DNR doubles deer habitat grant funding in local counties
14 projects funded at nearly $200,000
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LANSING -- The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced in a release yesterday that it is funding 14 projects across the Upper Peninsula that will improve hundreds of acres of white-tailed deer habitat.
The nearly $200,000 in grants provided through the Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative this year is nearly double the per-year amount of funding from previous years. These grants were generated from deer hunting liscense revanue.
These projects will help conservation groups, K-12 students, and landowners across the Upper Peninsula will improve hundreds of acres of white-tailed deer habitat this year.
Now in its 18th year, the U.P. initiative has awarded nearly $1.5 million across 176 grants, with partners contributing more than $1 million in matching funds or in-kind contributions.
"The initiative has created a collaborative approach to improving deer habitat on private lands across the Upper Peninsula," said Bill Scullon, grant program coordinator and field operations manager for the DNR. "As we know, deer know no boundaries. Creating suitable habitat across both public and private lands is crucial to helping deer survive the often-challenging U.P. winters."
Funding for the initiative comes from the Deer Range Improvement Program, or DRIP, a state appropriation created in 1971. Through DRIP, $1.50 from every deer hunting license goes toward improving deer habitat.
This year, $199,711 in habitat improvement projects were awarded in nine counties: Alger, Baraga, Chippewa, Delta, Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron, Mackinac and Marquette.
Grant-funded work includes mass plantings of trees, plants and grasses favored by deer, turning abandoned logging roads into hunter walking trails and several projects involving public school students.