2026 Will Be a BIG YEAR for the Keweenaw Heartlands!
Big Progress Planned for 2026
After a productive 2025 (see the December Project Update for milestones achieved), we are looking forward to continued progress in 2026 on the Keweenaw Heartlands Project.
We anticipate hitting exciting milestones this year, including realization of amendments to state legislation. These amendments will support local communities and their citizens in designing public forests whose governance and management meet their unique needs. The Michigan House passed the amendments in September, and they are now under consideration by the Michigan Senate. If the amendments pass the state legislature, local incorporation of a Keweenaw Heartlands Forest Authority could soon follow, creating a public governing and management body for a future approximate 20,000-acre Keweenaw Heartlands Community Forest. Stay tuned for updates!
We are also working to hit our $600K target on the Keweenaw Heartlands Forest Fund (KHFF) by the end of 2026. The KHFF will support three to four years of start-up costs for the Keweenaw Heartlands Community Forest. With funds raised so far totaling $321K, we are excited to be just over halfway to starting and supporting local decision-making and care for approximately 20,000 acres of newly protected public forestland in Keweenaw County.
Our 29+ member Keweenaw Heartlands Project Community Advisory Committee met three times in 2025 and will meet again in spring 2026. Since 2023, this committee has provided insight and advisement on the Heartlands Project, guiding the work to transition the Heartlands to public governance and management. Members of the committee have collectively invested over 1,750 volunteer hours so far, and they will continue to work toward the above milestones and more in 2026—an amazing commitment!
Save the Date
The Keweenaw Heartlands Project’s next public update meeting will take place Thursday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. We will offer location information in a future monthly project update. We hope to see you there!
In the News
Keweenaw Report: Keweenaw Heartlands Project celebrates significant steps forward in 2025 toward the ultimate goal