The Fall 2002 WMU History graduate course, Cultural Resources Management (CRM), investigated the Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Almena Township for its semester research project. The hatchery develops fish for stocking in rivers and lakes around the state in support of Michigan’s recreational tourist economy.
Dr. Michael Chiarappa, associate professor in history, selected this site for investigation because of its relevance to several themes in contemporary society.
Working as a team, students in CRM researched issues of conservation, public culture, technology, and landscape by searching the hatchery site, public archives, and other locations around the state. Their efforts have uncovered artifacts and information that illuminate the fish hatchery’s past as a center of ecological, cultural, and geographical importance to the region and state.
The CRM class intends to continue its work beyond the semester and hopes to prepare a publication on the hatchery’s cultural and physical past. Such a work may also serve as a model for parties surveying other historical sites of all kinds
Western Michigan University's 2001 Public History Field School focused on museum exhibition research, conceptualization, and planning for Shared Waters: Natives and French Newcomers in the Great Lakes a museum exhibit at the Fort Miami Heritage Society scheduled to run from early 2003 to mid 2004. Students participating in the field school spent seven weeks researching and developing a proposal for a museum exhibit that examined the interactions of Native Americans and the French during the 17th and 18th centuries and how the fur trade and marine environment influenced one another’s culture. 
Hurons in Ontario, the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Canadian National Archives in Ottawa, the McCord Museum and the Pointe-a-Calliere in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago, and the Public Museum of Grand Rapids. These museums offered various models of inclusive planning and exhibiting multicultural content and while there, the students met with curators and anthropologists and gained access to vast collections of artifacts. The completed proposal presented to the Fort Miami Heritage Society included an outline of the interpretative aspects of the exhibit, including artifact recommendations, and public and educational programs.