Thirteen individuals in Keweenaw County ran for the nonpartisan Keweenaw Heartlands Recreational & Natural Resources Authority Board.
On Tuesday, November 3rd, five individuals were elected by the voters of Keweenaw County. They are as follows:
Two-year term: Braydon Cima, Hannah Rooks
Four-year term: Russ Bjorn, Gregg Patrick, George Twardzik
The Board will be sworn in January 2027. Stay tuned for more information!
10,000 acres of Keweenaw Heartlands successfully transfers to public ownership
On Nov. 5, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) acquired 10,000 acres of the Keweenaw Heartlands from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) using approximately $11.2 million in grant funding from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund and Land Exchange Facilitation Fund.
This newly acquired 10,000 acre public property—locally known as the Keweenaw Point State Lands—borders Fort Wilkins Historic State Park to the south and will now be managed as part of the state park.
Efforts to protect Keweenaw Point State Lands as public lands began in 2021, when more than 32,000 acres of forest, wetlands and culturally and historically significant landscapes, also known as Keweenaw Heartlands, were formally placed on the market. To protect the land during this private divestment, TNC purchased the property in 2022
as a temporary owner and immediately began working with the community and the DNR to secure the funding that would make public ownership possible.
For more information about this 10,000-acre transfer, visit the Michigan DNR’s recent press release.
Approximately 22,000 acres of the Keweenaw Heartlands remain in TNC’s interim ownership while the organization and the DNR pursue funding to support its future transition to public ownership.
Since 2023, TNC and the Keweenaw Heartlands Project Community Advisory Committee, a group of over 29 individuals representing diverse organizations and perspectives, have been working together to plan for a locally and publicly governed and managed Keweenaw Heartlands Community Forest on these acres.
Find more information about the future community forest on the Keweenaw Heartlands project page.
