Michigan Ups UP Planting with New Fee, Volunteers

MARQUETTE, Mich. (AP) - State natural resources officials are combining a revenue stream from an increase in hunting fees and the work of volunteers across the Upper Peninsula to plant tens of thousands of trees that can improve the habitat for wildlife.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources says that its Wildlife Division staffers ''were able to greatly ramp up tree and shrub planting efforts for the first time in years'' because of increased in the price of hunting licenses, including an $11 fee that funds ''improvement of habitat and hunting opportunities.''

Department wildlife technician Bill Rollo says about 22,000 trees and shrubs are taking root across the Upper Peninsula this summer.

The department says its habitat improvement projects include a grove of 500 Siberian crabapple trees in southern Marquette County.