Sierra Club Calls on DNR Director Creagh to Deny Graymont Land Sale

Decision Expected at Natural Resources Commissions Meeting Thursday

Media Contact: Anne Woiwode, anne.woiwode@sierraclub.org , 517-484-2372 x 11
Note:  Sierra Club Forest Ecologist Marvin Roberson will be available at the NRC Meeting Referenced in this release.

LANSING--Sierra Club today called on Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Keith Creagh to reject the sale of DNR lands to Graymont, a Canadian limestone mining company. If approved by Creagh, the proposed sale would constitute the largest sale of publicly owned land to a private company in Michigan’s history.  Creagh’s decision could come as soon as Thursday at the Michigan Natural Resources Commission (NRC) meeting in Roscommon. 

“Director Creagh should follow the law with regard to disposal of state lands and deny this proposed sale,” said Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Forest Ecologist.  “As proposed, the Graymont sale would establish a dangerous precedent and undermine our long-standing Michigan tradition of ensuring publicly owned lands that we value today are also there for future generations of Michiganders.”

Sierra Club’s concerns were detailed in a March 16 letter to Director Creagh and will be presented at the NRC meeting Thursday.  In the letter, Sierra Club outlined Creagh’s failure to comply with requirements under state law regarding the sale and disposal of state lands. Other concerns include the state’s failure to make the necessary determination that the proposed Graymont sale involves land that has been designated “surplus” under state law.  Moreover, the scale of the transaction—involving ten times the land of any previous land sale—could set a precedent for other similar sales of that magnitude.

“The DNR has an obligation to manage our public lands to serve the interests of Michigan citizens, who put a very high value on the many benefits our state lands give us,” said Roberson. “Director Creagh is obliged to ensure that he and his agency are serving the long-term interests of the people of Michigan, and the handling of the Graymont proposal fails to comply with that duty.”

Sierra Club’s letter to Director Creagh is available here.  Information about the Graymont proposal is posted on the DNR’s website at http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10368_11797_66953---,00.html

DNR Leaders’ Rejection of Proposed Huge Public Lands Sell-Off Praised by Sierra Club

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                     More information:

Wednesday, January 14, 2015                   Marvin Roberson, 906-360-0288

                                                                    Anne Woiwode, 517-974-2112

DNR Leaders’ Rejection of Proposed Huge  Public Lands Sell-Off Praised by Sierra Club

Recommendation Affecting 10,000-Plus Acres Now Goes to DNR Director

Sierra Club today applauded a recommendation yesterday from top officials at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to reject the controversial proposed sale or lease of more than 10,000 acres of public lands in the Upper Peninsula.

The recommendation Tuesday from six DNR division heads to DNR Director Keith Creagh comes ahead of a possible February decision by the Natural Resources Commission on the proposed sale to the Canadian manufacturing conglomerate, Graymont.  The DNR officials, in a letter to Creagh, cited concerns about wetlands impacts, opposition from tribal governments and uncertainty over economic benefits to the state.  The proposed $2.9 million purchase, lease and options to buy 10,457 acres of public land by Graymont would constitute the largest sell-off of DNR lands in the state’s history.

“Michigan’s public lands like this are too valuable to sell off--and to do so for a few million dollars in short-term benefits would be tantamount to theft,” said Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Conservation Director.  “It’s encouraging to see the DNR’s top officials recommending against this sale and we urge Director Creagh to put a permanent halt to this ill-conceived proposal.”

Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Forest Ecologist, said the DNR land that Graymont wants to buy and lease includes ecologically important parcels in Luce and Mackinac counties.

“Not only is this an extremely large piece of land to consider selling and more than 20 times larger than any previous sale, it is prime forest land,” said Roberson. “DNR staff have identified this very piece of land as some of the most valuable in the state for both habitat and timber purposes. Our state leaders should not be considering selling it.”

A copy of the letter from DNR division chiefs to DNR Director Creagh is here:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/LTC_20130281_Graymont_478870_7.pdf

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Michigan Required to Address Statewide Air Quality Concerns By 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 4, 2014

Contact:

Alison Flowers, Sierra Club, 303-246-6297, alison.flowers@sierraclub.org

Brad Van Guilder, Sierra Club, 313-205-6386, brad.vanguilder@sierraclub.org

Michigan Required to Address Statewide Air Quality Concerns By 2015

Residents testify about cumulative health impacts of pollution at state hearing

LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is submitting a new plan to the EPA that must ensure that air pollution does not exceed levels established to protect public health. The state plan, due by April 2015, must prevent unhealthy levels of key dangerous pollutants -- sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and ground-level ozone (smog) -- that contribute to diseases like asthma. At least eight counties in Michigan have levels of ozone and sulfur dioxide pollution above the federal air quality standards.

MDEQ is proposing to maintain the status quo, rather than drafting requirements that would end pollution violations by aging coal-fired plants, which are responsible for a significant portion of the emissions. More than 900 petitioners have called on MDEQ to create strong safeguards.

“There is something terribly wrong when the state of Michigan allows any of its counties to become sacrifice zones for pollution, leaving families to suffer the chronic health effects,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, while in Detroit for a conference. “Heavy industrial polluters like DTE Energy should not be given a free pass to violate our federal air quality standards that were created to protect residents.”

The EPA has already designated a portion of Wayne County as failing to meet the air quality standard for sulfur dioxide. Exposure to sulfur dioxide  in even very short time periods—such as five minutes—can have significant health impacts to human health, including causing decrements in lung function, aggravation of asthma, and respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity. Sulfur dioxide exposure can also aggravate existing heart disease, leading to increased hospitalizations and premature deaths.  Asthmatics, children and the elderly are especially at risk from such pollution. 

Wayne County has the highest number of pediatric asthma cases in Michigan, coupled with the highest state population living in poverty, according to a 2014 American Lung Association report. The City of Detroit and nearby downriver communities are, combined, a heavily polluted area deemed the “Epicenter of Asthma Burden” by the Michigan Department of Community Health.

According to the NAACP, DTE -- the utility that owns and operates three of Wayne County’s top sources of sulfur dioxide air pollution (DTE’s River Rouge plant, Trenton Channel plant and EES Coke at U.S. Steel) -- is one of the worst environmental justice offenders based on its plants’ impacts on low-income communities. These plants are responsible for at least 85 percent of all sulfur dioxide emissions in Wayne County.

Other Michigan counties are at risk of exceeding the same sulfur dioxide standard, including St. Clair, Macomb, Eaton, Clinton, Ingham, Ottawa, Monroe, and Marquette Counties.

The public hearing to address the state’s plan will be held today, Wednesday, June 4, at Constitution Hall (William Ford Conference Room, 2nd Floor) at 525 W. Allegan St. in Lansing.

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DNR Proposes to Double Daily Limit for Brook Trout Despite Opposition by Fisheries Division and UP Anglers

Sierra Club Calls for Public Input and Proposal Put on Hold

 

Media Contact: Marvin Roberson, marvin.roberson@sierraclub.org, 906-360-0288

The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter today called on Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Keith Creagh to put a hold on a proposed doubling of the limit for brook trout in 10 streams in the Upper Peninsula.  The agency announced a proposal to change designation of the streams to a new category that would allow the taking of 10 brook trout per day per person. The current limit of five per person in the both the Upper and lower peninsula has been in place for more than a decade.

The DNR proposal comes even though its own Fisheries Division repeatedly indicated to the Natural Resources Commission that they were opposed to changing the limit.  In addition, a large majority of the Coldwater Resources Steering Committee voted to support the Fisheries Division position in their August meeting. This committee is comprised of various stakeholder groups and charged with advising the DNR on coldwater fisheries-related matters.

In addition, a DNR survey of UP anglers last summer indicated strong support for keeping the limit at five. The department asked anglers to rate their level of support for the existing five brook trout daily possession limit and the proposed 10 fish daily possession limit --  55% of respondents indicated they supported the existing limit, compared to 17% that opposed the five fish limit. By comparison, 28% of anglers supported and 53% opposed the 10 fish daily possession limit.

“There is little biological evidence regarding how many brook trout can be kept without harming sustainable population levels,” says Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Forest Ecologist. “There is absolutely no scientific reason that these limits should be different in the UP from the Lower Peninsula.”

For many years, the fishing regulations for keeping brook trout have been simple--five fish per day per person--but recently, a small but vocal minority of UP residents including the two Natural Resource Commissioners began agitating for the limit to be raised to 10 fish per day per person in the UP only.

With no notice to the public, the Coldwater Resources Steering Committee or stakeholders, the DNR announced on Oct. 15 a proposal to designate 10 streams in the UP in a new category allowing 10 brook trout per day per person. The decision is proposed for Nov. 8, a little more than 3 weeks after the announcement, with no opportunity for public comment.

“To make matters worse, the proposal indicates research on the effects of the regulations will commence after the regulations are changed,” said Roberson. “The DNR has no data on current conditions, and consequently will have no ability to assess conditions and effects after the new regulations.”

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter urges DNR Director Keith Creagh to put this proposal on hold until there can be a meaningful public input and dialogue process, and until baseline data for the streams proposed can be collected and success/failure criteria developed.

The Chapter also urges concerned citizens to contact Creagh at DNR-Director@michigan.gov  or 517-373-2329 and DNR Fisheries Chief Jim Dexter at  dexterj1@michigan.gov or 517-373-3375. Tell them to put this proposal on hold until such public input and research needs are met!

Water, Air and Land At Risk With Deep Budget Cuts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Cyndi Roper 517-490-1394
Anne Woiwode 517-974-2112

Wednesday, September 29, 2009 

Groups Call For Veto, Say Pure Michigan Ads Should Be Dropped

Feds Brought In To Take Over Enforcement

LANSING, MI--Michigan’s two largest environmental groups said today that the elimination of the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), along with deep cuts in environmental funding by the Legislature, means the state has effectively turned over Michigan’s natural resources to polluters.

Sierra Club and Clean Water Action called on the governor to veto the joint DEQ and Department of Natural Resources budget and said that if state government fails to fund critical air and water programs in the days ahead, the federal Environmental Protection Agency should take over all water and air quality enforcement and permitting activities.
“It’s open season on Michigan’s water, air and land, and from a budget standpoint entirely unnecessary. There were other choices,” said Cyndi Roper of Clean Water Action. “It is not an exaggeration to say the Legislature has completely bent to the will of corporate polluters who saw an opportunity in this budget crisis to destroy environmental protection in this state. It’s a complete failure of leadership from both political parties.”

Since 1996 the DEQ has seen funding adjusted for inflation decrease by $156.9 million, reflecting a disproportionate drop in budgets compared to other parts of state government.
“With the Legislature’s cuts this week we will now see even more polluted rivers and beaches, dirtier air, less wildlife and more toxic waste,” said Anne Woiwode, Michigan Director of Sierra Club. “Michigan’s tourism economy will suffer and residents will get sicker. It’s time to pull the Pure Michigan ads off TV or else someone’s going to file a complaint charging the state with deceptive advertising.”

With Tuesday’s action by the House, the Legislature, with Governor Granholm’s support, has now voted to eliminate the Department of Environmental Quality and transfer all of its programs to the Department of Natural Resources, while cutting funding for 2010 by $195.6 million.

Lawmakers yesterday took a budget axe to water, air and other environmental programs. Dozens of environmental and natural resource enforcement officers will be cut from an already barebones enforcement staff. Moreover, the new DNR will not only take on what’s left of environmental programs. It is also now shouldered with managing museums, art and library programs as part of the elimination of another state agency in the 2010 budget.
“Somehow the Legislature found $6 million to fund the state fair, but Michigan’s Great Lakes legacy is flushed down the drain,” said David Holtz of Progress Michigan. “That’s not Pure Michigan. That’s pure B.S.”

Said Woiwode: “Michigan residents have to wonder the next time a stash of barrels containing toxic chemicals are found in their neighborhood, will there be anyone to respond to the call for help? That’s the DEQ’s job. What will happen the next time toxic yellow fumes begin billowing out of a nearby factory? It’s DEQ’s job to respond to these emergencies. Already, funding cuts have prevented the DEQ from stopping disasters like the destruction of 12 miles of the Black River from an animal factory sewage discharge. What will happen with more cuts?”