The Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative is a competitive grant program designed to enhance deer habitat on non-state lands in the Upper Peninsula.

“I think we have a good crop of projects this year, and some new partnership and project opportunities,” said Bill Scullon, DNR wildlife field operations manager and administrator for the grant initiative. “These projects will allow us to continue making deer habitat improvements on private lands, which is an important component of our Upper Peninsula deer management strategy.”

A 25 percent match is required for the projects, which allows the DNR to reach beyond the original grant investment to accomplish more important habitat work.

“With this latest round of grant awards, we have funded 95 projects over the past decade,” Scullon said. “The total match dollars generated by those projects exceeds half a million dollars.”

The total match for this year’s projects was $62,123.

Check out the list of projects.

Groups eligible for these grants include organizations with a formal mission to promote wildlife conservation and/or hunting, such as 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.

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 11th year, the initiative is supported by the state’s Deer Range Improvement Program, which is funded by a portion of deer hunting license revenue.

Availability of the grants was announced in January, with a March 1 deadline to apply. There were 14 applicants in this year’s grant cycle. Awardees were notified this past week.

For more information on the deer habitat improvement grant program, please contact Bill Scullon at 906-563-9247 or scullonh@michigan.gov.