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Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Keith Creagh approved several land transactions at the Sept. 10 meeting of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission in Lansing.
Among them were three transactions in the Upper Peninsula — in Gogebic, Houghton and Mackinac counties — which are expected to help provide public recreation and historical heritage benefits.
“These U.P. land transactions will secure recreational opportunities for boaters, snowmobilers, off-road vehicle riders and others,” said DNR Upper Peninsula Trails Coordinator Ronald Yesney. “Maintaining and improving these types of opportunities for the public are among the DNR’s highest priorities, helping to cement Michigan’s well-earned reputation as ‘The Trails State.’”
In Gogebic County, the DNR will purchase seven permanent trail easements from private property owners. The 30-foot-wide easements total 1.4 miles in length and are located along a former Chicago & Northwestern Railroad corridor in Wakefield Township.
The $28,413 easements purchase was funded through the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund State Trails Initiative.
“The acquisition of these easements will help aid our ongoing efforts to complete the roughly 120-mile Stateline Rail-Trail, which will run from Iron Mountain to Ironwood,” said Darrell Welch, a DNR trails program land specialist in Marquette.
The route is used by snowmobilers, bikers, hikers, equestrians and, in some places, ORV riders.
Yesney said the completion of the Stateline Rail-Trail is of great importance to the DNR and the communities of Bessemer, Ironwood and Wakefield. He also recognized local supporters for their continued commitment to trail development and mentioned the “extraordinary efforts” of Wakefield Township Supervisor John Cox.
In Houghton County, the DNR will acquire three-tenths of an acre from private land owners. The land will be managed as part of the Keweenaw Trail, in partnership with local trail groups.
The land is situated between M-26 and the former Copper Range Railroad, now the Keweenaw Trail. The purchase will allow the DNR to build a snowmobile staging area and resolve a longstanding trespass on the trail in the village of Dollar Bay.
A mobile home and several small outbuildings will be removed prior to the DNR taking ownership of the land.
The DNR is participating with the National Park Service, Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission and the Michigan Department of Transportation in initial discussions on creating a Copper Heritage Trail – one similar to the successful Iron Ore Heritage Trail in Marquette County, which showcases the area’s mining heritage and history.
The Keweenaw Trail is one of the corridors being considered in the Copper Heritage Trail talks.
In Mackinac County, the DNR will convey 16 acres — which were acquired by the state through tax reversion in 1939 — to Hendricks Township.
The township has sought to acquire the property at Strouble Lake, having managed the site as a park under use permit and surface-use lease agreements with the DNR since 1988. The lake is situated about 7 miles north of U.S. 2 and the village of Epoufette.
“At present, they are maintaining public picnic, camping and boat launch facilities for area residents and visitors,” DNR division chiefs said, urging approval of the land transaction in a recommendation to Creagh. “The township desires to acquire this property and to continue managing it as a park.”
In June, the Land Exchange Review Committee recommended approval of the transaction with a stipulation that the property revert to the DNR if the maintained public boat launch at the park is discontinued.
Additional transactions approved Thursday by Creagh involved properties in Kalkaska, Mackinac, Montcalm and Muskegon counties.
For more information on trails, visit the DNR’s website atwww.michigan.gov/dnrtrails.
