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July 5, 2016
Contact: Dave Graham, 989-732-3541 or Ed Golder, 517-284-5815
DNR to open new Traverse City Customer Service Center Monday
New office near Chums Corner replaces Emerson Road facility
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced that Monday, July 11, it will open a new Customer Service Center at 2122 South M-37 in Traverse City. The new office replaces the existing DNR Traverse City Field Office on Emerson Road, which will close as of Friday, July 8. A map to the new facility is available for download below.
The new Traverse City office will be one of 11 full-service DNR customer service centers around the state.
These centers are open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to help customers who want to buy a license, ask a question, learn about seasonal regulations, invite the DNR to participate in a school or community program, or simply learn more about Michigan's outdoor recreation opportunities.
Services the Traverse City Customer Service Center will provide include:
- Selling Recreation Passports; hunting, fishing and ORV licenses, and snowmobile and ORV trail permits.
- Issuing a variety of permits, including permits for hunters, anglers and ORV riders with disabilities, crop damage permits for farmers, and salvage permits for roadkill animals.
- Issuing temporary replacement hunter safety certificates.
- Directing customers to the nearest licensed wildlife rehabilitator for injured animals.
“This move is part of the DNR’s overall strategy to better serve the public by locating offices strategically and to maximize resources and save money by consolidating facilities,” said DNR Director Bill Moritz. “The new Traverse City Customer Service Center is a more optimal location, in terms of both costs and accessibility to the public.”
The Traverse City Customer Service Center is located three quarters of a mile south of Chums Corner, in a storefront location that will be highly visible for passing traffic.
“We expect walk-in traffic to increase, allowing us to better serve those looking to learn more about outdoor recreation or to buy a license,” said Dave Graham, area manager with the DNR Finance and Operations Division. “It also will be open half an hour longer than the old office, which closes at 4:30.”
Graham added that the move to the new facility will mean significant cost savings. The existing Traverse City office on Emerson Road, the DNR’s most expensive lease at a cost of $2.59 million since 1997, is removed from primary traffic corridors and is inadequate and undersized for engaging with customers, staffing, equipment, meeting space and parking.
The price of the new Traverse City Customer Service Center facility, which features more than double the amount of office space and storage space, was $1.3 million. The location will support the existing Traverse City staff, 18 staff members from various DNR divisions, as well as accommodate additional staff and possible leasing from other state agencies.
The office’s phone number will remain the same: 231-922-5280.
/Editors’ note: A map to the DNR Traverse City Customer Service Center is available below for download./
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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