“This is a very important transaction for both parties,” said Ron Olson, chief of the DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division. “This allows us to better protect park resources in the Porcupine Mountains, and it provides the land association with mineral rights in areas believed to contain prospective copper, gold and nickel resources.”

The process to evaluate and exchange the acreage between the parties took nearly three years to complete, with the deal closing on Oct. 11, 2024.

In addition to the acres of mineral rights underlying portions of Ontonagon and Gogebic counties at Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, the DNR also acquired mineral rights to a 40-acre property in Dickinson County where a mine operated previously and is today an active bat hibernaculum, where insectivorous bats spend the winter months.

In all, the DNR acquired 8,392 acres of mineral rights and Keweenaw received 9,551 acres of mineral rights from the DNR in parts of Baraga, Dickinson, Gogebic, Iron, Menominee and Ontonagon counties.

No money changed hands in the deal as the mineral-for-mineral exchange was considered a fair value trade.

Severed mineral rights

In 1944, the Michigan Legislature provided $1 million to purchase land to protect old-growth forests at the Porcupine Mountains from logging and mining interests. That $1 million would equal $17 million today.

In subsequent land purchase transactions from 1947 and 1955, the Keweenaw Land Association was among several entities who sold surface lands to the state to help develop today’s nearly 60,000-acre park.

However, Keweenaw retained the rights to the minerals underlying those properties for potential future mining exploration and development – a common practice.

In cases where one party owns the surface rights and another owns the mineral rights beneath, the mineral rights are termed “severed.”

The recent minerals exchange allows the DNR to now own the surface rights and the mineral rights for numerous parcels within the state park. As part of its public land management strategy, the DNR seeks wherever possible to reunite mineral and surface rights that are severed.

“The Porcupine Mountain State Park is really a crown jewel within the state park system and Keweenaw is honored to play a role securing its sustainable future,” said Tim Lynott, president of the Keweenaw Land Association, Limited. “For Keweenaw, this exchange will offer incremental growth and consolidation in areas that offer the potential to secure Michigan’s role as a key source of critical and strategic minerals, in a state with strong regulatory and environmental regulations that allow for sustainable exploration and mining practices.”

For example, the deal does not include lands associated with the Copperwood project being developed by Highland Copper in the southwest corner of the park.

For that project, the mining company would access minerals from outside the park, with no disturbance to park surface land features. Under state law, surface landowners are required to provide “reasonable” access to subsurface mineral rights owners.

“The DNR has worked diligently over the past several years to reunite mineral and surface rights at numerous state properties,” said Matt Fry, DNR Minerals Management Section manager. “However, many lands and minerals under state administration remain severed. We will continue to obtain mineral rights whenever prudent and possible.”

One example of a state park containing severed mineral parcels is Craig Lake State Park in Baraga County – Michigan’s most remote state park.

Partnering

Over the years since the state’s first wilderness park was created in the Porcupine Mountains, Keweenaw has worked with the DNR on additional agreements for a variety of efforts, including trail management, mineral leases and forest stewardship.

“We will continue to partner with the state and look for additional opportunities that are mutually beneficial in the future,” Lynott said.

The Keweenaw Land Association, Limited is a mineral and land management company located in Ironwood, with land holdings exceeding 1.1 million acres of mineral rights, located predominantly in the western Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin.

Untreated firewood is a known carrier of invasive tree pests and diseases. That harmless-looking stack of logs in the backyard may be harboring spongy moth or spotted lanternfly egg masses, oak wilt fungus or beech bark disease. These and other tree-killing invaders don’t move far on their own, but they can travel hundreds of miles on infested firewood that is transported from place to place.

Keep state parks healthy

Volunteer stewardship workdays are an excellent way to make a real difference at some of your favorite state parks in southern Michigan! You can help remove invasive plants that threaten high-quality ecosystems or collect native wildflower seeds for replanting. Opportunities this month include Oct. 12 and Oct. 20 at Fort Custer Recreation Area (Kalamazoo County) and Oct. 26 at Warren Dunes State Park (Berrien County).

Get more workday info and registration details on the DNR volunteer events calendar.

Submit online comments during designated 30-day periods or attend an open house or compartment review meeting, where plans are finalized. See all scheduled comment periods, open houses and compartment review meetings for the 2024 season.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom of Northern Michigan University’s Northern Center, 1401 Presque Isle Ave. Before the meeting, at 8 a.m., the public is invited to enjoy Coffee with the Commissioners, an opportunity to speak with commission members in a less formal setting.

See the draft meeting agenda at Michigan.gov/NRC. For more information about the meeting, email [email protected].

These annual recognition programs are sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation and administered by forestry agencies in each state. Applicants must meet criteria established by the foundation; this short quiz can help determine eligibility and readiness.

The Tree City USA program began in 1976 as a United States bicentennial project to promote tree planting in urban areas and call attention to the economic, health and aesthetic benefits trees provide.

Last year, 120 communities and 16 campuses in Michigan achieved their respective designations, and 11 communities earned Growth Awards for going above and beyond. Michigan ranks ninth among all states in total number of communities certified. They range in size from the village of Michiana (population 200) to the city of Detroit (population 620,376).

Splake — a hybrid cross between lake trout and brook trout — have been stocked in Lake Superior most years since 1971, with annual stocking since 1990.

Marked splake have been stocked in Lake Superior since 2021 as part of an evaluation study. At the Marquette State Fish Hatchery, staff from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Lake Superior and Northern Lake Michigan management units, as well as staff from the Tribal Coordination Unit, put in long hours carefully marking the splake by hand. Splake are given a unique mark by clipping (and removing) part of either one or two fins. The fish are anesthetized during this process.

If you catch a splake, inspect it for missing fins or a clipped jawbone, indicating that the fish has been “marked.” Some clipped fins can be misshapen or missing, or appear abnormal. When looking for clipped fins on your fish, pay particular attention to the right and left pectoral fins, the right and left ventral (pelvic) fins, and the adipose fin — the small, fleshy fin found to the rear of the dorsal fin but in front of the caudal (tail) fin and found on only a few fish, including trout, salmon and catfish.