Cash for cones?: Michigan DNR puts bounty on pinecone bushels.
Great reason for a walk in the woods this September..
https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/08/18/dnr-cash-pinecone-collectors/8185908002/
In need of quick cash and find yourself in a forest? Well, you may have an opportunity on your hands.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is offering $75 for bushels of pinecones for the month of September. The DNR is in need of these for replanting purposes, refilling forests with new conifer trees.
The DNR is requesting a specific kind of cone, however. The red pine cone is the one they want, marked by its craggy, reddish bark and 4-6 inch needles that grow in pairs. The DNR notes that Scotch and Austrian pine cones will not be accepted. Scotch cones are marked by their flayed and thick bark, while Austrian cones are more orb-like than red cones.
Cones should be picked off the tree, as fallen cones are usually too old or wet. And one can tell the age of the cone from the way the scales are arranged. The scales should be closed with a hint of green or purple. All brown and they're too far gone.