Summer is here; feel inspired to travel via the Pure Michigan ad campaign

Summer is finally here.

For those looking to travel around the state, they are many opportunities for a vacation location. Of course, the Pure Michigan campaign has some suggestions as well.

Because it's likely I won't be traveling too much this summer (booooo), I've gone ahead and done the dreaming for it. I've created a map with all the local Pure Michigan ads, both radio and television, to help inspire readers. Each ad presents a certain area, including those that people may not think of for a vacation, such as Flint.

What's your favorite ad?

View Pure Michigan ad locations in a larger map UPDATE: Thanks to the Pure Michigan Twitter account for sharing this post!

Check out this fun, interactive map of #PureMichigan travel destinations from Michigan blogger @DavidVeselenak: bit.ly/Mi1XBU

— Pure Michigan (@PureMichigan) June 20, 2012

New outsdoors ads show for the Pure Michigan campaign released

The national Pure Michigan campaign has released its new television ads, and a pair of them focus on Michigan's outdoors.

Four communities/attractions were featured: Ann Arbor, The Henry Ford museum, Mackinac Island and Traverse City. The Ann Arbor ad focuses on the cultural aspect of the city, which its known for. The Henry Ford, obviously for its historical artifacts and Greenfield village.

But the two that focus on Michigan's outdoors feature Mackinac Island and Traverse City. The Traverse City ad uses the phrase "True North," and describes Sleeping Bear Dunes and sunsets over Lake Michigan.

The Mackinac Island ad showcases the natural beauty of the island, as well as the tourist-y aspect.

Take a watch of both of the below, and see the other two on the Pure Michigan blog:


Mackinac Island


Traverse City

The Rec Passport is now needed for state forests and non-motorized pathway parking

It's been a different scene since the launch of the Recreation Passport in Michigan in 2010.

It replaced the annual window sticker and daily pass. It became available to the motorist when they renewed their license plate tabs every year for the price of $10. This decreased the cost of admission for a year in the state parks in Michigan more than half.

It's been a great tool in enlisting people to come to Michigan's state parks, and now, it's now needed for those who want to have access to store forest and non-motorized pathways owned by the Department of Natural Resources.

It's a move that was coming, since the Rec Passport had been heralded as the savior of the state park system. I loved the idea when it first came out, and I snagged it as soon as my tabs were expired. Since purchasing it, I've used it at at least two state parks, and will use it at several more this year.

State forest and non-motorized pathways will draw a new crop of users into the park system, and making the Recreation Passport a crucial part of streamlining a service that has struggled over the last decade can only improve the state's natural resources.

What's best for moose hunting, a rifle or a digital SLR?

(Flickr photo courtesy of als pictures)

I asked that very question Friday morning on Twitter after seeing a tweet regarding the possible opening of hunting moose for sport in Michigan.

Moose were reintroduced onto the mainland of Michigan back in the late 1980s after being mostly found on Isle Royale, which lies closer to Canada than the United States. Now, with the population growing, officials have debated on whether or not to allow hunters the ability to track and hunt them for sport.

But the article I spotted proposed a less violent alternative: instead of hunting and harvesting the moose, why not promote photographers go out and and shoot them with their camera?

I've not been lucky enough to capture an image of one of these animals. My buddy shot the very back end of two bull moose wandering down the Greenstone Trail on Isle Royale, but that's it. I've seen about 6 moose, but never had a camera on me. I'd love to see more beautiful shots.

With such a low number of moose still, I'm afraid it could hurt the grown of the moose back in its native Michigan. Even scientists are saying the growth is slower than what it should be.

With moose still being the elusive beasts they are, I think I'd rather see more photos of them rather than antlers on a wall, at least for the time being.

Which would you rather see: moose being hunted with rifles, or "hunted" with cameras?

Scientist blogging his experience studying wolves and moose on Isle Royale this winter

While perusing New York Times' science site, one would find some blog posts that speaks to the heart of most outdoors men in this state: Scientist John Vucetich writing about the environment and habitat of the wildlife on Isle Royale.

Michigan's most-prized outdoor gem, Isle Royale is an isolated ecosystem, being 54 miles from the Michigan shoreline and 6 miles from Canada, it has a unique blend of wolves and moose on the island.

The blog posts are an inside look at the island, the only national park not accessible to visitors during the winter. They read like journal entries, but still are informative.

I remember seeing several moose on the island when I was there in 2005. No wolves, but I do remember hearing them howl when we were camping at Chickenbone Lake. Incredible creatures. I don't have any photo albums from that trip in my apartment where I'm writing this, but I do plan to share some in the future (the photo up top was found via Flickr).

Meanwhile, take a look at the posts written by Vucetich here.

The outhouse joke wasn't completely correct by Snyder; either way, outhouses need to be open

The Detroit Free Press published a story today based solely on Gov. Rick Snyder's line about regulations requiring seats be put down in outhouses across the state.

The governor used the analogy to demonstrate the multitude of regulations on the state of Michigan. But the analysis reads that no such regulation requiring Michiganders to "put the seat down," just that outhouses must be covered when not in use.

Not many news stories stem from jokes made during a speech, but the concern shouldn't just be for keeping the seat down; it should be to keep the outhouses open.

When reading the story earlier today, it reminded me of the outhouse at the Sand Lakes Quiet Area we ran into at the end of the trail when we were there in May. Several of us went to use the outhouse, only to find that we couldn't because it was locked. This sign was on the door:

Besides the fact that Snyder got his facts wrong (while his spokeswoman minimized it, journalists would be chastised for the exact same action), the fact that many outhouses aren't even in service renders his point moot.

An outdoors stretch: the Ice Sculpture Festival in Tecumseh

I won't usually post items of events happening in a downtown area, but this was too cool to not share.

I moved to Lenawee County a year ago, and stumbled across last year's Tecumseh Ice Sculpture Festival by accident. This year, I made it a point to attend.

My fiance and I trekked down to Tecumseh mid-Saturday afternoon, and watched as several sculptures worked their craft and created works of art in the ice.

Here are several photos from the event this year: