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The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has announced the award of 20 grant projects totaling more than $4 million, under the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program. 

The grant program is central to Michigan’s new invasive species initiative, which brings a multi-department, comprehensive approach to the ongoing problem of harmful, non-native invaders such as the Asian carp. The initiative enlists the expertise of the state departments of Natural Resources, Environmental Quality and Agriculture and Rural Development.

Projects funded in this round of grants include plans to:

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Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) Director Jamie Clover Adams encouraged the state's fruit growers to complete the 2014 Fruit Acreage Inventory being conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) -- This weekend you will find a bit of springtime at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

The annual Fred & Dorothy Fichter Butterflies Are Blooming exhibition opens Sunday.

"You can feel the heat just kind of soak into you when you walk in, especially from outside -- sometimes your glasses fog up -- and it's just a great place to get out of the cold and really enjoy the tropics," says Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park Director of Horticulture Steve LaWarre.

Butterflies Are Blooming runs through April 30. Learn more about the exhibition at this link.