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A bill sponsored by State Senator Ed McBroom is heading to the House for consideration. It would change the composition of the Wolf Management Advisory Council to only Upper Peninsula residents. McBroom says that the people tackling the issue should be those dealing with it, and wolves have no footprint in the rest of the state.
The six-member council can only make suggestions to the Natural Resources Committee and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. It consists of the DNR Director, and representatives from animal welfare organizations, hunting, conservation, farmers, and the state’s various indian tribes.
In a similar vein, McBroom is trying to shake up the State Board of Education. He is looking to create eight districts that are broken up evenly by geography. Nearly all members have come from the Detroit or Grand Rapids areas in recent decades.
Large swaths of the state, including the Upper Peninsula, have become more Republican since 2010, while Democrats have made gains in cities and suburbs that have a smaller geographic footprint. When asked if dividing the state in such a way would be feasible from a political perspective, McBroom says it isn’t about partisanship.
McBroom says the change would ensure that Flint, Lansing, and other smaller cities also get more representation on the school board.
McBroom is a guest on Copper Country Today this Sunday.
