The brook trout slid from my hand back to the security of the deep pool. As I regathered my senses from the thrill of landing and releasing this prize, my surroundings once again engulfed me. It suddenly seemed strange. I was alone here, in the middle of the largest contiguous wild area remaining in the lower peninsula of Michigan. No other anglers were out on this late September day, the
last day of trout season. Was it fortune or luck?
The Pigeon River Country had a historical and long standing distinction of being a refuge. Elk were reintroduced here in 1918, and today remain the only herd of note east of the Rocky Mountains. Ernest Hemingway would come here from his family’s summer home on Walloon Lake twenty five miles to the west. Known then as the Pine Barrens, Hemingway would camp and cast flies into the now christened Blue Ribbon Trout Streams; the Sturgeon, Black and Pigeon. In the book ‘Prowling Papa’s Waters’, author H. Lea Lawrence writes that the Black was probably Hemingway’s favorite river, as He would consistently catch two to four pound brook trout there. The area is today as it was then, undeveloped and open to the public.
Over the years, the county-sized area remained a wild refuge, a roughly 500 square mile area of mostly state owned land. It remained as a retreat for hunters and anglers whose license money had purchased it all. Campers, canoers and other outdoor enthusiasts also freely meandered throughout the Pigeon River Country, and it became known as the Big Wild. The uniqueness of the region led the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to manage it separately from its other state forest units. The solace of the Big Wild was soon to be shaken to its very roots however.
The late Gordon Charles describes the enormity of the news that would forever change the nature of the Pigeon River Country and the politics of conservation in Michigan. In his book, “Pigeon River Country”, Charles writes, ‘It was July 2, 1970…a date I’ll never forget. I turned on the radio for the morning news and a shudder of revulsion ran through me. A major gas and oil strike had been made in the Pigeon River Country. Predictions were that it was sitting atop a vast oil and natural gas field. “This was the opening shot of a long battle which would lead to the establishment of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Michigan had leased mineral right to several parcels of the forest in the 1960’s with little expectation of anything happening. As Dave Dempsey notes in ‘Ruin And Recovery’, the discovery caught the DNR completely off guard and led to a series of divisive political battles. William Milliken, governor at the time, stayed on the sidelines urging the parties involved to reach a negotiated settlement. In his Milliken biography, ‘Michigan’s Passionate Moderate’, author Dave Dempsey notes that the governor made his position clear, while imploring reaching an agreement with the threat of vetoing a bad one.
Most of the next decade found the matter tied up in both the courts and the halls of government. In early 1978, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled against oil and gas development. This was the first major step in reaching a resolution, and allowed all sides to come to the table knowing where they stood. In the April 6, 1978 issue of the ‘North Woods Call’, Editor Glen Sheppard reported that “this is the first time that the oil companies have had a reason to come to the table.” Indeed, this new session proved to be most productive. It created the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, a revenue source for securing lands of significance for Michigan citizens in perpetuity.
The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNTRF) was created with royalties and proceeds from the leasing and extraction of minerals from state owned land. Sportsmen, whose license dollars had largely been responsible for the purchase of these properties, realized they were exchanging short term pain for long term gain. From now on, there would be a perpetual source of funding to purchase additional public land and fund local parks. Governor Milliken signed it into law.
A non-partisan board was established to oversee the MNTRF, and an application process to nominate lands for purchase and local projects for consideration was put into place. The members of this council are appointed by the Governor. To date, over 914 million 
has been appropriated from the fund. There have been challenges, however. During the 1990’s, lawmakers facing state fiscal shortages raided the fund of hundreds of millions of dollars. Once again, conservationists rallied to protect the MNTRF. A grassroots public campaign to constitutionally protect the fund was begun in 1994, and overwhelmingly passed by Michigan voters in 1996. It was now constitutionally mandated how these monies could be spent. For the last fifteen years, these protections have kept the fund secure.
Once again, Michigan’s current fiscal crisis has turned politician eyes to the pot of money. The first shot was fired by Russ Harding, in an article from the Mackinac Center entitled ‘Natural Resources Trust Fund In Need Of A Change.’ In the article, Harding argues that “it is not fiscally responsible to mandate additional land purchases when cash strapped governmental units are struggling to maintain holdings they already have.” Harding also supports ending the stipulation that twenty five percent of fund monies be spent on local park projects. The paper exhorts Michigan’s legislature to revisit the MNTRF’s original goals.
Russ Harding was appointed as the first director of the Department of Environmental Quality when Governor John Engler created it by splitting off functions of the Department of Natural Resources. Harding faced harsh criticism for his management and was removed by Engler within two years. Over the years since joining the Mackinac Center, he has become recognized as a proponent for privatizing and shedding conservation efforts of the state government. An earlier proposal by Harding to privatize and sell off state parks was greeted by wide disparagement across all political lines.
Following the cue from Harding, Republican state representative Dave Agema has just introduced a trio of bills to rescind the current mandates of the MNTRF. The bills, HB 4021, 4028, and 4051, are designed to redistribute the way money from the MNTRF is spent. In an interview on WHTC radio on January 10, 2011, Agema states that twenty two percent of the state is already in public ownership, and that is more than enough. In actuality, while the twenty two percent figure is appropriate, only half of that, or approximately 3.6 million acres are state owned. The other half is federally owned and has no relation to the MNTRF. Michigan has no jurisdiction over these lands.
Agema’s bills specify that money from the MNTRF would be better spent otherwise. In an article from the Grand Rapids Press on January 23, 2011, he is quoted as saying “since the money comes from gas and oils revenues, it should be used for cars, trucks and airplanes that use gas and oil”. The bills are reintroductions of identical bills which died last year, something Agema blames on Democratic control of the state house. The Michigan League of Conservative Voters deemed him Michigan’s most conservative legislator, despite not passing a single one of his bills.
In his State of the State speech in January 2011, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder expressed his support for fully funding and maintaining the MNTRF, citing it as a key quality of life component in Michigan’s economic recovery. While reactionaries such as Russ Harding and Dave Agema may see this as their opportunity to destroy Michigan’s conservation heritage, it seems likely their efforts will fail. Firstly, their efforts are likely unconstitutional, and at the very least will require a two thirds vote by both chambers of the Michigan legislature, as well as approval by the governor. It would then have to be approved by a popular vote of the people to change the state constitution.
Finally, it would violate a compact between the people and their government. The MNTRF has served as the best example of user pay ever enacted. The users whose fees purchased the lands from which the funding for the Michigan Natural Resource Trust Fund comes are the ultimate benefactors. This bond of trust has been decades in the making, and should not be sabotaged by shortsighted politicians. Beyond that, the general public benefits extensively from funding for state and local park improvements. In fact, most local governments have come to rely on MNTRF grants for any park improvements. All of this is done with no money from taxpayers. This fund is a promise to our children. We will use these one-time payments to protect and enhance the natural beauty of Michigan, so that we will leave you a better place for our grandchildren.
