Remind me Again – What’s the Heartlands About?

Keweenaw Heartlands Forest Fund committee members at the Keweenaw Heartlands Forest Fund kickoff in Copper Harbor in late July 2025.

We’ve been so busy working on the Keweenaw Heartlands Project, sometimes we forget where we started, and how we got to where we are today.  

An Urgent Beginning

In mid-2021, the Keweenaw Heartlands—32,500 forested acres, or 15% of Keweenaw County’s mainland footprint—was put on the market. After over 150 years of ownership by several private, corporate owners, the forest’s future was suddenly unknown. Foot access for hunting, fishing, and trapping had long been protected by Michigan’s Commercial Forest Act, and in practice, miles of privately owned roads and trails on the Heartlands had provided additional access for cars, ATVs, snowmobiles and bikes. Together, this access buoyed a robust tourism economy and was a defining part of the community’s identity. So, with the Heartlands for sale, local and regional community members feared land fragmentation, loss of public access and trail continuity, negative economic impacts, and harm to the forest’s ecological and cultural features, including endangered species habitat and historic sites. On the market for a whopping $43.1M, a solution that kept the forest intact seemed beyond reach.

A Special Forest

Locals know better than anyone that the Keweenaw Heartlands is worth protecting. Although predominantly northern hardwood forest, the Heartlands landscape includes so much more than trees: 4,000 acres of wetlands; 3 miles of Lake Superior shoreline; 38 miles of inland lake and river shoreline; cliffs, balds and glades that create the Keweenaw’s iconic spine; and cultural, historical, ecological, and recreational features that are significant in Michigan and nationally. Because of this uniqueness, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’s (DNR) willingness to partner, and community members’ commitment to figuring out the long-term plan for the forest, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) purchased the Heartlands in late 2022 as a short-term acquisition, buying time for community-driven planning for the forest’s protection.

A Committed Community

Since then, 29 local and regional community members representing a wide range of community interests, through a Heartlands Community Advisory Committee, have dedicated over 1,700 hours planning for the future of this forest. This includes the design of a local governance model and planning for resource management and financial sustainability. Currently, the DNR is working to secure funds for ownership, governance, and management of 10,000 acres of the Heartlands. For the balance of the Heartlands, approximately 21,000 acres, TNC and the DNR are working together to secure funds for future public ownership. Right now, the most likely outcome for these 21,000 acres is DNR ownership, with local, public governance and management of a Keweenaw Heartlands Community Forest by a new, local forest authority. If this becomes a reality, the Keweenaw Heartlands Forest will move into local, public decision-making, returning the many benefits of this forest locally and ensuring its protection forever.

Question of the month: How can I learn more and ask questions about the Heartlands Project?

If you haven’t already, you can sign up for monthly project updates on the Keweenaw Heartlands webpage. Scroll about halfway down the page and enter your email address. You’ll receive an email about once per month, and only on the topic of the Keweenaw Heartlands.

In addition, TNC hosts Heartlands project update meetings for the public three times a year. Members of the Community Advisory Committee and DNR and TNC representatives are always present and available to answer questions at those meetings. The next public update meeting is Tuesday, October 21 at 6:30pm at the Allouez Township Community Center, (388 Bumbletown Rd, Allouez, MI 49805). We’ll see you there!

In the News

The Mining Gazette: Keweenaw County supports forestland grant

Copper Country Today: August 2024, 2025 program featuring Robin Meneguzzo of Keweenaw Community Foundation and Julia Petersen of The Nature Conservancy

WLUC-TV: Rep. Greg Markkanen’s recreation bills introduced before committee

MLive: U.P. residents could control remote Michigan forest spanning thousands of acres

DBusiness Magazine: Watershed Moment