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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