3/28/23 | Latest Update on Keweenaw Heartland Community Planning Committee Activity

TNC seeking community input, aiming to finalize guidance for governance and management of Keweenaw Heartlands by July, 2023

A semi-final draft of Section 3, Principles and Values for Management of the Keweenaw Heartlands Blueprint has now been published online and is available for review.

The draft summarizes principles and values for managing the 32,000+ acres of land near the tip of the
Keweenaw Peninsula recently acquired by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). It is based on input from an
extensive public and stakeholder participation process that has, thus far, involved more than 2,000
people—including at least 25 percent of the adults living in Keweenaw County.

The Section was developed through a participatory process involving the 17-member Keweenaw
Heartlands planning committee, which is broadly representative of the various groups of stakeholders
whose lives, livelihoods, recreational uses and other interests are dependent on these lands.

This draft is being released now to gain community member input. Based upon the feedback, the report
will be edited one more time before inclusion in the final published Blueprint, which is scheduled to be
completed by mid-summer, 2023. Additional sections of the Keweenaw Heartlands Blueprint will be
made available for community review and input as they are drafted.

Other sections will discuss the history and context of the Blueprint planning process, principles, values
and recommended structure for owning and governing the land long-term, and recommended next
steps for the transition of the land from TNC to Michigan DNR and local ownership and management.
The public is invited to share feedback via email at keweenaw@tnc.org. A draft of Section 3, Principles
and Values for Management of the Keweenaw Heartlands Blueprint is available here for review.