“On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow, I am a rock, I am an island,” — Paul Simon The moon was bright, casting blue light across the sparkling snow and down through the frozen trees. I could almost hear those trees groaning as they bent with the wind, out there in the freezing-cold ...
WATERSMEET — The Wildcat Falls Community Forest project, a forestland conservation effort in Ontonagon County, has recently gained momentum with recent support from two sustainable forestry funds: the Upper Peninsula Sustainable Forest and Wildlife Fund of the Community Foundation of the ...
Upper Peninsula • Overall: Salmon and brown trout are still present in area streams in Keweenaw, Baraga and Marquette counties. Winter fishing has begun in Iron County with 6-inches of ice reported on some of the smaller lakes. With that said, anglers will need to use extreme caution if ...
“In the wintertime, when all the leaves are brown and the wind blows so chill.” — Steve Miller On several occasions over the past few weeks I have been treated to whimsical displays of leaves bursting into the air, often with the help of a convincing wind gust. The leaves fall to the ...
By CHRISTIE BLECK Journal Staff Writer BIG BAY — It takes a Big Bay village to raise a child. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Monday to celebrate a new trail connecting Powell Township School to the Big Bay Pathway. “It’s really a special and beautiful little trail,” ...
Upper Peninsula • Little Bay De Noc: Winter like weather is upon us as anglers start targeting primarily walleye. Overall, walleye fishing was pretty good with bigger fishing showing up. Some reported catching over a limit of fish however because of size they were only able to keep a few. ...
“It feels like the first time, like it never will again.” — Mick Jones As the sprawling countryside tumbled out before me, I was surprised to see the trees virtually all stripped bare of their autumnal dress. Traveling just a couple of hours, a hundred miles or so, brought me to a ...
Upper Peninsula • Keweenaw Bay: Boat and shore anglers continued to catch coho, lake trout, splake, steelhead and brown trout. Traverse Bay anglers were also catching lake trout, steelhead and brown trout when trolling. A couple coho were caught by shore anglers. A reminder to boat anglers ...
From Northern Michigan University MARQUETTE — English graduate students and faculty members from Northern Michigan University delved into environmental fiction and ecocriticism during a stay on Granite Island Oct. 18-20, surrounded by the grandeur and moods of Lake Superior. NMU is the ...
“Tell me who could make the clouds and make them move across the sky, who could make your mind and put it here to wonder why.” — Steve Forbert In these autumn days, when the winds are twirling leaves across the dirt roads and the muddy pathways in multi-colored spirals, there’s a quiet ...
Upper Peninsula • Copper Harbor: Has seen quite a few anglers with mixed results. More small fish have been caught on natural baits. A few nice splake were caught by pier and boat anglers, but they are putting in lots of time and success was limited. Eagle Harbor had very few pier anglers ...
ISHPEMING — The Upper Peninsula isn’t always the most hospitable habitat for white-tailed deer, and some local conservationists are trying to make it easier for the popular game animal’s population to thrive. Matt Watkeys, a certified forester with the Marquette County and Alger ...
“Scarecrow on a wooden cross, blackbird in the barn.” — John Mellencamp The first sound I heard after I slipped outside the back door that morning was the croaking squawk of an old raven. He sounded upset about the cold and the snow. I couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t even ...
MARQUETTE — Swingsets and monkey bars are fun for youngsters, but a natural setting can provide the fun as well as an immersive experience. Superior Hills Elementary School is becoming more environmentally friendly, inside and out. “Last year, an idea came from our school to sort of ...
Upper Peninsula • Copper Harbor: The cold weather slowed catch rates however just before that fishing was fair with some nice splake caught along with lots of smaller fish by boat and pier anglers. Most were using spawn, smelt, spoons or crank baits. • Keweenaw Bay: Was producing coho, ...
“Somewhere along the high road, the air began to turn cold,” — Bob Seger Riding out over the gray gravel road, the plain laid out in front of me in all its spectacular sweeping autumn beauty. The October road was as straight as a witch’s broomstick, dipping lower and lower as it ...
Upper Peninsula • Marquette: Few anglers were out. With the cooler temperatures and rain last week, local rivers saw a good push of salmon, but the run was short lived. A decent number of coho along with some steelhead and brown trout were picked up in the Carp and Chocolay Rivers and a few ...
By CHRISTIE BLECK Journal Staff Writer CHATHAM — Call it a school lesson via hayride. Students from Negaunee High School’s environmental science class on Wednesday visited the South Farm at the Michigan State University Upper Peninsula Research and Extension Center — an appropriate ...
BARAGA — A complaint called in to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Report All Poaching hotline resulted in two brothers being ticketed for illegally killing a pair of trumpeter swans on Sept. 28, the opening day of waterfowl hunting season in the Upper Peninsula. Trumpeter ...
“The high rolling hills give it all in the fall; oh, the hard days are gone...now.” — Steve Forbert The hem of the resplendent gown of Madame Autumn moves slowly across the floor as she half-sashays into view, pulling with her a trail of rolling and tumbling multi-colored leaves. Her ...