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Nature Conservancy presents Michigan conservation priorities, proposes local recreation and forest authority for Keweenaw parcel
Summary
Rich Bowman of The Nature Conservancy briefed the House Natural Resources and Tourism Committee on TNC’s Michigan programs — forests, freshwater, agriculture and climate — and described a 2022 Keweenaw Peninsula land purchase and plans to create a local recreation and forest authority under tweaks to the Michigan Recreational Authorities Act.
Rich Bowman, director of external affairs for The Nature Conservancy in Michigan, told the House Committee on Natural Resources and Tourism about the organization’s statewide work in forest stewardship, freshwater systems and agricultural partnerships.
Bowman said The Nature Conservancy (TNC) operates globally and has a Michigan unit that “operate[s] on a budget of about $8,000,000 a year” and “a little less than 50 staff.” He told the committee that TNC has protected roughly 436,000 acres in Michigan to date and that TNC owns and manages acreage it described as approximately 8,000 to 11,000 acres across 36 smaller nature preserves and several larger forest preserves. “Almost all of our land is open to the public,” Bowman said, noting a handful of exceptions where gifts came with restrictions or where seasonal hunting closures apply at preserves such as Erie Marsh Preserve.
Bowman described TNC’s program areas: freshwater work in the Great…
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