Public Lands In the News

The "Pure Michigan" theme is an attempt to rebrand the state as a destination both unique and beautiful. Attracting tourists is one goal. Another is to remind those seeking to locate a business or research project here that the qualify of life in Michigan is pretty good.

In fact, according to a benchmarking study by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. several years ago, Michigan's qualify of life is the state's chief competitive advantage over other states.

An ad campaign that packages poetic narration, warm music and stirring photography of lakes, streams and wildlife is capable of emotionally moving a Michigan populace that's probably felt better about its state.

But the ads are still imagery, and as in any advertising, it's the product that counts in the end. In the case of "Pure Michigan," the product is Michigan's environment, and it should count for more.

One of the biggest legislative actions taken this year was to protect Michigan's water by regulating withdrawals and controlling diversions. But nearly 35 years ago, lawmakers and then-Gov. William G. Milliken took steps to protect Michigan's land.

After the Wilderness and Natural Areas Act of 1972 was passed, according to a new report by Ann Arbor-based Environment Michigan, more than 48,000 acres of pristine western Upper Peninsula was designated the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Area, within which future development would be barred.

The Porcupine Mountains remains the single largest parcel designated as wilderness under a 1972 act that allows for the permanent preservation of 450,000 acres across the state. In the three decades since, fewer than 6,000 acres have been shielded from timbering, drilling or road building. The latest parcel, nearly 300 acres that make up the Saugatuck Dunes State Park, was added in 1988. All told, a mere 17 sites are on the state's registry.

Currently, according to the report, nearly 46,000 additional acres are awaiting review. They include more than 7,000 acres in the Wilderness State Park, about 1,000 acres on three sites in the Pigeon River State Forest and nearly 18,000 acres of Tahquamenon Falls natural area.

As Midwest tourism becomes more competitive, Wisconsin's natural area set-aside program includes 150,000 acres on 400 sites in 70 of the state's 72 counties. Minnesota plans to extend the number of its natural areas from 130 to 500.

"The fact that we haven't used this act to protect one acre of land in the last 18 years is outrageous," said Mike Shriberg, Environment Michigan director.

While the legal tools for land preservation have languished, the financial tools may be obsolete. The Natural Resources Trust Fund, another Milliken administration landmark, is increasingly constrained by its oil and gas revenue funding source, even as the price of property worth buying has soared. There is a whole potential industry, moreover, to be nurtured in Michigan in the fields of environmental research and land restoration.

Other states have gone to the voters and secured billions in bond funds both to put pristine lands into the public trust to restore what's been lost and to also preserve agricultural heritage. Voters, when asked, have agreed to pay up.

As the state's timber fueled Michigan's growth in the 19th century and the brains and muscles of its people fueled the 20th, the question remains what will fuel the 21st. Increasingly, an argument is being made that the natural features of the state are its greatest economic asset. If, that is, the people demand of the politicians that they be taken care of.

The old tourism slogan -- "Great Lakes, Great Times" -- could have been expanded to include "Great Dumps," given the strange reluctance by the state's political leaders to do something, anything, about curbing trash imports.

"Pure Michigan" is a nice brand name and the ads are sure pretty. A brand, however, is only as good as its product.