Michigan's plan for protecting its forests over the next decade
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A forested view in Empire along Lake Michigan.
Michigan's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has developed a comprehensive plan to preserve forests vulnerable to climate change's ravaging impacts.
The big picture: To assure the DNR is doing right by Michigan's forests, the department is required by state law to write a plan every 10 years showing how it will manage this natural resource.
- This decade's plan lays out goals for 2025-2034, prioritizing a sustainable timber supply alongside recreational and biodiversity needs.
What they're saying: "It's really our job as the department to figure out how to balance all the different values and uses, and sometimes those uses conflict and that's something we deal with on a daily basis," Dan Heckman, DNR forest planning and modeling specialist, tells Axios.
Flashback: Michigan's forests were decimated during the state's booming "lumber baron" era between 1860 and 1910, when we became a leading producer of lumber.
- After that, the state underwent a successful planting effort. Now, Michigan is proud of its 19.3 million acres of forestland, with 4 million managed by the DNR.
What's inside: The plan widely includes global warming factors, calling our changing climate the "key challenge" to forest management in the 21st century.
- Michigan's climate is changing more quickly than the global average, including increased temperature and extreme precipitation, and eight out of 10 of its most common forest species are considered highly vulnerable.
Zoom in: Climate change affects the survival of so many organisms, complicating forest management. Fire risks increase, new seedlings have more trouble surviving, and invasive species and bugs are expected to grow and become more harmful.
- However, trees are also part of the solution to climate change, and how they store carbon is considered an asset and incentive to keep them healthy.
Between the lines: The DNR's forest managers intend to make a range of changes detailed in a 1,700-page document, including conducting an inventory of all forest lands, various types of research and new metrics and conservation.
By the numbers: The amount of forested area in state-run forest land increased from 82% in 1988 to 85% by 2021.
Go deeper: Read the plan.
What's next: The DNR held four public meetings this month to gather input on the plan, and the public can still comment by emailing [email protected] through Dec. 31.