Latest section of the Principles and Values for Management of the Keweenaw Heartlands Blueprint is available for public review and input

The Nature Conservancy is working to finalize guidance for governance and management of Keweenaw Heartlands by July

A draft of Section 4, Principles and Values for Management of the Keweenaw Heartlands Blueprint, has been published online and is available for review. The public is invited and encouraged to share feedback via email at keweenaw@tnc.org. A draft is available here.

The draft summarizes principles and values for managing the more than 32,000 acres of land near the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula recently acquired by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). It is based on input from an extensive public and stakeholder participation process that, to date, has involved more than 2,000 people—including more than 25% of adults living in Keweenaw County.

The Section was developed through a participatory process involving the 17-member Keweenaw Heartlands planning committee, which is broadly representative of the various groups of stakeholders whose lives, livelihoods, recreational uses and other interests are dependent on these lands.

This draft is being released now to gain community member input. Based upon the feedback, the governance and management section will be edited one more time before inclusion in the final published Blueprint, which is scheduled to be completed by the middle of this summer. Additional sections of the Keweenaw Heartlands Blueprint will be made available for community review and input as they are drafted.

Other sections will discuss the history and context of the Blueprint planning process, principles, values and recommended structure for community involvement in decision making and governing of the land long-term, and recommended next steps for the transition of the land from TNC to Michigan DNR and local governance and management.