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Michigan DNR considers increasing number of elk tags

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources could increase the number of elk tags given to hunters next year.

It would be the first increase in four years. 

A normal elk herd in Michigan in a given year is between 500 to 900, but Brian Mastenbrook with the DNR says there could be as many as 1,200 this year. He says that many elk can create problems and now they want the population to shrink.

"Whether it's elk in crop fields, whether it's elk damage to people's forest regeneration, whether it's ... elk car accidents," Mastenbrook said.

This year the state gave out 200 elk tags. Mastenbrook says they don't have a concrete figure in mind for next year, but the DNR will officially propose a new number at a meeting of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission on March 19.

The proposal will then go to public comment.

Max came to IPR in 2017 as an environmental intern. In 2018, he returned to the station as a reporter and quickly took on leadership roles as Interim News Director and eventually Assignment Editor. Before joining IPR, Max worked as a news director and reporter at Michigan State University's student radio station WDBM. In 2018, he reported on a Title IX dispute with MSU in his story "Prompt, Thorough and Impartial." His work has also been heard on Michigan Radio, WDBM and WKAR in East Lansing and NPR.