LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan’s wildlife managers say they’re stretching dollars and patience to keep the state’s conservation work afloat.

According to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), budget limitations cited Jan. 14 are now impacting wildlife oversight functions statewide, from population management to habitat maintenance.

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“For the past 18 months, the department has been sounding the alarm,” Keith Kintigh, assistant chief of the DNR’s wildlife division, said. “We are rapidly losing the resources needed to uphold our responsibilities to Michigan’s fish and wildlife conservation legacy.”

The division relies largely on hunting and fishing license revenue, but those dollars have failed to keep pace with inflation. License sales have also declined as fewer young people enter hunting and fishing, leaving the agency with what Kintigh described as a $12.5 million loss in “purchasing power over seven years.”

Habitat projects and infrastructure upgrades have been trimmed as staffing levels fall, leaving the division with about 20% fewer full-time employees than in 2005, according to the DNR.

Without new funding, Kintigh said, the department’s main option remains license fee increases—an idea that has stalled in the Legislature.

“Our only option is to continue asking hunters and anglers to carry this responsibility,” Kintigh said.