Why It Matters: Providing sportsmen and women with quality places to hunt and trap serves to protect our outdoor traditions and bolster conservation funding. Not only are sportsmen and women active participants in conserving both game and non-game species, but through the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF), they are also the primary funders of fish and wildlife conservation efforts.
Highlights:
- The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently acquired approximately 207 acres that were added to William Mitchell State Park in the Lower Peninsula.
- Last month, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission (NRC) approved an order opening the newly acquired acreage to hunting and trapping.
- Expanding access provides additional opportunities for sportsmen and women while supporting the participation that funds conservation.
- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) supports the Michigan DNR’s continued effort to provide quality opportunities for the state’s hunters, anglers, and trappers.
Michigan sportsmen and women now have access to an additional 207 acres of public land following the approval of Wildlife Conservation Order Amendment No. 9 of 2026. The newly acquired properties were added to William Mitchell State Park near Cadillac, Michigan, which is home to valuable habitat for an abundance of game species. Because Michigan state parks are closed to sporting pursuits unless specifically opened through orders promulgated by the NRC, additional action was required to open the properties to hunting and trapping. At last month’s meeting, the NRC unanimously approved the order.
The order provides new hunting and trapping opportunities while maintaining existing restrictions around developed areas of the park. One such developed area is the Carl T. Johnson Hunting and Fishing Center, which will be hosting a trapping clinic on October 10th and 11th, designed to teach newcomers how to build an effective trapline. Not only does opening new lands to our time-honored outdoor traditions create new opportunities to participate, but it also supports the conservation efforts of the state in general. Through the American System of Conservation Funding, hunters and trappers generate critical revenue for state fish and wildlife agencies through license revenues and federal excise taxes on firearms, ammunition, archery equipment, and other sporting goods. Not to mention, through this expanded sporting opportunity, sportsmen and women may now better support the conservation efforts of the Michigan DNR by participating afield, rather than the agency expending time and money to carry out similar functions.
The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation will continue to support policymakers in their ongoing efforts to increase hunting and trapping opportunities for sportsmen and women while supporting the conservation of our nation’s fish and wildlife resources.