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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 22, 2015
Contact: John Pepin, DNR deputy public information officer, 906-226-1352
U.P. Focus: Michigan Natural Resources Commission travels to the eastern Upper Peninsula
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission took a whirlwind two-day trip to the eastern Upper Peninsula earlier this month for tours and meetings in Cedarville.
 Included in the sessions were Michigan Department of Natural Resources division chiefs and other staff, along with the Michigan State Parks Advisory Committee and the DNR’s Eastern Upper Peninsula Citizens’ Advisory Council.
The Michigan Natural Resources Commission is a seven-member public body whose members are appointed by the governor and subject to the advice and consent of the state Senate.
The commission regulates the taking of sportfish and game in Michigan and is authorized to designate game species. Members serve staggered four-year terms. The panel travels to the U.P. once each year to meet. NRC meetings are open to the public.
“I feel it is very important for the commission to move our monthly meetings around the state and especially have meetings in the U.P.,” said NRC Chairman John Matonich of Davison, who is originally from Bessemer. “The Upper Peninsula is one of our state's crown jewels when it comes to the natural resources we can enjoy in Michigan, and I feel the commission benefits from being able to see firsthand some of those resources, as well as being able to interact with citizens from the area.”
Matonich said the U.P. has “many important and diverse issues that we need to keep in mind as we conduct the business of the commission.”
Commissioner J.R. Richardson of Ontonagon agreed.
“I am always inspired after our U.P. meetings,” Richardson said. “The turnouts are historically high and that shows the passion of the locals for our resources. We appreciate the local hospitality and natural beauty we can share.”
 On the first day in the Cedarville area, members of the NRC and others toured the Great Lakes Boat Building School and Maples Sawmill Inc. operations.
At the school, students were designing and constructing wooden boats. At Maples Sawmill, tour participants visited the working mill and a nearby woodland site where high-tech logging equipment was felling and processing trees, stacking the wood into piles.
Commissioner Vicki Pontz of Portland enjoyed her trip to Cedarville.
“I appreciated the hospitality of township officials and business owners,” Pontz said. “The tours demonstrated what can happen when local government, state government, and private industry collaborate."
During the second day, meetings began early at the Clark Township Community Center with a session of the Michigan State Parks Advisory Committee.
The committee heard updates ranging from the surging performance of Michigan’s popular Recreation Passport program to ongoing erosion damage repair projects at Muskallonge State Park in Luce County and F.J. McLain State Park in Houghton County.
 The committee passed a resolution supporting a $2.9 million purchase of 726 acres in Jackson County’s Norvell Township for Watkins Lake State Park, which is slated to become Michigan’s 103rd state park or scenic site.
More than 120 people packed the community center for the commission meeting.
Among its actions, the NRC approved new fishing regulations for the Michigan-Wisconsin boundary waters to help protect lake sturgeon in the Menominee River. The panel also expanded walleye fishing opportunities and reduced yellow perch take for Saginaw Bay.
DNR Deputy Director Bill Moritz announced Director Keith Creagh had signed seven land transactions, including the Watkins Lake State Park purchase supported by the parks advisory committee.
“The NRC meeting in the Upper Peninsula was a great experience. It’s always nice to see new faces when we hold meetings outside of Lansing,” said NRC member Christine Crumbaugh of St. Louis. “Some of the issues and concerns of citizens of the U.P. are unique to that area and it’s a positive thing when we have the opportunity to hear them firsthand.”
The subsequent Eastern U.P. Citizens’ Advisory Council meeting focused on a series of issues including the prospect of net pen aquaculture in Michigan Great Lakes waters, a grant-funded wetlands  improvement project for the eastern U.P.’s Munuscong Bay and the DNR’s deer management plan.
Since September 2008, the membership of the eastern U.P. CAC has adopted more than two dozen resolutions. Those policy stances have helped inform the DNR and NRC of local opinions on issues ranging from the regulation of supplemental deer feeding and land transactions to sharp-tailed grouse hunting seasons and cormorant depredation to the federal delisting of gray wolves in the Great Lakes Region.
“The citizens’ advisory councils in both the west and east U.P. are important links to the users of the resources and the issues in front of the commission,” Matonich said. “They provide important insight and recommendations to the department and commission and I respect their work greatly.”
Council chairman Richard Pershinske of Engadine said he was pleased many DNR Lansing staff and NRC members stayed for the council’s session.
Pershinske said every issue brought up, someone in the crowd had an informed answer for.
 The day’s meetings adjourned after roughly 12 hours.
Crumbaugh said she plans to return to this part of Mackinac County, with the beauty of Lake Huron and the Les Cheneaux Islands.
“I, like many other Michiganders, tend to travel the U.P. west of the (Mackinac) bridge,” Crumbaugh said. “It was great to have reason to tour east and experience what the southeast corner has to offer. That, coupled with the hospitality of Cedarville, I will certainly be making the trip back with a boat in tow next time.”
Beyond Matonich, Richardson, Crumbaugh and Pontz, the NRC membership includes Rex Schlaybaugh, Jr. of Harbor Springs, Tim Nichols of Williamston and Louise Klarr of Bloomfield.
Meetings of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission are streamed live by Michigan United Conservation Clubs at www.ustream.tv/channel/natural-resources-commission-meetings.
Commission agendas, minutes and presentations are made available to the public online. For more information on the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, including commissioner bios, visit www.michigan.gov/nrc.
The next meeting of the NRC will be at 1 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Michigan State University Diagnostic Center in Lansing. The Eastern Upper Peninsula Citizens’ Advisory Council meets next at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Comfort Inn near Newberry. The Western Upper Peninsula Citizens’ Advisory Council meets next at 5:30 p.m. EST Nov. 9 at the Crystal Falls Township Hall in Crystal Falls. Learn more about the citizens' advisory councils at www.michigan.gov/upcac.
/Note to editors: Accompanying photos are available below for download. Suggested captions follow.
Boat School: Michigan Natural Resources Commission members Rex Schlaybaugh, Jr. of Harbor Springs, center, and Vicki Pontz of Portland, right, listen to Great Lakes Boat Building School Executive Director Patrick Mahon during an Oct. 7 tour of the school in Cedarville.
Eastern CAC: Members of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Eastern Upper Peninsula Citizens’ Advisory Council met in Cedarville Oct. 8, immediately following an all-day session by the Michigan Natural Resources Commission. Many NRC commissioners, DNR chiefs and staff stayed to participate in the Eastern CAC meeting.
NRC Wide: The Michigan Natural Resources Commission and Michigan Department of Natural Resources Deputy Director Bill Moritz met in Cedarville this month before a crowded Clark Township Community Center.
NRC Table: Among its agenda items, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission heard a presentation on a new pilot website project that showcases all of the trails of Marquette County on one website. The website is set to debut in a few weeks.
Inspect: Workers inspect and grade wood along a conveyor at the Maples Sawmill Inc. in Hessel. Michigan Natural Resources Commission members toured the mill before meetings in the Cedarville area earlier this month.
Klarr-Boat: Michigan Natural Resources Commission member Louise Klarr of Bloomfield, left, looks at a kayak crafted at the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville.
Logging: Michigan Natural Resources Commissioners, Michigan Department of Natural Resources staff and others toured a Maples Sawmill Inc. operation in the eastern Upper Peninsula Oct. 7.
Students: Students work at the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville. Michigan Natural Resources Commissioners toured the school before its meeting earlier this month./
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.
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