This article is part of Inside Our Outdoors, a series about connected parks, green trails, and hiking trails in southeast Michigan and how they affect the quality of life for residents. This is made possible by funding from Michigan Trails and the Greenways Alliance.
Michigans Natural Resources Department (DNR) is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year – and in southeastern Michigan a long legacy of maintaining popular outdoor oases in a highly urbanized region.
Just ask local outdoor enthusiasts like Chuck Murdock, the president of the Friends of Maybury State Park, a volunteer group that supports the DNR-managed Northville park. Maybury is Wayne County’s first state park with nearly 1,000 acres of pristine meadows and woodland, a working farm and riding stables, an extensive system of trails, a campground, and an 8-acre pond and pier.
“It’s a beautiful place in the middle of the suburbs and big enough to go in and get lost in the woods,” says Murdock. “People just need a place where they can relax and unwind. It’s a great place to meet with family. ”The customer review has been automatically translated from German.
Maybury is just one of many outdoor recreational destinations the DNR has created, managed, or otherwise supported over the past century in southeast Michigan. Here’s a look back at the agency’s role in the region and where it might go next.
Review of the DNR
Originally known as the Michigan Department of Conservation, the DNR was established by state lawmakers in March 1921, roofing a contiguous division. The department received its current name in 1968, a step that marked the expansion of its mission to include “the preservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for present and future generations”.
DNR was advancing in southeast Michigan in 1922 when the directors of Dodge Brothers Co. 11 parks with a total area of 600 hectares donated to the state in honor of the company’s founders. Two weeks after that gift was followed by Howard Bloomer, who had worked as a lawyer for the Dodge Brothers, and donated 211 acres of his own property to create four more state parks in Oakland County. Over time, a number of these original dodge and bloomer parks were merged into larger state parks or transferred to local governments.
During the New Deal era of the 1930s, these existing parks received significant improvements when President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration provided billions in federal funds to build hiking trails, improve terrain, and build structures in state parks across the country . In 1944, the DNR made another major investment in southeast Michigan. With support from the state legislature, the agency added 10 additional parks to the region as part of a 100,000-acre recreational land use plan.
The second half of the 20th century brought with it several financial innovations that have since proven critical to the work of the DNR. In 1960 Michigan lawmakers passed the state Motor Vehicle Permit and Bond Authorization Law, and in 1961 the first Michigan State Park vehicle entrance fee was introduced. Also in 1961, state lawmakers passed a $ 5 million bond aimed at improving state parks. And in 1976, Michigan lawmakers established the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) to create a sustainable source of funding for the acquisition of recreational land and the protection of resources from oil and gas revenues from state mineral rights. Since the MNRTF was founded, the DNR has funded over $ 1 billion in state, local and regional projects through the fund.
Dan Lord, who administers the DNR’s scholarship programs, credits state leaders as well as his predecessors in the department for having a “vision of buying up huge amounts of land and preserving it for outdoor recreation,” but he quickly realizes that the The work of his agency is not over yet. Over the past 10 to 20 years, as young Michiganers flocked to the state’s urban areas, the DNR has responded with invest more in cities like Detroit. Lord notes that the agency opened what is now William G. Milliken Park in the city in 2004, moved their Southfield customer service center to the Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit in 2014, and operated Belle Isle as a state park in 2014.
Milliken State Park in Detroit.
“Jump around in time and you will see these big shifts in our representations [with] Communities from the rural areas back to the city center, “he says.
Comprehensive partnership
While state parks are a highly visible part of the DNR’s work, the agency’s recreational offerings encompass a lot more. The division also manages boat access areas such as the Belleville Lake Boat Access Site and the Harley Ensign Boat Launch in Harrison Township. There are also state game areas, such as the recently acquired 600-acre Crystal Waters State Game Area in Monroe County, which has not yet opened but has been eagerly awaited by local hunters.
In recent years, the DNR has also campaigned intensively for the expansion of the country’s non-motorized road network. For example, MNRTF grants in southeast Michigan provided $ 300,000 to build an Iron Belle Trail Connection to River Bends Park in Shelby Township and $ 500,000 total to purchase land and build sections of the Iron Belle / Border-to-Border Trail in Washtenaw County. In Detroit, it has granted more than $ 3.4 million in MNRTF funds to help purchase land from the Conrail Railroad that will be used on part of the Joe Louis Greenway.
The Border-to-Border Trail between Dexter and the Hudson Mills Metropark.
This work requires a lot of collaboration between the DNR and local groups. For example, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks have used MNRTF grants on many occasions to purchase land for the region and develop parks.
The DNR also works with federal partners. In 2019, it partnered with the National Park Trust, the Carls Foundation, and the City of Monroe to upgrade the River Raisin National Battlefield, an area adjacent to Sterling State Park that was the site of a battle during the War of 1812. Through its grants, the DNR donated more than $ 500,000 out of a total of $ 711,000 to acquire and restore seven parcels on the battlefield.
Holly Oaks ORV Park is another location where DNR has worked hand in hand with other institutions to accomplish its mission. The 106-acre site, the first park in southeast Michigan specifically designed for ATV, opened in Holly last year. The property was acquired by DNR from a gravel mining company and is currently administered by Oakland County.
Holly Oaks ORV Park in Holly.
Lord says the DNR has increasingly tried to emphasize partnerships with local agencies in recent years.
“When someone thinks of the DNR, they might think of a fish or wildlife biologist, a ranger, or a state park,” he says. “We try to build an identity as a partner for recreation. [We’re] spending money every year and you can see it resonating in different communities. “
Thinking about nature
The leisure activities sponsored by the DNR are popular – more than ever. Last year 36 million people visited Michigan state parksaccording to the Pew Research Center. That’s a significant increase from the 27 million visitors recorded in an average year prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Similarly, the state saw a 95% more new applications for hunting licenses from March to October last year.
Traci Sincock, who oversees Maybury State Park as DNR overseer, says the annual attendance there has more than doubled from around 500,000 to 1.1 million.
“We were popular,” she says. “People come out to relax and have enough space for social distance. Even on a rainy Friday afternoon, there is a parking lot full of cars. People come all season. “
Michelle Martinez, a Detroit woman and acting executive director of the Michigan Environmental Justice CoalitionShe has a special place in her heart for Maybury State Park, which she enjoys visiting with her family.
“It’s close enough to Detroit that it feels like a special retreat from the wasteland and the sulfur skyline,” she says. “I take my children to see the horses, and there is a paid area next door to see farm animals too.”
Shaun Nethercott, an arts and community counselor who also lives in Detroit, is a fan of the Highland State Recreation Area in White Lake, where she and her husband enjoy vacationing in a rustic cabin. But her most-visited park, William G. Milliken State Park, is very close to home. Nethercott likes to cycle there several times a week and calls it “a little oasis in the middle of town”.
Milliken State Park in Detroit.
“We need to be better connected to the environment, especially in an urban setting,” says Nethercott. “We need these spaces in which we can really feel the earth alive.”
Despite her love for Maybury and other parks in the area, Martinez believes there is still room for improvement.
“I wish there was more intent in programming and recruiting blacks and browns,” she says. “The diversity of uses of the park system is a place where state parks could really grow.”
Keep up with demand
While Michigan’s state parks are currently seeing record usage, that’s not all positive for the DNR. Increased use also means more wear and tear for parks that already need to be repaired and upgraded.
“Our parking system has a really incredible capital backlog to improve maintenance at so many of our state parks,” says Lord.
Michigan drivers can support the state park system by getting a Leisure pass when you renew your vehicle registration. Participation in the program during registration costs between US $ 6 and US $ 12, depending on the vehicle type. The proceeds from the passes help support DNR sites and programs, as well as improving local recreation through grants for the Recreation Pass.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is also taking steps to meet state park maintenance needs. Last month, she announced a $ 250 million proposal to channel COVID-19 pandemic stimulus funding from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan to address existing issues and make new investments in the parks and trails of the State finance. Whitmer has also called on state lawmakers, which should approve the plan, to work with her to develop a long-term strategy for funding state parks.
Jon Mayes, a DNR grant manager who works with Lord, believes the proposal could play a crucial role in keeping the state park system on a stable footing.
Holly Oaks ORV Park in Holly.
“We are behind and we know that,” he says. “Right now, state parks and recreational facilities have become increasingly important. Governor Whitmer’s proposal seeks to bring us back to the level of service and functionality in our parking system that we all want.”
David Sands is a freelance writer based in Detroit.
All photos by Doug Coombe.
source https://outdoorsportsnews.com/the-dnr-turns-100-this-year-heres-how-its-shaped-southeast-michigans-natural-areas/
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