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michiganconservation.net:

It's a website started spring 2010 to tell you about the Michigan Conservation, later Michigan Natural Resources magazine, which was published by the Michigan Department of Conservation (later the Department of Natural Resources) from 1931 to 1999.

The magazine's exquisite span of nearly 70 years contains not just a wealth of text, photos, and maps about of hunting, fishing, camping, forestry, fisheries, natural history, departmental policy, and land management in Michigan (sometimes elsewhere), but the most complete record of conservation history in Michigan for the 20th century. In its long run, the magazine won numerous awards and accolades for its exceptional journalism and editorship; beautiful art, photography, and design; and high print quality. We used to be able to do things like that in government.

After the Michigan Natural Resources's destruction during the disastrous 1990s 'privatization' craze of the engler regime, it seems to have been mostly forgotten by the public. This website intends to remedy that by showing that there exists in their public libraries and perhaps even personal collections a vast and unsurpassed encyclopedia of Michigan outdoor lore and history!

The magazine gives us some valuable perspective in the history of its pages even now, after being gone for nearly 20 years: it tells us a little bit about how things used to be ... back when going outside was influenced less by sophisticated 'lifestyle marketing' and image identity than by the pleasure of an established way of life and self-developed interests. When the promotion of knowledge and skills was more important in publishing an 'outdoors' magazine than the promotion of the latest 'gear' or fads. When the colors of nature were considered the attraction, not the garish colors of product logos. When people cared more about going outside than being identified with going outside.

This website will show you the magazine covers, tables of contents, and some of the art and articles that were published. It'll also give some information on the history and people who made the magazine, how it flourished and served, and how it died. It'll have related information, such as books published by the magazine or authored by its staff; some information on the circulation and press of the magazine; and maybe a few examples of similar publications that still exist. It will tell where you can, even now, still find some remaining elements of the magazine.

Since I have a collection mainly from the late 1940s to the end, that's what I'll have to present for now, but anyone who has older issues is encouraged to contribute!

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Progress October 2011:

I finished scanning all the covers, tables of contents, editorials, and many articles from my collection in the spring of 2010 while I was still in the UP, and got a few other interesting documents at NMU library. There's something from every issue 1949 until the magazine's end in 1999, and a few earlier ones too.

I'm finally getting around to preparing and adding some of the content to the website now, but have been poking along... See the index by year for what's been added so far!

It'll be a lot of work just to get the magazine information added, but I've already got some other ideas for related content to add after that - like information on the DOC/DNR county map series (ca. late 1930s to the final edition in 1983) and relatives, the UP Lure books (1935-1958 with earlier and later relatives), important early 20th century Michigan conservationists (P. S. Lovejoy and Harold Titus come to mind), and the history of the Michigan Land-Economic Survey (surprisingly obscure).