Sturgeon Pt. Lighthouse

Sturgeon Pt. Lighthouse, originally uploaded by ezz_eddie.

 

Iosco Sportsmen add ranges at Wurtsmith

From The Bay City Times:

The Iosco County Sportsmen’s Club is expanding its shooting range. The new range is the old small arms training range the Air Force used before closing in 1993.

”This facility is unmatched in northern Michigan in the scope of shooting opportunities that will be available,” said Jody Spencer, club secretary.

The ranges are located on 51 acres. On display will be two 25 and two 50 yards pistol bays and the 100 and 300 yards gun ranges. The club will also have sporting clays and five-stands.

Expansion plans call for trap ranges and a 600-yard rifle range.

New rules would allow some to groom Great Lakes beaches

From The Lansing State Journal:

Lakefront property owners frustrated with vegetation exposed by falling water levels could obtain permits to groom their beaches under proposed state regulations.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has proposed a system of five-year general permits for Great Lakes beach maintenance.

The department has set a May 6 deadline for comments on the plan, which would take effect Nov. 1. It would replace interim regulations in effect since 2003.

“The big things that people should be aware of is permits are going to be required for any mechanical activity on the shoreline” such as using a lawnmower or tractor, said Daniel Morgan, supervisor of the state agency’s Land and Water Management Division in Bay City.

Morgan said the general permit allows for limited mowing of vegetation, including mowing a 10-foot-wide path to the water and a 400-square-foot recreation area.

Last night’s sunset … (Ontario)

Last night’s sunset…22/04/07.. 2 photos, originally uploaded by bevcraigwhite.

sunset flight… ( red-winged-blackbird).. Lake Huron, Ontario

Wurtsmith gets defense mission of a different sort

From The Bay City Times:

The former Wurtsmith Air Force Base will serve as a drop point for medicine and medical supplies should a terrorist attack, flu outbreak or natural disaster strike the region.

The Oscoda Wurtsmith Airport Authority, which oversees a civilian airport at Wurtsmith, has agreed to allow use of the facility in the event of an emergency requiring shipments of medicine from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s strategic national stockpile.

Airport Authority members said at their April 18 meeting that no drugs would be stored at the airport on a long-term basis. Any incoming shipments would be guarded by state or federal officials.

According to the CDC’s Web site, the federal agency has stockpiled large quantities of medicine and medical supplies to protect the nation in the event of terrorist attacks, flu outbreaks, natural disasters or other emergencies that would exhaust local medical supplies.

Good to know!!

Seissenschmidt Corporation Expansion at Wurtsmith

Michigan’s Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) had this press release announcing new jobs at Wurtsmith:

The North American subsidiary of Germany-based Seissenschmidt-Group will invest an initial $1.3 million to locate its new North American headquarters at Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda Township. The project will create 152 new jobs, including 85 directly by the company. A state tax credit valued at $516,000 over seven years helped convince the company to invest and grow in Michigan. The MEDC will provide a Community Development Block Grant to assist with building improvements. In addition to Wurtsmith’s current tax-free Renaissance Zone designation, Oscoda Township has proposed a low-cost lease worth $12,000 annually to support the project.

Last January, German automotive component supplier Seissenschmidt announced the expansion of its U.S. marketing team headquartered in Harrisville, Michigan.

Straights of Mackinaw Channel Marker

Channel marker, originally uploaded by Fellowship of the Rich.

Lighthouse on Lake Huron in the Straights of Mackinaw marks the shipping lane.

Mackinac Bridge

Mackinac Bridge, originally uploaded by michiganartisan.

View of the Mackinac Bridge from the South Tower

Trumpeter swans and nests observed in area

From the Ann Arbor News:

For the past few years, about 150 trumpeter swans have been wintering in the lower Au Sable River near Oscoda, making the site one of the highest concentrations of the threatened species on the continent.

Besides their bugling call, trumpeters have black bills, unlike the orange, knobbed bill of the more commonly seen mute swan.

Moon Rise

, originally uploaded by jacalynsnana.