Upper Peninsula Deer Habitat Improvement Grants

Purpose: The Deer Habitat Improvement Partnership Initiative (DHIPI) funds collaborative projects that produce tangible improvements to deer habitat on private and other non-state lands in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, build long-term partnerships between the DNR and conservation partners, and publicly showcase the habitat work and its scientific basis. Additional eligibility: Applicants must be conservation organizations, sportsperson groups, NGOs, land conservancies, conservation districts, industrial forest landowners, or qualifying private landowners/formal land affiliations (e.g., 400+ acres with a certified forest or wildlife habitat plan). Government entities (city, township, county, state, federal, tribal) are not eligible to apply directly but may serve as third-party cooperators. Projects on state-owned lands are ineligible, and projects allowing legal public access are scored more favorably. Project eligibility: Work may occur on privately owned lands, industrial forests, Commercial Forest Act or Qualified Forest Program lands, tribal or federal lands (with written permission). Eligible activities include wildlife shrub and tree plantings (including long-lived conifers and mast species), scarification and regeneration, non-commercial timber stand improvement, mechanical habitat manipulation, creation/maintenance of wildlife openings, and warm/cool-season herbaceous or native prairie plantings. Projects near deer wintering complexes are prioritized. Application process: Download the DHIPI Guide and Application, coordinate with the local DNR wildlife biologist during proposal development, and submit the completed application by mail or fax (email submissions are not accepted) to the DNR Norway Field Office, Attn: Bill Scullon, by the stated deadline. Proposals are scored on habitat benefits, feasibility, public access/proximity to public lands, partner cost share and implementation capacity, and communications strategy. For 2025, applications were due 03/14/2025, award notifications by 04/04/2025, and projects to be completed by 09/30/2025. Awardees must register in SIGMA for EFT payment and sign a DHIPI agreement and liability release.