8 Disappearing Things Michiganders Won’t Be Able to Enjoy Much Longer
MLive’s eight Michigan newspapers print their final editions on Dec. 6.
If you grew up with a paper on the porch, that’s one more piece of Michigan life on its way out.
Here are the disappearing things Michiganders won’t be able to enjoy much longer.
1. Fresh Whitefish
If you order fresh whitefish from Lakes Michigan or Huron, you’re counting on a shrinking group of commercial fishers.
Bridge Michigan reported in October 2025 that whitefish catches on those two lakes have fallen 70% in 15 years.
The number of commercial fishers once ran into the thousands and has dropped to dozens.
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) data put Lake Michigan’s whitefish harvest at about 4 million pounds a year in the 1990s and 1.3 million pounds in 2017.
That’s a steep drop.
Mussels are the suspected cause.
Those mussels cover the bottom of both lakes and eat the plankton and algae that once fed the food web.
2. Printed MLive Newspapers
MLive announced in September 2026 that its eight Michigan newspapers will stop printing after the final editions on Dec. 6.
Coverage will continue online.
Digital subscribers passed print subscribers for the first time in 2026.
Which MLive Papers Stop Printing
The eight MLive newspapers that stop printing include the Ann Arbor News, Bay City Times, Flint Journal and Grand Rapids Press.
The rest are the Jackson Citizen Patriot, Kalamazoo Gazette, Muskegon Chronicle and Saginaw News.
MLive has advertised savings of up to 40% for subscribers who switch to digital.
If you subscribe to print, the company plans workshops to teach you how to read the paper online.
3. Big Boy Restaurants
Big Boy had 1,000 locations nationwide at its peak in the 1960s.
By 2016, the chain was down to around 90 restaurants.
Only 60 remained by 2023.
Big Boy’s website listed 45 restaurants in October 2026, and 38 of them were in Michigan.
If there’s a Big Boy near you, it’s likely one of those 38.
The Grand Blanc location closed in the spring of 2026, and Mason followed in June.
4. Deer Hunting
Deer hunting has been losing hunters for decades.
The DNR said in 2022 that the state had about 800,000 deer hunters in 2000 and expected about 550,000 that fall.
Part of the drop came from younger generations not taking up deer hunting as earlier ones did.
Between 1996 and 2022, the number of Michigan hunters and anglers fell almost every year, with 2020 the exception.
If you hunt, you’re sharing the woods with fewer people than in 2000.
The trend is nationwide.
Psst! How much do you know about Michigan? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Michigan Firsts IQ
Answer these questions on Michigan firsts, landmarks and traditions. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In 1846, Michigan became the first English-speaking government to do what?
5. Drive-In Theaters
Drive-in theaters in Michigan numbered 110 in 1958, reportedly.
The Detroit Free Press counted only 11 still operating in 2022.
Memory Lane Drive-In near Monroe opened in 2021.
It closed after four years.
Its owners cited poor attendance, streaming and weak concession sales.
A Monroe couple stepped in, and WXYZ reported on May 23, 2025 that the drive-in was preparing for its reopening weekend.
If you're planning a drive-in night, check the theater's page for its current schedule.
6. Pheasant Hunting
Pheasant hunting in Michigan follows a bird that a 2019 DNR status report said was far below its historic highs.
The 1950s were the peak.
The decline of pheasant populations is well documented.
Forest cover in southern Michigan grew by about 40,000 acres a year from 1980 to 1993.
That may have been a major factor in the decline.
Surveys estimated that about 23,200 hunters harvested roughly 22,400 pheasants in 2015.
In 2017, you could still find pheasants in southern Lower Michigan and some areas of the Upper Peninsula.
7. Great Lakes Winter Ice
Great Lakes winter ice cover decreased by about 5% per decade between 1973 and 2023, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
That's a 25% total decrease.
On average, the ice season shortened by about 27 days over the same period, which leaves you less time on the lakes.
In February 2024, ice covered about 2.9% of the lakes, when the mid-February average runs 40% to 45%.
The Black Lake sturgeon season was due to start Feb. 3 that year.
The DNR canceled it, citing marginal ice conditions and concerns about overharvest.
8. Golf Courses
Golf courses in Michigan numbered at least 1,000 at the turn of the century, Crain's Detroit Business reported in 2020.
By 2020, around 750 were left for you to play.
The National Golf Foundation supplied the 750 figure, and the number was likely to fall further.
That's a big drop.
Where the Numbers Have Rebounded
Some numbers have rebounded.
Snowmobile trail permit sales topped 140,000 in each of the two most recent seasons, the DNR reported in May 2026.
That followed a drop of about 40% in the low-snow winter of 2024.
If you hunt pheasants, breeding indices showed abundance relatively stable over the 10 years before 2019.
Great Lakes ice cover peaked at 58.3% in winter 2026, the highest since 2019, according to the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.
The 2026 Black Lake sturgeon season ended after 48 minutes on Feb. 7, when anglers reached the six-fish limit.
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