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Trust fund recommendations submitted to legislature
Department of Natural Resources officials today announced an appropriations request has been submitted to the Legislature to fund 23 Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund development and 4 land acquisition projects approved by the MNRTF Board of Trustees in December.
The recommendations are an addition to the 17 land acquisition projects recommended by the Board last October. The Board intended to make its 2002 development project recommendations at this meeting. However, after the October meeting the DNR completed its accounting of the year’s revenues and found that investing the MNRTF in higher-interest opportunities provided by the statewide passage of Proposal 2 in August had produced more revenue than had been anticipated.
Included in the Board’s recommendations were two DNR development projects totaling $579,375 and one land acquisition project for $850,000 in MNRTF assistance; 21 local government development projects totaling more than $5 million, and three land acquisition projects totaling nearly $2.4 million in MNRTF assistance.
Key among the Board’s recommendations were:
* $279,400 for improvements to the Department’s Carl T. Johnson Center for hands-on hunting and fishing education facilities, fishing pier on Lake Cadillac and support facilities in Wexford County. * $500,000 to the City of Traverse City for a 2.3 mile non-motorized multi-use trail linking Hull Park to Mediate Park in Grand Traverse County. * $1.7 million to acquire about 23 miles of abandoned railroad corridor for development of a paved trail. * Local grants ranging from $15,000 to $1.7 million to city, township and county governments across the State to create and expand local parks, natural areas and trails.
In reviewing the recommendations, the Director Cool made note of the critical role of revenues from State-owned oil and gas resources in both state and local natural resources and recreation efforts.
“The MNRTF is a financial tool that is the envy of most every State in the country,” Cool said. “The value to Michigan residents and future generations in terms of protection of valuable land resources and enhanced State, regional and local recreation opportunities is immeasurable.”
These projects complete the actions of the MNRTF Board for 2002. The MNRTF accepts applications from local governments and the DNR annually, and the next application cycle will begin April1, 2003.
The list of Board recommended and approved projects, by county, are listed on the Grants section of the DNR web site, www.michigan.gov/dnr. Source: MDNR |