Land Sales Threaten to Change UP Landscape
Two years ago, I had the opportunity to canoe nearly 150 miles of the Menominee River, from the UP town of Kingsford, to Lake Michigan’s twin cities of Menominee, MI/ Marinette, WI. This was the second leg of a nearly 300 mile trek - “Connecting Water, Connecting People” - held to raise awareness about metallic sulfide mining & its potential threats to our water-rich Upper Peninsula. We had 8 meetings & met with about 200 people along the way.
A rumor heard several times involved We Energies plans to sell significant waterfront holdings along the Menominee River & its tributaries. Power company land sales had not yet surfaced as a conservation issue.
That changed at the end of December, when Upper Peninsula Power Company (UPPCO) announced it would sell over 7300 acres around 6 hydroelectric reservoirs in the central & western UP. UPPCO soon faced fierce opposition on its plans to develop water access for planned housing tracts. Proposed actions significantly violated management plans UPPCO entered into with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
In the summer of 2006, We Energies announced its plans to sell 11,000 acres of “non-project” land. This included the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness in-holding & 2,600 acres upstream at Tibbets Falls. To the south along the Menominee River & its tributaries, 6,400 acres, & dozens of miles of waterfront were up for sale. We Energies entered into negotiations with natural resource agencies, Trust for Public Lands, & realtors. Over the next year, negotiations were kept confidential.
In September 2007, the purchase of Sturgeon River Gorge was announced. In November the Michigan DNR announced it was working on the purchase of 1500 acres, along the Sturgeon, Paint, & Menominee Rivers. Only 3,500 acres of the land will make it into the public trust, & 7,400 acres have already been sold to a realtor.
Land sales by large industrial land holders are rapidly changing the landscape of the UP. Land once held for timber production is now being subdivided & developed. These lands were open to the public for hunting & fishing, but are now being shut to public use.
An Opportunity?
Over the past year, I’ve met with a number of folks from conservancies, environmental organizations, tribes, & local government. There is strong support to protect water front and public access. However, current players like larger conservancies, the DNR, and national forests are financially stretched & don’t have extra resources to commit to additional purchases. A new way is needed to facilitate purchases of our threatened water front lands.
The precipitous decline in the real estate market has also slowed water front land sales here in the UP, providing an opportunity to counter the loss of water front access we are now experiencing. Over the winter months we will be working to look at possibilities to raise money & keep important land in the public trust. If interested in helping, contact Doug at (906) 226-6649