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Gogebic County board asks commissioner to draft letter pressing Michigan DNR on Commercial Forest Act enforcement
Summary
After a public comment and a presentation alleging the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is failing to regulate timber harvesting on land enrolled in the Commercial Forest Program, the Gogebic County Board authorized a commissioner to draft a letter to the DNR and state legislators expressing concern.
Rod Ritter presented the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners with an allegation that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is not adequately regulating timber harvesting on land enrolled in the state Commercial Forest Program, a matter he said could amount to a violation of duties under the Commercial Forest Act. The presentation occurred during the board’s Dec. 17 meeting in Bessemer.
Before Ritter’s appearance, Larry Grimsby told the board the alleged violation was serious and signaled that Ritter would raise the matter. According to the minutes, Ritter said DNR officials have argued the statute is written too vaguely to enforce. Commissioners discussed the complaint but did not receive a response from DNR representatives at the meeting.
Commissioner Yon moved and Commissioner Lorenson supported a motion to authorize Commissioner Lorenson to draft a letter to the Michigan DNR and to state legislators expressing the board’s concern about enforcement of the Commercial Forest Act. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
The minutes do not record language of the proposed letter or a timeline for sending it. The board did not take formal disciplinary or legal action against any state official at the meeting. The record also does not include a DNR response or any new evidence introduced to substantiate the alleged enforcement failures; the matter remains a request for further action by local elected officials.
The board’s next procedural step, per the minutes, is for Commissioner Lorenson to draft the letter; the minutes do not state when the letter will be sent or whether county legal staff will review it.
