Outdoors

Biking, Boating, Camping, Fishing, Hunting and more

Controversy about deer baiting doesn't appear to have reduced the number of hunters who hit the woods for the firearms deer season that ended Sunday.

"We sold more licenses than in 2007," said Rex W. Ainslie, wildlife supervisor for the DNR's Bay City Operations Service Center, 3580 State Park. "Individual licenses are up 1 percent. Tags are up 4 percent."

LANSING (AP) - Areas in two Michigan counties no longer are considered potential high risk zones for bovine tuberculosis in livestock.

The state Department of Agriculture announced Monday it's dropping high risk designations for the zones in Iosco and Shiawassee counties.

The move comes after animal testing in the areas over the last several months revealed no bovine tuberculosis cases.

The Shiawassee County area is 100 miles south of the northern Lower Peninsula zone where bovine tuberculosis cases have been concentrated in Michigan. The Iosco County areas are on the border and just south of the bovine TB area.

The Shiawassee and Iosco county regions came under scrutiny after bovine TB was confirmed in a couple of deer there in 2007.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Areas in two Michigan counties no longer are considered potential high risk zones for bovine tuberculosis in livestock.

The state Department of Agriculture announced Monday it's dropping high risk designations for the zones in Iosco and Shiawassee counties. The move comes after animal testing in the areas over the last several months revealed no bovine tuberculosis cases.

Courtesy Photo/Michigan DNR: David KenyonAn elk grazes in a field.

About three dozen West Michigan hunters were among the 200 selected to participate in Michigan's December elk hunting season. The hunt, which runs Dec. 9-16, is the second of three potential hunting periods this fall.

Hunters took 80 elk in the early hunt period in August and September. Another 187 are likely during the December hunt. A four-day January hunt might be held if the December hunt falls short of goal, or if the big animals appear in areas where they are not wanted.

Here it is, Thanksgiving weekend.

The legislative session is about to end. I'd like to be saying: Thanks for the good work. Thanks for coming together to solve DNR funding problems. At minimum, thanks for supporting the state park license plate proposal.

Driving a snowmobile off designated trails at Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park could get expensive for riders if a proposed regulation is approved by the Natural Resources Commission next week.

The fine could be as much as $500, according to state park officials, who hope to keep snowmobilers from riding in wilderness portions of the park.

Skim ice has started to form along Michigan shorelines and across the shallow inland lakes, but there is no safe ice to report, the Michigan Department of Resources said in its weekly fishing report.

Steelhead and whitefish action continues around the state, but the DNR reminds anglers they may not snag or retain a fish that has not been hooked in the mouth.

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SOUTHEAST LOWER PENINSULA:

The 2009 state park motor vehicle permits and boating access site permits will be available for purchase starting Dec. 1.

Gift certificates and permits can be purchased online through the Michigan e-store at www.michigan.gov/estore or by calling (517) 373-9900.

Michigan ranks 12th in the nation for bicycle friendliness, according to a recent survey administered by the League of American Bicyclists.

According to the league, encouraging bicycling is an effective way to address the challenges of climate change, traffic congestion, rising obesity rates and soaring fuel prices, as well as improve traffic safety and economic development.

Chronicle/Ken StevensGeoff Newmyer, 25, sits in a electric six-wheeled all-terrain vehicle that enables him to hunt. He is pictured with his dog, CoCo, who sometimes hunts with him. Newmyer was paralyzed after falling from a tree stand while hunting in October 2007.

Geoff Newmyer's accomplishments since "the accident" are quite impressive.

The 25-year-old Fruitport Township man married his girlfriend of three years, shot a trophy 14-point deer while bowhunting, worked to keep his business running and volunteered to help another injured person.

Newmyer, who was paralyzed from the waist down following a fall from the tree he was hunting from last October, accomplished all these feats while rehabbing his own injury, maintaining a positive attitude and striving to walk again.