Open house focuses on Kalkaska County forests:

Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced a Dec.
11 open house to provide information and receive public comment on
proposed forest management activities to be done in 2004 in the Kalkaska
County compartments of the Traverse City Management Unit. The open house
will be held from 3-7 p.m. at the Kalkaska Field Office, 2089 North
Birch, Kalkaska.
Each year DNR personnel inventory and evaluate one-tenth of the
state forest. The information gathered spans a wide range of social,
biological, and economic factors. It includes the health, quality, and
quantity of vegetative types; wildlife and fisheries habitat conditions
and needs; recreational use; archaeological sites; threatened and
endangered species occurrences and habitats; road and trail access; oil
and gas activities; wildfire potentials; inappropriate use of state
lands; erosion problem areas; and land use in and around the
compartments.
From this information, treatments and management activities are
proposed. The overall goal is to continue to provide the variety of
values, uses, and products from state lands that benefit Michigan's
citizens. This work also ensures the sustainability of the resources and
ecosystems that provide these values, uses, and products for future
generations.
This open house is an opportunity for interested people to
review the proposed treatments and other management activities and
provide input towards final decisions. It also provides people the
unique opportunity to talk in general with their local foresters and
biologists about issues of interest. Maps and information that will be
available at the open house can be accessed on the DNR Web site at
www.michigan.gov/dnr.
Each forest management unit is divided into smaller units or
compartments to facilitate better administration of the resources.
Compartments in the following townships are under review this year: Bear
Lake, Garfield, Kalkaska, Rapid River, and Cold Springs.
A formal compartment review to finalize proposed management
activities for these areas is scheduled for Friday, January 10, 2003
beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Kalkaska Township Hall, 209 Laurel Street,
Kalkaska.
For more information or persons with disabilities needing
accommodations for these meetings should contact Steve Cross, Unit
Manager, at 231-922-5280.

Source: MDNR