July is Michigan Wildlife Conservation Month, which reflects that July 1 marks the 85th anniversary of the effective date for the Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act. This act ensures a percentage of funds from hunting equipment purchases go toward nationwide wildlife management projects.

To coincide with the 10th anniversary of the law that established the Michigan Wildlife Council, the MWC, which educates the public on the importance of wildlife management and the role hunting and fishing plays in protecting the state’s wildlife and natural resources, unveiled its inaugural “Top 10” list of wildlife management success stories.

MWC’s Top 10 success stories are the Kirtland’s warbler, moose, ring-necked pheasant, osprey, lake sturgeon, wild turkey, ruffed grouse, elk, muskellunge and wood duck.

The Kirtland’s warbler, whose summer breeding habitat mostly is in the northern Lower Peninsula with nests only in young jack pine forests, is a huge success story. Wildlife management practices have increased the population to over 2,000 nesting pairs, more than double the recovery goal.

More than 100 years ago, moose no longer existed in the Lower Peninsula, and only a handful lived in the Upper Peninsula. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources now estimates there are as many as 500 or so in the U.P., although there still is no hunting season on them.

See a lot of wild turkey around? The MWC said that careful habitat management and strategic relocation efforts have led to population increases in Michigan — from 2,000 in 1960 to over 200,000 today.

There’s still more accomplish. Michigan is trying to bring back the grayling to northern Michigan streams after having been decimated by unchecked logging and fishing. (Note the key word is “unchecked.” That’s why wildlife management practices are so important.)

With the grayling, building a brood stock and rearing them are part of the process, which is to include efforts at the Marquette State Fish Hatchery in Harvey.

Even if people don’t hunt or fish, they should realize that license sales from those activities are Michigan’s main source for conservation and wildlife management. That means everyone — even those won’t never pick up a shotgun or fishing rod — benefits from those sales. That’s something they should remember.

Although the standard saying for many issues with months dedicated to them is to urge people to keep them in mind all year, this especially holds true with Michigan wildlife conservation.

Plant native vegetation, support local habitat initiatives and donate to important causes.

You even can buy a fishing license, even if you never cast a lure.

— Mining Journal