LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Recent media headlines, including National Public Radio, have described Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) as “going broke” and in “crisis.”

Proposed fee hikes.

Last December, state Democrats introduced House Bill 6229 that would have hiked more than a dozen hunting and fishing license fees. For example, deer licenses would jump from $20 to $30 if the bill passed. It was referred to committee.

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This comes just four years after the state’s DNR received $549 million from the federal government as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. To put that in perspective, the state DNR had received $77 million from the federal government in 2019-20.

Additional staffing.

The DNR has also added staffing in the post-pandemic years. It had 2,334 full-time jobs in its department in 2018-19 and 2019-20. That increased to 2,539 in 2024-25, a 9% increase in staffing.

DNR’s overall funding has increased from $506.5 million in 2018-19 (the last year before the pandemic hit) to $534.6 million in 2024-25. When adjusted for inflation, DNR’s 2024-25 funding is 16% below the 2018-19 levels.

The DNR’s overall budget has been reduced three consecutive years, in part because the federal pandemic funding that boosted it has been dwindling.

ARPA help.

The state received a total of $6.5 billion from ARPA, of which $1.5 billion went to “environmental sustainability.” The DNR’s federal funding when from $77.0 million in 2019-20 to $88.4 million in 2020-21 to the $549 million jackpot in 2021-22. Then federal funding dropped to $131.4 million the next year and was reduced to $122.9 million in 2023-24 and $96.1 million in 2024-25.