights work completed during fiscal year 2021, which spanned Oct. 1, 2020 – Sept. 30, 2021. DNR Wildlife Division staff are honored to be the public trust managers of one of Michigan’s most vital natural resources – wildlife! This year, we celebrated an important anniversary – 100 years of the DNR.

The Michigan Department of Conservation, now the Department of Natural Resources, was created March 30, 1921. This important anniversary was a great time to celebrate our successes – 100 years of taking care of Michigan's great outdoors, where fish, wildlife and forests thrive and opportunities to enjoy and connect to nature and our state's heritage are diverse and plentiful.

For the past century, the DNR has worked to conserve Michigan's unparalleled natural and cultural resources and ensure outstanding outdoor recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. From reintroducing elk, moose and turkey to protecting wild places like the Pigeon River Country State Forest to bringing salmon to the Great Lakes, we are proud to manage Michigan’s natural resources for the people of Michigan.

Just like last year, the division continues to work through a global pandemic, which impacts the way we work. This year, many of us began working hybrid schedules, dividing our time between working from home, working in the office and working in the field to ensure that we continue to manage Michigan's wildlife resources for today's public and generations to come. We've had to adapt to a new way of doing business and our staff has risen to the challenge beautifully.

There are certainly challenges present and on the horizon for wildlife conservation in Michigan. Managing wildlife populations with new diseases and a changing landscape and managing habitats with changes in climate and in people’s interactions with and attitudes toward wildlife will require creative solutions and a broader base of partners.

Additionally, hunter attrition and the associated decline in Game and Fish Protection and Pittman Robertson Wildlife Conservation Act Grant Funds will require innovative solutions to fund wildlife conservation. Finding solutions will require assistance from partners, lawmakers, and the public.

As ever, we appreciate your support of Michigan’s wildlife, and are honored to work with and for Michiganders to help move wildlife conservation into a new era.

Sincerely,

Jared Duquette, Wildlife Division Chief

The interactive map below outlines key wildlife and habitat projects completed in the state during 2021 by our Upper Peninsula, Northern Lower Peninsula, Southeastern and Southwestern Lower Peninsula staff. Click on the map points to learn more about these projects.

The Wildlife Division’s Biological and Social Sciences Section develops and interprets the best available science for managing Michigan’s wildlife resources. In 2021, 18 research projects were conducted through university partnerships. Four of these projects were started in 2021, 10 projects were ongoing and four projects were completed.

Completed projects which spanned 2015 - 2021

• Can we assess the nature and extent of illegal fur harvesting to improve our management for these species? Partners: MSU FW, USFWS WSFR

• Does trail-based recreation affect elk movements and behavior? Partners: MSU FW, USFWS WSFR, SCI MIC

• How can we successfully manage oak in southern Michigan under different climate change scenarios? Partners: MSU FW, USFWS WSFR, MSU QWC

• What affects waterfowl and hunter use of our managed waterfowl areas? Partners: MSU FW, USFWS WSFR, SCI MIC, TWS: Wetlands Working Group, Green Creek Wildlife Society

Partner Key: MSU FW = Michigan State University Fisheries and Wildlife Department; USFWS WSFR = U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program; SCI MIC = Safari Club International Michigan Involvement Committee; MSU QWCC = Michigan State University Quantitative Wildlife Center; TWS = The Wildlife Society

In 2021, we completed pilot data collection and began analysis on techniques to evaluate public use of southern Michigan game areas. These areas are designated to provide habitat for diverse wildlife species while offering a public space for traditional wildlife-related recreation. Prior assessments of these areas suggest that the public values additional nontraditional recreation uses on these areas. Using intercept surveys, vehicle counts and camera monitoring, we examined patterns in visitor use and preferences at Rose Lake Wildlife Research Area in Clinton and Shiawassee counties. Preliminary results indicate a diversity of wildlife use occurring across the game area, with most nontraditional use (mainly hiking, dog walking and mountain biking) occurring primarily in two locations. In the 2022 fiscal year, the research project will expand to examine visitor use across division-managed lands through a project with Michigan State University’s Department of Community Sustainability.

To date, chronic wasting disease transmission factors are not fully understood, and this knowledge gap reduces our ability to combat CWD through effective management decisions. To better understand transmission, we are asking: how do factors such as deer group size and contact, bioaccumulation of feces and deer attractants affect the transmissibility of CWD? We are using multiple techniques to assess these factors, including road-based surveys, direct observations, fecal counts and capturing photos of deer with game cameras, otherwise known as camera trapping. In 2021 we completed 352 road surveys where we observed 237 groups of deer, including 1,261 individuals. From these surveys, we found that nose-to-ground and passive behaviors made up most behavior events, whereas deer-to-deer contact was uncommon. This project will continue for two more years.

The division is responsible for managing wildlife species and their habitats on the behalf of current and future generations, to be enjoyed today and conserved for tomorrow. Over the past year and a half, we have worked with staff and stakeholders to update our strategic plan,  Guiding Principles and Strategies, or the GPS . We refined our goals to focus on our core mission, and new this time is a vision, “Working Together for Michigan’s Wildlife and Wild Places,” which we think captures the spirit of what the division does. 

We also spent a lot of time thinking about the future – the future of wildlife populations with new diseases and a changing landscape, the future of habitat with changes in climate and the future of people’s interactions with nature, which is a big unknown. We are taking our first bold step into the future with a new forward-looking component – our Commitments to Change. These objectives will help us focus on shifts needed in the next five years to ensure we continue to be good stewards for current and future generations of Michiganders. As always, we will continue to look to our partners, stakeholders and the broader public to help us implement this plan, so that together we can meet our mission of conserving the state’s wildlife resources, natural communities and ecosystems today, in 2050 and beyond.

Our partnership with Michigan Natural Features Inventory marked its 40-year anniversary in 2020. The program was created to help guide the conservation of Michigan’s biodiversity by providing the highest-quality scientific expertise and information.  MNFI  is Michigan’s natural heritage program, and it maintains the state’s database of rare species and high-quality ecosystems. Program staff are responsible for seminal work in expanding the conservation practitioner’s understanding of Michigan’s nature, from regional landscapes to natural communities and from butterflies and snakes to orchids and thistles. They have helped us all have a better understanding of the birds and the bees.

The State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program marked its 20-year anniversary in 2020 as well. This program was created by Congress because of a recognized need for additional proactive conservation for our nation’s fish and wildlife. It is a partnership between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the states, commonwealths, territories and tribes focusing on implementing conservation actions to prevent new federal and state listings of threatened and endangered wildlife and recovering those already listed. The tribal component focuses on maintaining traditional subsistence-based lifestyles reliant on healthy populations of fish and wildlife. The DNR uses this funding to support conservation efforts for species like the Kirtland’s warbler, lake sturgeon and Karner blue butterfly. These funds have been critically important in helping to take the  Kirtland’s warbler off the federal endangered species list. 

Both of these programs have benefited Michigan wildlife and habitat conservation, and we celebrate them!

• 732 rare turtle reports from the public in the Eyes in the Field observation reporting system.
• 213 new locations for Blanding’s turtle reported from the public through Eyes in the Field. This data was shared with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help inform their determination of whether the turtle warrants listing on the federal endangered species list. A huge thank you to the public for contributing to our understanding of this rare turtle.

In 2020, the DNR launched a new system for selling hunting and fishing licenses, ORV and snowmobile permits, and hunting applications online and through 1,500 retail agent locations throughout Michigan. The system serves about 2 million customers a year, issuing nearly 4 million licenses and permits and processing roughly $77 million in revenue. In 2021, we successfully completed our first full year of license drawings and hunt lotteries in the new system. Our team continues to develop programming language for reporting and to check data reliability within the new system. In addition, we have updated the reserved deer hunt and waterfowl hunt application process. We also established protocol for bear and elk point resolutions due to COVID-19 customer service-related issues.

Raising deer and elk in captivity is jointly regulated by the DNR and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The DNR oversees the registration of facilities containing farmed cervids and performs inspections of these operations. MDARD manages the disease programs for the state’s POC facilities. Participation in disease surveillance programs - such as those for chronic wasting disease (CWD) and the bovine tuberculosis (TB) - ensures for a robust industry by increasing the marketability of these animals by decreasing their potential for carrying disease. There are nearly 300 licensed facilities in 76 Michigan counties totaling over 63,000 fenced acres. The division conducts about 95 facility inspections per year to ensure that fencing and recordkeeping meet industry standards.

The Wildlife Division has nearly 40 different permit types, and of those 40, 25 are processed or the data is managed in the Policy and Regulations Unit – around 6,000 permits annually. Our unit is continuing to look at ways to streamline permitting processes and database solutions that could potentially make it easier for the public and our staff. Partnering with the DNR Forest Resources Division’s Resource Assessment Section, we were able to migrate data for wild game meat processors, roadkill, scientific collectors, dog training, wildlife rehabilitators, and wildlife nuisance control business permits and commercial guiding licenses to an online system. In addition, we are continuing to review regulations that surround permits to make sure they are up to date and accurate.

The Policy and Regulations Unit leads the process for updating the Wildlife Conservation Order and coordinated five amendments in 2021, ranging from topics such as bear regulations to migratory game bird hunting seasons. The unit also provided departmental analysis for 11 legislative bills. 

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund is the primary funding source the division uses to acquire new lands for wildlife-related recreation. The Public Lands Administration Unit works with the local wildlife biologists to draft two or three of these land-acquisition grant applications each year that best describe the land and the values the proposed purchase will provide for outdoor recreationists. These are highly competitive grants, with Michigan’s cities, counties, townships and other DNR divisions all vying for dollars. Since the Trust Fund began in 1976, the Wildlife Division has been awarded 109 grants totaling more than $103 million. To date, we have used these funds in 302 separate purchases that have added 58,000 acres of public land for hunting, fishing, trapping and/or viewing wildlife.

In 2021, the division acquired 680 acres in Monroe County. The “Crystal Waters” property was purchased with a Michigan Natural Resource Trust Fund grant and privately donated funds. The southeast Michigan acquisition creates a new state game area specifically set aside for hunting, trapping, fishing and wildlife viewing. The addition of this public land reduces by half the size of a “cold zone” area of the state that previously lacked huntable public lands.

Also purchased this year was a 40-acre parcel in Maple River State Game Area, which spans Clinton, Gratiot and Ionia counties. Surrounded by state-owned land on all four sides, this parcel was the only major inholding remaining within the 10,000-acre game area. The parcel will add significant recreational opportunities and wildlife habitat, while creating a contiguous area of public land for hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts. The property was purchased using the Land Exchange Facilitation Funds.

The acquisition of these two properties contributes to Goal 2, Strategies 2 and 5, of the  DNR Public Land Strategy .

Land surveys are an essential tool for public land managers. In FY21, the Wildlife Division land surveyors completed 47 surveys. Nineteen surveys having to do with boundary postings, eight in preparation for timber harvests, five in preparation for construction projects and four for trespass resolution among others.

This year, the Public Outreach and Engagement Unit took on a big project – overhauling DNR hunting and fur harvesting digests. POE oversees the development and design of the spring and fall turkey, black bear, elk, fur harvester, general hunting and waterfowl digests. These publications outline the season dates, bag limits and rules and regulations for annual hunting seasons. This year, to make the user experience better, we changed our digests from bulky, long paragraphs of text to an easy-to-read question and answer format. A hunter survey with over 2,500 respondents indicated a Net Promoter Score® (a measure of customer satisfaction with a product or service, with a scale of -100 to 100) of -45 when it came to finding information in the old digest format, versus a Net Promoter Score® of -1 when it came to finding information with the new format. This represents a significant improvement in the ease of navigating through the digests. We also redesigned the digest covers for the DNR centennial celebration, using vintage-looking illustrations to bring a 20th-century feel to the publications.

• A Year in the Life of a Michigan Black Bear (6th - 8th grades) - 113 educators registered reaching over 5,800 students.
• Go Wild for Michigan's Wildlife (kindergarten - 5th grades) - 358 educators registered reaching over 9,900 students.
• Elk University (9th - 12th grades) - 71 educators registered reaching over 2,100 students.
• Michigan's Wondrous Wetlands and Waterfowl (6th - 8th grades) - 72 educators registered reaching over 2,300 students.
• Deer Camp (kindergarten - 5th grades) - 73 educators registered reaching over 3,400 students.
• Turkey Time (all grade levels) - 119 educators registered reaching over 3,500 students.

• Michigan.gov/Deer – 934,042 page views
• Snakes - 44, 161 page views

30,770 plays

Top 3 Episodes: "Ticks, Ticks, Ticks", "Plan A, Leave Wildlife B" and "Hello Deer".

• Wildlife Division Twitter – 4,809 followers, 77 tweets, 130,299 engagements
• Instagram wildlife content - 51,600 followers, 22 posts, 33,798 likes
• Facebook wildlife content - 247,000 followers, 63 posts, 4,089,100 impressions

While the idea of One Health has been around for decades, it recently has garnered a great deal of attention during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. One Health is the concept that the health of animals, humans and the environment are connected and require a multidisciplinary approach. The Wildlife Health Section collaborates with other state and federal agencies such as the Michigan Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on information sharing and projects that require a vast array of expertise. Regular meetings and work groups occur between these agencies, including monthly One Health calls, Rabies Working Group meetings and arbovirus meetings. Surveillance and response plans for zoonotic diseases such as bovine tuberculosis and avian influenza have been worked on by interagency groups for many years as well. Additionally, staff with the DNR and MDARD have been working together on a state response plan for rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV-2), which was recently detected in the western U.S. This disease has the potential to impact both wild and domestic animals.

• Examined 731 animals for cause of death determination. Several diseases of importance to human and domestic animal health, like West Nile virus and eastern equine encephalitis, were detected through necropsies. When such diseases are detected by the lab, partner state and federal agencies are notified so that information can be shared with their constituents.
• Tested over 8,000 deer heads for bovine tuberculosis and 2,500 heads for chronic wasting disease. While CWD is not known to be zoonotic, bTB can infect humans, domestic animals and wild animals beyond white-tailed deer.
• Marked four years since formalizing the biological sample archive and developing the genetics program.
• Fostered connectivity, the underlying current for this year's work. Communications and collaborations were purposively increased to ensure the distribution of information on projects being conducted and data being collected.
• Spent time collaborating; collecting, publishing and presenting data; implementing new projects and protocols; and obtaining external funding to support program projects. 

During the past year, the Wildlife Program Support Section provided exceptional support to division staff. This enabled the division to complete its critical habitat, planning, research, disease monitoring and education work while also completing infrastructure repairs and improvements.

• The section allocated, tracked and modified the division's $46.8 million budget.
• Twenty-nine federal grants were applied for, allocated, tracked, modified and closed, generating over $16 million in revenue from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Federal reports were filed with the corresponding federal entity to report grant accomplishments.
• Budgeting system and expenditure codes were modified to reflect the implementation of the new Wildlife Division GPS objectives.

• Support was provided for over 190 vehicles, including repairs, new vehicle orders and transfers.
• Fifty new cell phones were deployed, and facility connectivity was improved with jet packs and cradle points to improve communications.
• The annual certification of over 150 facilities was coordinated, and staff assistance was provided during this process.
• The section processed 5,200 timesheets over the course of the year and assisted with the annual hiring of seasonal and short-term workers.
• A new policy and procedure for the annual wildlife disease surveillance process was developed and implemented. Training was held to educate staff on the process and steps necessary to participate in disease surveillance.

• Projects encompassing 90 different partnership agreements and 42 landowner grants were executed, monitored, paid and closed. Partnership meetings were held to discuss and negotiate terms of the agreements.
• Infrastructure improvement coordination was provided through the submission of requests for engineering, design and construction. Regular follow-up with the project managers provided up-to-date project information and progress.

A major regulation change that went into effect in 2021 was the creation of the universal antlerless license. This license allows hunters to pursue antlerless deer across counties and deer management units on both private and public land. Previously, hunters were limited to a designated county and land type. The change was a result of analyzing deer license purchasing behaviors, hunter harvest patterns and deer population trends. With only one-third of Michigan deer hunters purchasing an antlerless license, combined with historically low antlerless harvests in recent years and increasing deer population trends throughout much of the Lower Peninsula, the universal antlerless license provides more opportunities for hunters to hunt in multiple locations to maximize their harvest opportunity. The license can be paired with a newly developed hunter access permit in parts of the U.P. to restrict antlerless opportunities in areas sensitive to antlerless harvest. This new license represents a shift in deer management in Michigan to providing more opportunity and flexibility as overall hunter numbers continue to decline.

Our waterfowl banding program had one of its most productive seasons ever. Staff banded 4,271 Canada geese, ­the most since 2005; 3,860 mallards, the most we’ve ever banded in a season; and 1,995 wood ducks, the fifth-highest number we’ve banded in a season. We participated in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service mallard band reporting rate study by marking 216 adult drake mallards with study bands. We also participated in a Mississippi Flyway Canada goose band return rate study by marking 500 adult geese with study bands across the state. We also assisted with trapping and marking 83 hen mallards with GPS transmitters for the Michigan portion of the Michigan State University Great Lakes mallard movements, habitat selection, survival and productivity research project.  

• Goal 1: $10,891,915
• Goal 2: $9,783,845
• Goal 3: $1,822,924
• Goal 4: $805,319
• Goal 5: $3,642,446
• Goal 6: $9,125,851
• Goal 7: $714,141

Total: $36,786,440

• Game & Fish: $13,144,000
• Federal (Annual): $12,759,994
• General Fund: $6,047,638
• Federal (Competitive): $1,941,610
• DRIP: $879,621
• Other State Funds: $837,109
• Turkey: $819,426
• Nongame: $357,042

Total: $36,786,440

These funds are automatically apportioned to states, provided they meet certain eligibility requirements. Although transferred to the states in the form of grants, the states do not have to compete for these funds. These funds are particularly important because states can count on the monies being available and can plan for funding staff and long-term projects, as the level of funding is relatively predictable.

Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act Grants (PR)

State Wildlife Grants (SWG)

Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, Traditional Conservation Grants

These are funds that certain federal agencies make available through a competitive application process. The types of funds and the funding programs available can vary from year to year. These opportunities pose planning and budgeting challenges because of the uncertainty in the Wildlife Division’s abilities to secure them; however, some have become very important to the division’s ability to accomplish certain aspects of its mission. Once successful in competing for these funds, most are available to be expended over multiple years so long-term projects can be supported. These funds, however, are difficult to use to assist in planning and supporting permanent staff positions and add additional administrative and reporting responsibilities.

• Competitive State Wildlife Grants (cSWG)
• Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund, Nontraditional Grants Program
• National Coastal Wetlands Conservation (NCWC) Program
• Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act (GLFWRA)
• Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service - Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program (VPA-HIP)
• USDA Wetlands Mitigation Program

Game and Fish Protection Fund - This legislatively established fund is principally derived from the sale of hunting and fishing licenses; the cost of licenses is set legislatively.

Game and Fish Protection Fund – Deer Range Improvement Program - DRIP - This legislatively established fund comes from $1.50 of each deer license sold.

Game and Fish Protection Fund – Turkey - This legislatively established fund comes from a portion of each wild turkey license and application sold ($9.50 resident/nonresident, $1 senior resident and $3 application).

Game and Fish Protection Fund – Waterfowl - Historically known as duck stamp revenue, this legislatively established fund comes from the $12 for each waterfowl license sold.

Nongame Fish and Wildlife Fund/Nongame Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund - This legislatively established fund comes through Michigan’s Conserve Wildlife Habitat license plate, the sale of certain merchandise by the Wildlife Division and donations.

General Fund-General Purpose (GF/GP) - General Fund-General Purpose revenues, collected in the main state operating fund, are not dedicated to a specific purpose by statute. The Wildlife Division’s GF/GP is used primarily for wildlife disease monitoring and privately owned cervidae facility oversight.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural and cultural resources for current and future generations.

To enhance, restore and conserve the state's wildlife resources, natural communities and ecosystems for the benefit of current and future generations.

 Michigan.gov/Wildlife