Protecting Michigan’s Wildest Places

By Kerry Heckman

Deep in the Upper Peninsula’s Huron Mountains, among the wildest of Michigan’s wild places, the rugged Michigamme Highlands is comprised of vast forests, remote lakes, cold trout streams, moose-inhabited swamps and granite outcroppings.

Now, 73,000 acres of what is arguably some of the most important forest land in the Great Lakes region has been protected and is available for Michigan’s residents to enjoy – forever.

With funding entirely from grants and donations, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has acquired a working forest conservation easement to secure these rights for the public while also supporting the state’s forest products industry.

Wild Property to Protect

The sweeping views are spectacular from the top of Mt. Arvon, which, at 1,979 feet above sea level, is Michigan’s highest natural elevation. Rolling forests stretch for miles until they meet the dark blue waters of Lake Superior. On a clear day, the Abbaye Peninsula can be seen jutting out into the lake in the foreground while the Keweenaw Peninsula dominates the horizon. The Huron Islands can also be seen rising out of the cold Lake Superior waters.

As beautiful as this view is on a warm summer day, it doesn’t hold a candle to the breathtaking panorama on a sunny fall day during peak color – an experience that few Michiganders have yet had the opportunity to enjoy.

The forested peak of Mt. Arvon and its spectacular views are just one of the many incredible features of the Michigamme Highlands property. The 73,000-acre tract includes 37 miles of winding rivers, 220 miles of perennial streams, 96 lakes and ponds, and over 13,600 acres of wetlands. Coaster brook trout, brown trout, brook trout, rainbow trout, Coho salmon, pink salmon, largemouth and smallmouth bass and northern pike can all found in these waters.

The tract also contains 4,800 acres of deer wintering complex, areas that provide both the food source and thermal cover that are critical to the survival of white-tailed deer during the harsh Upper Peninsula winters. Wildlife is abundant across the property, which provides habitat for a variety of species including moose, black bears, pine martens, fishers, wolves, grouse, eagles, hawks, owls and local rarities like boreal chickadees.

Nearly two miles of the Yellow Dog River flow through the property, immediately adjacent to and downstream of the federal McCormick Wilderness, where the river is designated as a Wild and Scenic River.

All these facets of the Michigamme Highlands property make it a truly exceptional landscape.

A Public & Private Vision

The Lyme Timber Company is a forest land investment company that manages 1.3 million acres of timberland throughout the U.S. In the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin, it manages nearly 625,000 acres through its local operating company, Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands.

With a staff of 25 foresters and other professionals, Lyme Great Lakes focuses on sustainable timber production in this region – working with over 42 contractors and 55 sawmill customers – while seeking opportunities to permanently conserve these forests.

The vision for the Michigamme Highlands project began in 2021. Lyme Timber approached the DNR about the potential to do a large-scale conservation project on the company’s property.

Specifically, there was interest in protecting the property through a working forest conservation easement. This type of conservation easement is a legally binding agreement between a landowner and either a government agency or a land trust that promotes ongoing sustainable forest management while permanently limiting certain uses of the land, specifically those that would have a negative impact on values such as forests, wildlife habitat and water features. Conservation easements last forever and remain in place regardless of who owns the land.

While Lyme Timber will continue to own and manage the property, thus maintaining local tax revenue, the conservation easement rights, including the rights for public access, will be held by the DNR on behalf of Michigan residents. This vision ensures all the special features on the land are protected forever, and it secures the right of the public to use these lands for recreation, including hunting and fishing. 

A Conservation Easement for Wilderness

Bringing this vision to reality, Lyme Timber and the DNR developed the Michigamme Highlands conservation easement. Its tenets include:

• Permanent requirements to ensure long-term sustainable forest management and sustained economic benefits for the area. The easement requires that future timber harvests occur at a sustainable level. An estimated annual economic benefit of approximately $4 million to Baraga, Iron and Marquette counties is anticipated through forest management activities and the many associated jobs in the regional forest products industry.

• Full nonmotorized recreational access for the public maintained across the entire property for uses such as hunting, fishing, trapping, kayaking, biking, Nordic skiing and hiking, with additional rights for motorized access on over 77 miles of roads and trails for snowmobiling and 70 miles for off-road vehicle use. Also included is permanent access for motor vehicles on over 61 miles of roads that were not previously secured for the public. Remote recreation areas have also been established to provide opportunities for remote hunting, fishing and hiking with limited impacts from motorized activities.

• Protection of wildlife habitat and water quality for the numerous lakes, ponds, rivers and streams on the property.

• Protection of, and permanent public access to, the peak of Mt. Arvon.

• A requirement that the property remain as one large parcel of land and cannot be divided or developed – preventing additional fragmentation.

Forever A Wild Place for All

After years of building a strong partnership and working closely with Lyme Timber, the DNR, on behalf of the public, brought the process to a successful conclusion last month and completed the purchase of the Michigamme Highlands conservation easement.

With the acquisition of the Michigamme Highlands conservation easement complete, recreational access has been secured and the public is welcome to come and explore this wild and beautiful land in the western Upper Peninsula.

“It is seldom that the opportunity to secure public recreational access and protect forestland at such a large, landscape level comes along,” said Scott Bowen, DNR director.

Kerry Heckman is a Forest land administrator for the Forest Resources Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. For more on about the Michigamme Highlands property Click Here.