Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette The Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners adopted the Articles of Incorporation for the Keweenaw Heartlands Recreational and Natural Resources Authority at a special meeting Monday. Attendees responded with resounding applause.

GRAHAM JAEHNIG – The Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners has adopted the Articles of Incorporation of the Keweenaw Heartlands Recreational and Natural Resources Authority. The Board unanimously adopted the articles at a scheduled special meeting Monday evening.

The adoption allows for the creation of a new five-member, publicly elected authority board able to govern and manage public forests and natural resource areas in Keweenaw County for both their natural resource and recreational values.

The meeting immediately followed a public hearing to inform the public and to hear input from anyone with concerns. The hearing was suggested last week by Board Chair Del Rajala during the regular May meeting of the Board of Commissioners.

At the special meeting, Rajala said he wanted to clarify the reason he requested the hearing to properly address any concerns regarding transparency in the process.

“This is probably more appropriate to do this in this manner before it is accepted,” he said. “Then it’s on record with everyone in attendance.”

Last month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed legislation that amended the Michigan Recreational Authorities Act to become the Michigan Recreational and Natural Resources Authorities Act. The legislation permits communities in counties with populations less than 4,000 to manage and govern their own forest resources. The amendments were critical in taking the next step toward the forest governance model created by the Keweenaw Heartlands Project Community Advisory Committee, a broad cross-section of community members and leaders from Keweenaw County and the region.

During the public comment period of the public hearing, Keweenaw County Treasurer Eric Hermanson addressed the attendees, saying he had been involved in several aspects of the Keweenaw Heartlands project from its beginning in 2022.

In the beginning, he, like the Board of Commissioners, had concerns with the project, including potential expenses and liabilities.

“A lot of that has been addressed,” said Hermanson. “Tax revenue loss with the change of status of properties: That has been addressed.”

Hermanson said while he did not hear it mentioned at the Monday meeting, many people have approached him with concerns on how the Heartlands will generate revenue for the county.

“To be clear,” he said, “that was never the intent. It was never the intent of this forest to create revenue that the county would run off of. The point I want to make is that’s important to understand this going forward – there are a lot of concerns. Will this work? This is our goal. Will we achieve it?”

Hermanson said those questions will depend on the Authority Board.

“Everything we’ve planned and worked on and arranged to this point has been, as a lot of people have said, with a mix of every different faction, every different group, working together,” said Hermanson. “That’s the board you’re going to need, too. You’re going to need every different kind of faction.”

Wyndeth Davis, retired superintendent of the Keweenaw National Historical Park, addressed the Board, praising those involved in the project for their recognition of the importance of preservation, and how the people of Keweenaw County interact with the landscape, and their traditional ways of being on the land for generations.

“These Articles of Incorporation ensure that you have a chance to manage the use of this land and to ensure public input in going forward,” Davis said. “It is amazing to see groups of people who otherwise might not agree sitting together and working to accomplish something that is really unusual on a national scale, let alone locally.”

That may look like something normal in Keweenaw County, said Davis, adding: “but, man, there are communities all over this country who would love to have this opportunity.”

“So, everyone should keep that in mind going forward when you leave here. Let’s identify the right people; encourage them to run. It’d be great if we had 10-15 people signed up to run for them five spots.”

The public hearing lasted 40 minutes. The special meeting lasted just under four minutes.

Bob DeMarois made the motion to adopt the articles, supported by Randy Eckloff. The motion passed unanimously.