Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/capital-news-service/page/14/)
Capital News Service is a wire service at Michigan State University covering state government - issues and personalities.
Although farmers markets seem to be popping up all the time, both urban and rural areas adequate access to healthy, natural food, according to a report by the Michigan Food Policy Council.
A bear-poaching incident in Manistee County has attracted a lot of public and press attention – and shed light on a continuing poaching problem throughout Michigan.
by Lacee Shepard
Local officials could restrict ownership of carrier pigeons on a community—by-community basis under a new Michigan proposal. Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood , D-Taylor, introduced a bill that would allow cities and townships to decide their own restrictions on carrier pigeons. The bill began after Hopgood received a constituent complaint about a neighbor owning too many carrier pigeons. “We thought we should give the cities the ability to do what make sense for a given community,” Hopgood said. “Then they can look out for the health and welfare of local residents.”
The proposal wouldn’t allow a local ban on the bird but would allow local governments to impose a limit on ownership if they see fit, Hopgood said.
A Department of Natural Resources (DNR) early warning program is trying to prevent the invasive species frog bit from destroying native aquatic plants.
As workers at many farms and orchards become more and more scarce, the need for mechanical harvesting is rising.
Blueberries, cherries and grapes are all increasingly being harvested by machines rather than farm workers.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says the number of feral swine – known to infect farm pigs – is significantly decreasing. But one interest group is at odds with the DNR over the numbers, saying the problem is all but solved.
Two miles of pristine Lake Superior shoreline, sand dunes and an 83-acre inland lake are now open to the public as part of a 3,816-acre expansion of state-owned forestland in the central Upper Peninsula.
Michigan’s most scenic destinations – like Traverse City and – are typically affordable enough to live at for the state’s tourism workers, according to a new report. This bucks a national trend which shows tourism workers typically can’t afford to live in the cities they work in.
The devastating spread of the emerald ash borer shows no sign of slowing and it is causing the pace of timber sales to quicken, as those in the timber sales industry race against the clock – and many dying trees.
For a long time, botulism didn’t much affect loons, but the bacteria has been taking its toll recently on the population in northern Michigan.
Combined with a high mortality rate for offspring, experts are worrying about the future of this iconic bird.