Manistee River

Huron-Manistee National Forests officials say they won’t do an alcohol ban on several northern Michigan rivers this year.

Instead, the Forest Service will continue an education program that was implemented last year.

In February last year, the U.S. Forest Service tried to ban alcohol on the Au Sable, Manistee and Pine Rivers — which are federally protected waters. The agency wanted to better control dangerous, drunken behavior that was impacting the river experience.

Update: The U.S. Forest Service says the ban may still go into effect next summer, but it is one of several options they are pursuing.

The National Forest Service has postponed an alcohol ban on some Michigan rivers after public backlash. The ban would affect the Manistee, Au Sable and Pine Rivers.

As of Tuesday evening more than 40-thousand people had signed an online petition asking the Forest Service to stop the ban.

Among those opposed to the law is Cheryl Matson, who owns a campground and a boat rental business off the Manistee River. She says most of her customers like to drink on the water.

The National Forest Service has postponed an alcohol ban on some Michigan rivers after public backlash. The ban would affect the Manistee, Au Sable and Pine Rivers.

As of Tuesday evening more than 40-thousand people had signed an online petition asking the Forest Service to stop the ban.

Among those opposed to the law is Cheryl Matson, who owns a campground and a boat rental business off the Manistee River. She says most of her customers like to drink on the water.

  The Boardman River and the upper Manistee have crested and are expected to fall slowly overnight. Both rivers reached record high levels Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service office in Gaylord.

Wexford County's state of emergency continued Tuesday, even as spring flooding in the region slowed. The county's worst-hit area is along the Manistee, north of Mesick.

Wexford Lieutenant Richard Denison says police in dry suits waded up to doorsteps of flooded homes to make sure nobody was stranded.

What may be the world's largest brown trout was caught Wednesday on the Manistee River. Tom Healy landed a 41 lb 7 oz fish. That's a pound heavier than the current world record. State biologists verified the weight and declared it the new state record. Healy was fishing with a guide from Cadillac, Tim Roller. 

Roller says they have all the documentation to register the fish and claim the world record. He expects the attention to drive a lot of anglers to the Manistee area.

"But They need to know they're not going to catch a forty pound brown trout," says Roller.