The Arctic grayling, Thymallus arcticus, was historically found in many coldwater streams throughout the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and in one Upper Peninsula stream. Large populations of grayling flourished in the Manistee and Au Sable Rivers, commanding such importance that one community adopted and bears its namesake (Grayling, MI). Over a few decades in the late 1800s, grayling played a prominent role as both a commercial food fish and as an attractive game fish, and the species is recognized as an important part of Michigan’s history. However, habitat destruction, unregulated timber harvest and predation/competition from non-native fish species led to the demise of one of Michigan’s iconic stream salmonids, resulting in grayling becoming extirpated from Michigan by 1936.