April 23, 2017

SAULT STE. MARIE —  Soo Co-op Credit Union has announced they will be breaking ground on a new main office, to be located on the I-75 Business Spur directly behind the current I-75 branch, this week.  The current branch will maintain normal lobby and drive-thru business hours during this period of construction, and the construction will take place with very little member impact. There will be some interruptions in service from time to time. Updates on  construction progress are available through their website (soocoop.com)  and Facebook page. At this time both drive-thru lanes are open for business.

April 21, 2017

Morel mushrooms often are found in locations where sizable fires (more than 10 acres) occurred the previous year. The mushrooms only will grow where there was a forested covertype; grass or other ground covers will not yield morels. Additionally, morel mushrooms are more likely to grow in burned areas where jack, white, or red pine once grew.

This map and information provide locations where fires greater than 10 acres in size - from either wildfires or prescribed burns - occurred in 2016.

April 18, 2017

The US Forest Service is preparing for 1,191 acres of prescribed burning on the Hiawatha National Forest. Prescribed burning is a tool that can help accomplish a variety of objectives.  Such burns are weather-dependent and will likely be conducted between late April and early fall, when appropriate moisture, fuel and wind conditions are more likely.

The Forest Service’s goals in conducting site preparation burns are:

• Naturally regenerate pine using prescribed fire

• Kill red pine cone borer larvae

• Stress over-story red pine to enhance cone production

• Reduce hazardous fuel loading within unit.

View the full USFS announcement and the maps of prescribed burn areas by clicking here.

April 18, 2017

The Eastern Upper Peninsula Citizens’ Advisory Council is scheduled to discuss several interesting topics when the panel meets Thursday, April 20 in Newberry.

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There will be an update on cormorant control efforts, the status of wolf legislation and several subcommittee reports on issues ranging from deer to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Forest Road Inventory Project.

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“The council meetings give the public an opportunity to provide input and learn what’s new on DNR topics important to the Upper Peninsula,” said John Pepin, DNR deputy public information officer. “There’s always a great deal of information provided at council sessions and plenty of council members and DNR staffers available to answer questions.”

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The Eastern U.P. Citizens’ Advisory Council and its western U.P. counterpart meet alternating months throughout the year.

This month’s session in Luce County will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. EDT in the conference room at the Luce-Mackinac-Alger-Schoolcraft (LMAS) Health Department, located at 14150 Hamilton Lake Road in Newberry.

The public can participate in the session by offering comments to the discussion during two specified periods at the meeting (for instructions on comment procedures, see www.michigan.gov/upcac).

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The DNR’s eastern and western Upper Peninsula citizens’ advisory councils are designed to provide local input to advise the DNR on regional programs and policies, identify areas in which the department can be more effective and responsive and offer insight and guidance from members’ own experiences and constituencies.

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The council members represent a wide variety of natural resource and recreation interests. Agenda items are set by the council members and council recommendations are forwarded to the DNR for consideration.

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Anyone interested in being considered as a future council member should fill out the application form found on the DNR website at www.michigan.gov/upcac. For more information, contact the DNR Upper Peninsula regional coordinator’s office at 906-226-1331.

April 16, 2017

Cloverland Electric Cooperative has seven members running for the three board seats in 2017.   The ballots will be mailed in May. For nearly 80 years, Cloverland members have had the responsibility to vote for a member to represent them on the board of directors. Three of the nine seats are up for election each year.

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District A candidates are: Dane Kuusinen, DeTour Village; William C. LaLonde, St. Ignace; and Gerald Nettleton, DeTour Village.

District B candidates are: Linda Hoath, Sault Ste. Marie and John Sawruk, Sault Ste. Marie.

District C candidates are:  Virgil Monroe, Manistique and Allan Ott, Manistique.

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Members will receive a ballot in the mail the first week of May and have until May 31 to return the marked ballot in the provided envelope to the counting firm in Minnesota. Results will be announced at the Annual Meeting of Members on June 8 at the Dafter Township Hall. More information will be presented in the May issue of Cloverland Connections Magazine received by members the first week of May.