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Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands seeks county letter supporting conservation easement to National Park Service
Summary
Brett Matushak of Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands described a proposed sale of conservation easements over company land to the National Park Service to preserve trail corridors; the board asked about tax impacts and expressed no opposition, indicating consensus for a letter of support.
Brett Matushak, senior real estate manager for Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands, presented a plan whereby the National Park Service would acquire conservation easements over parcels of the company's land to secure trail corridors. "What NPS will actually acquire is a conservation easement," Matushak said, stressing that Lyme would retain ownership and continue to manage the property as working forest timberlands while creating a roughly 200‑foot special management buffer on either side of the trail area.
Board members asked whether the easement would change the county's tax receipts; Matushak said the land would remain in its current classification and would not reduce county tax revenue. The proposal covers Lyme lands across several counties (the presentation cited roughly 10,000 acres across the company’s land base in the region and referenced adjacent projects, including the Mishigami Highlands conservation easement). County members raised questions about the trail route (including whether it crosses the McCormick tract and whether it approached the Porcupine Mountains) and received clarifications about ownership boundaries and trail termini.
County staff said they had maps and information sheets and asked the board if it would provide a letter of support to the Park Service; several members voiced no opposition and the board indicated consensus to provide a letter supporting the conservation easement transaction.
