A total of $100,000 in deer habitat improvement grant funding has been awarded to a dozen entities for projects in the Upper Peninsula, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says.
The Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative is a competitive grant program designed to enhance deer habitat on non-state lands, the DNR said in a news release.
This year, 12 grants were awarded from 18 applicants for projects across 10 of the U.P.’s 15 counties. The value of the projects awarded grants totalled $201,541.
“These grants will produce positive impacts in Marquette, Alger, Delta, Dickinson, Iron, Baraga, Ontonagon, Gogebic, Schoolcraft and Mackinac counties,” said Bill Scullon, DNR field operations manager and administrator for the grant initiative.
“The planned match for the 12 grants is valued in excess of $79,000 (well in excess of the required 25%) further expanding the impact of the projects.”
Groups eligible for these grants include organizations with a formal mission to promote wildlife conservation and/or hunting.
These include sportsmen’s clubs, conservation districts, land conservancies, industrial landowners with more than 10,000 acres, or private land affiliations where two or more unrelated persons jointly own 400 or more acres.
Primary goals for each of the projects include producing tangible deer habitat improvements, building long-term partnerships between the DNR and outside organizations and showcasing the project benefits to the public, the DNR said.
Scullon said the total amount of grant funding available is $100,000. The maximum amount of individual grants is $15,000 and the minimum is $2,000.
Now in its 15th year, the initiative is supported by the state’s Deer Range Improvement Program, which is funded by a portion of deer hunting license revenue.
Since the grant program’s inception, nearly $1 million has been made available to U.P. partners for more than 100 projects, the DNR said.
The reach of the program has been hundreds of private landowners, over thousands of acres, involving all the region’s 15 counties.
Availability of the grants was announced in February, with a March 3 deadline to apply. Awardees were notified by April 14.
