For Friday, April 9, 2021

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1 – It’s almost time to hit the sand. 

The Adopt-a-Beach season starts Saturday, April 24. 

Adopt-a-Beach is a cleanup program organized by the nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes. 

You can visit adopt.greatlakes.org to find a cleanup near you. 

One is planned at the Bay City State Park beach starting at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 18. You can register online at the Adopt-a-Beach site. 

The program enlists thousands of volunteers every year to help keep beaches clean, pick up litter and record what they find. 

Efforts were slowed by the pandemic in 2020, but more than 400 cleanups were still held across all five of the Great Lakes, clearing out 10,000 pounds of trash. 

2 – Earth Day is also this month, on Thursday, April 22. 

The Earth Day Network at EarthDay.org is a good place to find information.

This year’s theme is “Restore Our Earth.” 

A live digital event is planned for noon, with workshops, panel discussions and special performances.

Earth Day events also are planned across the state, according to the network, as part of the Great Global Cleanup. 

You can find a map of events or register your cleanup online at cleanup.earthday.org. 

3 – The Michigan Department of Natural Resources turned 100 years old on March 30. 

The DNR, originally called the Michigan Department of Conservation, was officially created back in 1921. 

The agency will be celebrating its centennial throughout this year. 

The DNR’s timeline includes milestones like reintroducing elk, moose and turkey to the state, protecting wild places like the Pigeon River Country State Forest and bringing salmon to the Great Lakes.

Wild turkeys had been eliminated from the state’s landscape by the 1900s, according to an online DNR history. In 1954, 50 birds were moved from Pennsylvania in an effort to re-establish a population in Michigan. 

It was the first successful reintroduction effort. Turkey numbers increased over the next decade, allowing for Michigan’s first modern turkey hunt in 1965.

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard Friday mornings in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Public Radio 90.1 FM (listen). Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes

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