By CASEY WARNER

and JOHN PEPIN

Michigan Department

of Natural Resources

Before 2019 fades completely from sight in the rear-view mirror, we wanted to take one more glance back as we move forward at accomplishments over the past year.

With numerous notable achievements to consider, we’ve narrowed the list down to 10 cool things the Michigan Department of Natural Resources was involved with over the past year.

≤ Isle Royale wolf translocation: In September, the Michigan DNR aided efforts by the National Park Service to translocate four wolves from the western Upper Peninsula mainland to Isle Royale. The effort increased the island’s wolf population to 17. Wolves at Isle Royale play a key function as predators to moose, which number roughly 2,000 on the archipelago. This large moose population has had negative impacts on island vegetation and other resources. Multiple agencies are involved in the work, with some participants lent to the Isle Royale project from other states.

≤ Celebrating milestones: Throughout 2019, the DNR celebrated 100 years of Michigan’s state parks system. Focused on the centennial of the Michigan State Park Commission’s formation in 1919, the celebration included special events, podcasts, historical stories, videos, geocaching and more. It also sparked a partnership with Bob Ross, Inc., on the Happy Little Trees program, a tree-planting effort to help state parks recover from invasive forest pests and diseases that damage or kill trees.

≤ Battling the fury of the Great Lakes: High water levels on the Great Lakes took center stage this summer as the DNR partnered with the Ontonagon County Road Commission to battle significant erosion that threatened to destroy County Road 107, the eastern entry road into Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. The showdown at Michigan’s largest state park was one of many battles against high water around the state. If the road was undermined and forced to close, an 80-mile detour would be necessary to get visitors beyond the washout sections of the road. Prime attractions like the Lake of the Clouds overlook, Union Bay campground and numerous hiking trails potentially would have been blocked.

≤ Kirtland’s warbler successful recovery: In October, the DNR celebrated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s announcement that the Kirtland’s warbler — a small songbird once on the brink of extinction — no longer warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act thanks to decades of work by a diverse group of partners. The species, among the first in the U.S. identified as being at risk of extinction, nests only in young jack pine stands in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario.

≤ Dow Chemical Co. settlement to restore natural resources: Under an agreement announced in November with federal, state and tribal governments, the Dow Chemical Company will settle an environmental complaint for an estimated $77 million in projects and funding that will restore fish, wildlife and habitats injured when hazardous substances were released in past decades from Dow’s manufacturing facility in Midland. The DNR is one of several entities acting together on behalf of the public as natural resources trustees. Under the settlement, Dow will carry out or fund restoration projects identified in Midland, Bay, Saginaw and nearby counties.

≤ Lifesaving efforts: Throughout the year, numerous DNR employees, many of them conservation officers, were recognized for their efforts to save lives, from helping rescue a fisherman who had fallen through the ice out of the water to rescuing a capsized kayaker suffering from hypothermia. Notably, in October Conservation Officer Jeff Ginn was honored with his fourth DNR Lifesaving Award for his actions to resuscitate a man found unresponsive in a Newaygo motel. A few weeks later, Ginn was featured on CNN’s “Beyond the Call of Duty,” a show that highlights inspiring stories about police and first responders who go above and beyond in the performance of their duties.

≤ North Country National Scenic Trail rebuild: In October, the culmination of a collaborative project to rebuild a section of the North Country National Scenic Trail in Ontonagon County was celebrated. The work was completed with the combined strength of federal, state and local partners. The DNR provided more than a quarter of a million dollars in major grants to the project from the Iron Belle Trail grant program and the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. The rebuild took place over roughly 2 miles of the route from a trailhead to picturesque O Kun de Kun Falls on the Baltimore River.

≤ Moving closer to Arctic grayling’s return: In July, the DNR and its partners got one step closer to bringing Arctic grayling, a native fish that had disappeared from the state by the early 20th century, back to Michigan waters. The ultraviolet water disinfection system at Oden State Fish Hatchery in Emmet County was installed, meaning the facility is ready to welcome juvenile Arctic grayling. The UV system will protect fish from any pathogens that may inadvertently arrive with the grayling. This protection is critical for the long-term process of cultivating Michigan’s Arctic grayling broodstock (mature fish used for breeding), a goal of the Michigan Arctic Grayling Initiative.

≤ Releasing a Canada lynx back to the wild: A Canada lynx grabbed headlines when it was discovered in mid-March preying on a farmer’s geese in Sanilac County. Because the lynx had been behaving oddly — including being easily approachable — the DNR, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, worked with a local trapper to capture the lynx to evaluate its health. The female cat was moved 400 miles north to central Schoolcraft County, where it was released by DNR wildlife biologists.

≤ Moving and renovating former Ulysses S. Grant home: In collaboration with the Eastern Market Partnership, the DNR’s Michigan History Center in June embarked on a project to relocate the Detroit home of Julia and Lt. Ulysses S. Grant from the former state fairgrounds to the city’s Eastern Market. There, after renovation, it will become a new resource for residents, schoolchildren and visitors to explore Grant’s life and the impact he made on Detroit while living there, and later as a Civil War general and U.S. president.sources trustees highlight settlement projects at a November public meeting in Saginaw.