Michigan United Conservation Clubs outlines youth programs, habitat work and policy priorities, defends engagement on solar siting

Amy Trotter, chief executive officer of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, and Justin Tomei, the organization’s policy and government affairs manager, briefed the House Committee on Natural Resources and Tourism on MUCC’s programs, volunteer habitat projects and legislative priorities.

Trotter said MUCC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs youth and education programs, including the Michigan Out of Doors Youth Camp at Waterloo Recreation Area and Tracks Magazine, which she said is aligned with state science curriculum standards for fourth- through sixth-graders. Tomei described MUCC’s "On the Ground" habitat program as volunteer-led, small-scale habitat improvements on public land and said MUCC brings youth field trips and educational programs to schools.

On policy, Tomei outlined MUCC’s membership-driven process: a 40-member policy board vets proposals that go to an annual convention for member votes; regulatory matters require a two-thirds membership vote to become an organizational position. He listed the organization’s legislative priorities, including hunter safety in schools, modernization of commercial fishing statutes, defensive Proposal G (which gives the Natural Resources Commission authority over hunting and fishing regulation) and the pursuit of long-term conservation funding.

Tomei and Trotter addressed committee questions on deer-management options, declining hunter numbers and license-fee proposals; MUCC expressed willingness to consider a range of funding and regulatory options while noting internal membership rules influence which positions the organization formally adopts. On renewable-energy siting and climate outreach, Tomei said MUCC’s "Changing Seasons" educational project documents hunters' and anglers' observations of environmental change and that MUCC engaged on solar siting to ensure fish, wildlife and habitat are considered. MUCC said it favors brownfields-first solar siting and mitigation measures such as cover crops and decommissioning agreements and opposed cutting intact forests for large-scale solar on public lands until transparent criteria and marginal-land definitions are published.

MUCC said it partners with the Department of Natural Resources on some programs, supports the department’s managed-land strategy, and endorsed filling the State Parks Endowment Fund to its constitutional cap if funds are available. The organization said it opposed the proposed Camp Grayling expansion in 2022 because it sought to protect public land access.

MUCC’s testimony concluded with committee questions and pledges to follow up on technical issues such as aquatic-invasive-species permitting and instructor shortages for hunter-safety classes. No committee directive or vote is recorded on MUCC’s items in the provided transcript excerpt.