Photo courtesy of Visit Keweenaw From a forest-covered mountain in 1999 to one of the top three ski resorts in the United States in 2020, Mount Bohemia Ski Resort has turned an insignificant geographic feature into the one of the most premier ski experiences in the U.S.

KEWEENAW COUNTY – A recent post on Mount Bohemia’s social media page is accusing The Nature Conservancy (TNC) of reneging on a previous purchase agreement for 775 acres of leased land, the page describes as mostly ski terrain. Bohemia, the post says, owns about 300 acres of the ski area.

“Unfortunately, after they sent us a final contract to sign (this January), they informed us that they were moving ahead with a third-party buyer to buy Bohemia’s leased land,” the post states.

Keweenaw Heartlands Project Manager Julia Petersen that while TNC cannot comment on a potential third-party buyer, the organization cannot comment on any potential buyer, including Mount Bohemia.

“We negotiate in good faith,” she said. “We don’t want to back any interested buyers into a corner; that’s not our intent. We want to make sure we stay in good faith with any parties, so that if there are negotiations going on, we can continue those negotiations.”

Petersen did say that TNC has had conversations with several interested parties along the way regarding the property in question, and the organization continues to do so.

“We’re not commenting on any particular party other than to say, again, that from the beginning we weren’t going to be the long-term owner, and we were clear about that,” she said.

TV 6 News reported last week that Loni Glieberman, owner of the Mount Bohemia ski area, said TNC has also ruled out a lease renewal.

Petersen said the Mount Bohemia lease has remained intact through several property ownership transitions, and will transfer when ownership of the property transitions.

“When it changes hands again, the lease will transition intact, and it has many, many years remaining on it,” Petersen said. “Those years are in the (lease) contract, so I’m not going to comment on that, because it’s a current contract.”

At a January 16, 2025 public hearing of the Keweenaw County Planning Commission (PC), Trina Anderson, with American Forest Management (AMF), also a private consultant for Mount Bohemia, spoke at the hearing.

Anderson said TNC inherited the 99-year Mount Bohemia lease from AFM when she sold the Heartlands to the conservancy. The Black Bear lease was transferred to TNC with the sale of the 32,000-acre Heartlands property.

“They cannot sever it, they can’t terminate it, they can’t modify it,” Anderson said at the time. “It is what it is, and there is still 75 years remaining on the lease.”

Petersen concurred, saying the lease will not terminate under new land ownership.

“At the end of the day,” Petersen said, “the lease is the same yesterday as it is today and it will be tomorrow. It’s a lease that’s in place regardless of ownership.”