Environment Michigan has built strong public support for protecting 1 million acres of our state-owned parks, forests and waterways, and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is beginning to listen.

In talking with over 42,000 citizens last summer about public lands protection, the response was overwhelming: Michiganders are clearly concerned about our 4.5 million acres of majestic and valuable state land and waterways. In fact, more than 6,000 citizens told Gov. Jennifer Granholm that they support these protections. In a promising development, former Gov. Bill Milliken joined Environment Michigan by writing to Gov. Granholm to call for the creation of new protected wilderness areas.

“Michiganders love their public lands,” said Environment Michigan Director Mike Shriberg. “Making the case for protection was the easy part. Ensuring that our decision-makers take action is far more difficult.”

To ensure that voices other than special interests are heard in all public lands decisions, we joined with local citizens to deliver “Our Favorite Wild Places: A Citizen’s Call to Action” to Gov. Granholm. The book compiles 140 stories from Michiganders about the need to protect their favorite natural areas on state-owned land.

After our strong push, the DNR committed to creating at least three new “wilderness” or “natural” areas, a legal dedication which affords the strongest possible protection, including protection from logging, mining, oil and gas drilling, and even roadbuilding.

While this is only a first step toward far-reaching protections, it’s significant—especially considering that no new lands have been dedicated in over 18 years.

“While it’s outrageous that we have not had a single piece of land protected as wilderness in nearly two decades, we commend Gov. Granholm and the DNR for taking the first step and committing to make new dedications in 2007,” said Shriberg.

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