What Makes the Keweenaw Heartlands Project so Special?
Ongoing Commitment of Community Members
The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) works together to advise on the future of the Keweenaw Heartlands. Using a consensus-based approach, CAC members have designed a future Keweenaw Heartlands Community Forest, including governance, management, and financial plans that together ensure the forest is publicly accessible, financially sustainable, and protected forever.
We spend a lot of time talking about features of the Keweenaw Heartlands Project that make it special—guaranteed public access, sustainable forest management, and community governance. These are important, and we are proud of continued progress towards these ends. But this project is special largely due to one critical component: the ongoing commitment of local and regional community members to see it through.
When The Nature Conservancy (TNC) purchased the Keweenaw Heartlands in late 2022, it did so as a temporary owner to allow time for community members to develop the long-term plan for this land. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) was a partner willing to take on management of some (~10,000 acres)—but not all—of the Heartlands’s 32,500 acres. This meant that TNC, the MDNR, and the community had to figure out how to move the remaining balance of over 20,000 acres into some new form of public governance and management. Not an easy task!
CAC members often break into small groups to work through complex information. In this photo, members are learning from each other about carbon storage and sequestration and the impact of a carbon project on sustainable forest management.
Early in the project, local and regional community members representing 29 organizations committed to collective design of a community-based, public governance and management model. From 2023 to today, through three “community advisory committee” (CAC) meetings per year and countless subcommittee meetings, these individuals have invested thousands of volunteer hours creating a durable and lasting local forest governance model that is just right for Keweenaw County. They have spent numerous hours learning about forestry, carbon, and recreation, all important features of this forest’s future. And, they have also acted as liaisons between the Heartlands Project and their respective organizations and neighbors. Their participation has required sacrifice, compromise, and a willingness to keep coming back to the table to discuss and create, even when they haven’t all agreed. The result: solid plans for a local, publicly managed and governed Keweenaw Heartlands Community Forest—and steps taken toward realizing those plans.
Members of the CAC thought it was important to get out into the Heartlands forest. As a group, they did just that, hiking to various locations to learn more about what makes the Keweenaw Heartlands ecologically unique
The CAC today continues to represent many diverse interests and viewpoints, working toward consensus on a community forest structure that meets the needs of the forest, and the myriads of ways people use it. They have recently shifted their focus from designing and creating to readying, communicating, and fundraising. They are working hard to: (1) advocate for progress on state legislation that will enable local, public governance of this forest; (2) prepare materials for a new Heartlands Recreational & Natural Resources Authority Board so that, once Board members are elected, they are ready to go on day one; (3) communicate often with community members about the project; and (4) raise funds for the first three to four years of the community forest’s start-up.
Want to know what that hard work looks like? See photos below of the CAC in action over the past three years. With the continued commitment and effort of so many members of this community, we anticipate another year of milestones achieved on the Heartlands Project!
Save the Date
The Keweenaw Heartlands Project’s next public update meeting will take place Thursday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Allouez Community Center (388 Bumbletown Rd, Allouez, MI 49805). We hope to see you there!