Michael Neiger at Canoecopia 2025

Canoecopia is presented by

Presenting Sponsor

Location
Alliant Energy Center
1919 Alliant Energy Way
Madison, Wisconsin

Show Hours
Friday: 3 PM to 8 PM
Saturday: 9 AM to 6 PM
Sunday: 10 AM to 4 PM

Tickets
1-Day: $15.00
3-Day: $30.00
Ages 17 and under are FREE
Cash or check only for tickets purchased at the event

Parking Fees
1-Day: $8.00
Cash or credit, fees collected by Alliant Energy Center

Feedback

www.MibSAR.com

Michael Neiger lives in Marquette, Michigan, along the south of shore of Lake Superior. Since 1984, he has organized and led 100's of backpacking, canoeing, mountain biking, skiing, snowshoeing, winter-camping, and caving trips and expeditions in the bush between the Upper Great Lakes in Michigan and the Arctic Ocean in Canada. Along the way, he has accumulated 1,000s of bag nights. He is a certified wilderness guide with the Sierra Club, and a member of the Wilderness Guides Association.

He has paddled dozens of Canadian and Michigan rivers, often solo, including a solo canoe expedition from the Lake Superior area to the Arctic Ocean. He has also skied solo from the northernmost plowed road in Ontario, Canada to the Arctic Ocean. He has led 7 dead-of-winter snowshoe expeditions to the Arctic Ocean, and has helped train and outfit members of two North Pole expeditions.

Michael was a Det/Sgt with the Michigan State Police for 26 years and currently is the lead investigator with Michigan Backcountry Search and Rescue (MibSAR), a Long Range Special Operations Group (LRSOG) that investigates long-term missing (LTM) person cases and cold-case murders in the bush between the Upper Great Lakes in the U.S. and the Arctic Ocean in Canada. He is the author of the "Missing-Person Sourcebook: Strategies & Tactics for Finding Your Missing or Murdered Loved One from the World's Top Experts."

His trips, expeditions, and SAR investigations have been featured in numerous publications, including Outside Magazine, Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press, Michigan Out-of-Doors, Mining Journal, etc. His work has also been the subject of books, such as "The Cold Vanish," "Where Monsters Hide," "Cold From the Inside," "Ranger Beads," and "100-Plus Sniper Exercises." His work has been featured on Crime Watch with Chris Hansen and NBC's Oxygen Channel. He has consulted for numerous networks, reality TV producers, authors, and investigative journalists. He has field tested gear for Sierra Designs, The AltaMate Co., MapTech, Iversons Snowshoe & Furniture, Empire Canvas, Eureka Camping, Brooks-Range, a Patagonia retail outlet, Okwaho Outfitters, etc.

Michael regularly teaches two-day Wilderness Land Navigation classes and two-day Wilderness Survival Classes. He has taught classes for the Sierra Club; Northern Michigan University; the School for Outdoor Leadership, Adventure, and Recreation; the Marquette County Sheriff's Office Special Operations Division; Michigan State Police, etc. He has written numerous map-based guidebooks for national parks and other destinations such as Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Grand Island National Recreation Area, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Tahquamenon Falls State Park, etc. Michael currently organizes and leads trips and expeditions for the Michigan Sierra Club at www.WoodsmokeExpeditions.com .

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Presentations

Michael Neiger

How to assemble and wear an in-pocket survival kit for a wilderness adventure

BWCA - main floor Sun 1:30pm-2:15pm

This high-quality PowerPoint presentation will discuss how to assemble and wear an in-pocket survival kit for a wilderness adventure by canoe, kayak, paddle board, mountain bike, ski, snowshoe, or foot. If you ever become lost in the bush, these items will help you survive until rescuers reach you. It will cover sheath knives; pocket knives; whistles; signal mirrors; butane lighters; waterproof, windproof lifeboat matches; spark-ignitable waterproof firestarters; ferro sparking rods; magnesium tinder rods; scrapers/strikers; waterproof flashlights; emergency blankets; compasses; and maps.

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Michael Neiger

How to ensure your child will be a survivor when lost in the wilderness

Quetico - main floor Sun 2:30pm-3:15pm

This high-quality PowerPoint presentation will help parents teach their young children how to survive when lost in the wilderness - what to carry, what to do, and what not to do - and includes two free instructional coloring books (downloadable online) and two free videos to watch (online) with their children. This discussion draws on the lost-person best practices of the: National Association for Search & Rescue (NASAR); Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP); Search & Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SRVCAC); Adventure Smart Canada (ASC); Michigan State Police (MSP); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and the FREE, 23-chapter, “Missing-Person Sourcebook: A How-To Manual for Families Searching for a Missing or Murdered Loved One - Best Practices from the World’s Top Experts” by the presenter.

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Michael Neiger

How to use a cell phone more effectively when lost in the bush

Superior - main floor Sat 4:30pm-5:15pm

This high-quality PowerPoint presentation will describe pre-trip phone prep, battery banks, battery calibration, compass calibration, Find Me SAR app, mapping and navigation apps, conserving battery life, how to hold a phone for best transmission and reception (avoid blocking antennas), calling vs. texting 911, how to increase your chances of reaching 911, how to use a phone even when you have no signal, what to do when you reach 911, what to do if you can’t reach 911, etc.

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