09/19/23 | September Keweenaw Heartlands Updates

 

The Nature Conservancy and its contractors are working through the four components of its comprehensive inventory of the Keweenaw Heartlands: Natural, cultural/historical, timber/carbon, and infrastructure. In our review of the property’s natural features, we have found some interesting items. To date, we’ve discovered spruces and white pines well over 100 years old, a 53-inch diameter Northern white cedar that was accepted into the Michigan Botanical Society’s Big Tree Database (that collects information on the largest trees by species in the state), and seven rare plant species dotted throughout different areas of the Heartlands.

We have made progress on other inventory components as well. TNC staff have completed a thorough assessment of the road and trail infrastructure conditions, and we are gathering and analyzing additional timber inventory data for both sustainable timber and carbon storage and sequestration potential. We have also begun assessing data on the property’s cultural and historical sites.

We will use results of all aspects of the inventory to inform current and future management planning for the property, which is expected to begin later in 2024. While we’re still early in the inventory process, our results reinforce how special of a place the Heartlands are and will continue to be.

Newest Blueprint document available for review

The public is encouraged to provide feedback on the draft of “Section 5: Recommended Governance Structure” of the Blueprint for the Keweenaw Heartlands, which is now available online. Please send your input via email to keweenaw@tnc.org.

Section 5 documents the recommended features of a Keweenaw Heartlands governance structure, outlining the roles and capabilities of a unique, local-level governing entity for this forestland. Section 5 also details a stakeholder committee and a government relations committee, each of which would serve in an advisory capacity to the local governing entity.

Over the past few months, TNC has also shared Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Blueprint for public review. You can view other sections of the document here.

Section 6, the final section of the Blueprint, is expected to be available for public review in early October.

 
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