Thousands prompt Granholm to protect one million acres of public land
LANSING - As Michiganders
begin heading north for the Fourth of July weekend, Environment Michigan is asking
Governor Granholm to heed the public demand to protect the state’s dwindling
wilderness areas from sprawl, logging, mining, and drilling.
In an open letter, copied below, the group asked the
Governor to endorse protecting one million acres of Michigan’s
most irreplaceable public lands. With
the letter, Environment Michigan delivered the first 3,100 of an expected
10,000 postcards from citizens supporting the project. Environment Michigan
is talking with tens of thousands of Michiganders at their homes this summer to
gain support for the Million Acres Project.
“Special interests want to take us back to the bad old days
of the timber barons,” said Environment Michigan Advocate Kelly
Dardzinski. “Now is
the Governor’s chance to chose a wiser path and protect our forests and
waterways for us and for future generations.”
The Million Acres Project was conceived in response to an
alarming increase in threats to Michigan’s
state parks and forests, including proposals to sell off Michigan’s
state parks, open hazardous sulfide mines in Michigan’s
Upper Peninsula, and require increased logging in Michigan’s
state forests.
As part of the project, Environment Michigan is asking the Governor to fully
implement the visionary Wilderness and Natural Areas Act, signed into law in
1972 by then-governor William Milliken, which offers legislative protection for
up to ten percent of Michigan’s
most pristine public lands. This law has not been used since the late
1980s, despite the fact that less than two percent of the available lands have
been protected so far.
“It’s past time to revitalize Michigan’s
most powerful legislation to protect our public lands,” concluded
Dardzinski. “Governor Granholm should
choose Independence Day to stand up for our outdoor heritage and for our
future.”
###
June 28, 2006
Dear Governor Granholm,
Michigan’s
natural areas of beauty – its forests, lakes, and streams – not only attract
visitors from all over the world but also make this state a truly amazing place
to live. This July 4 weekend, millions
of Michiganders will head “up north” for scenery, serenity and abundant outdoor
activities.
But this natural beauty, and the recreational tourism
economy it supports, is being threatened like never before. Every year, powerful special interests demand
more logging in our state forests, more sprawling development in and around our
state parks, and more hazardous mining operations in our most pristine
places. Meanwhile, vast tracts of
privately held, publicly accessible woodlands are being parceled off and sold
to build treeless subdivisions, further reducing opportunities for wilderness
recreation.
As we talk with tens of thousands of people this summer, we
are finding overwhelming public support for taking action now to preserve our
state parks, forests, and waterways - before it is too late. Therefore, we are
asking you to take two immediate steps to help put Michigan’s
most treasured places beyond the reach of special interest lobbyists:
1) Endorse
the Goal of Protecting One Million Acres of Public
Land
Environment Michigan
is working with a broad coalition of organizations and directly with our
members and supporters to ensure that the most precious million acres of public
land receive special protection. We have undertaken the Million Acres Project
because efforts to protect our public lands from private profiteers are nearly
always defensive battles, forcing citizens to fight again and again for their
favorite places. With your support, we
can turn this around by ensuring that at least one million acres (22%) of our
state land will be available for public use and enjoyment for us and for future
generations by putting it off-limits to special interest development.
2) Issue
an Executive Order to Fully Implement the Wilderness and Natural Areas Act
As a first step in achieving protection for one million
acres, please direct your Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to protect the
maximum amount (10%) of our public lands authorized under the Wilderness and
Natural Areas Act of 1972. This tool,
signed into law by former Governor Milliken, authorizes the DNR to identify and
permanently protect areas that best represent Michigan’s
native beauty. Until 1988, this law was
actively used to protect the state’s special places. Since 1988, however, this tool has been
ignored, despite the fact that many valuable and vulnerable areas – from the
unique Algonac Savanna in the southeast to the breathtaking Tahquamenon
Falls in the north – remain
unprotected.
Please take these important steps by Labor Day, before more
irreplaceable natural treasures are lost forever. Enclosed are the first 3,100 postcards from
your constituents who support the Million Acres Project and ask you to issue
the Executive Order. In the same spirit
of leadership you showed in protecting our waterways from overuse and abuse and
in protecting our children from mercury pollution, we urge you to take these
two important steps toward protecting the natural beauty of Michigan’s
lands for us and for future generations of Michiganders.
Sincerely,
Mike Shriberg, Ph.D. Kelly
Dardzinski
Director, Environment Michigan Advocate,
Environment Michigan
