CADILLAC -- Hunting and snowmobiling are big business in northern Michigan, but a viewer wrote us concerned saying he'd heard the government was trying to ban both on some land in the Huron Manistee National Forest.
He had questions, the answers we found for him in a Fact Finder Report.
The Huron Manistee National Forest includes almost a million acres of land in more than sixteen northern Michigan counties.
Some sections are pretty active and include busy roads. Others are strictly wilderness areas with very limited activity.
Every 10-15 years the forest service takes a look at the designations, talks to land users, and revises the plan as needed. After the last revision in 2006, a Michigan man appealed the plan wanting to make some areas even more restricted.
Kenneth Arbogast, the Public and Government Affairs Officer for the Huron Manistee National Forest says, "He was looking for a very quiet almost solitude experience."
That would mean no hunting and no snowmobiling in semi primitive wilderness areas. But the National Forest Service didn't agree, so the man sued. The case worked its way through the court system and this fall the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the forest service needed to review its plan.
Arbogast says, "We've had many people who have heard that rumor and I just want to clarify that no we are not just implementing an immediate ban on gun hunting or snowmobiling in any area of the forest."
But for the next 18 months, the forest service must take a closer look at how the land is used and during this time they want as much detailed feedback from users as they can get.
Arbogast says, "it's hard for us to find specific numbers of hunters in the forest the numbers of snowmobile users in certain areas of the forest because we don't have gates, we don't have admission tickets people can come and go readily."
So no, there are no immediate plans to ban hunting and snowmobling, but the court is forcing the National Forest Service to review its usage plan, and that could mean changes in the future.
There will be a lot of public hearings and you can also write your thoughts on the issue. That information is listed below.
In the meantime, I want to know what you think about this one. Should this land be quieter by banning hunting and snowmobiling? Or should the policy be left as it is and hunters and snowmobilers be continued to allowed to use the National Forest land? Leave your opinions below.
Here's a list of public meetings.
1/31/11-Hilton Inn Express of Birch Run, 12150 Dixie Hwy., Birch Run, MI, from 4-8 p.m.;
1/31/11-Huron Shores Ranger Station, 5761 North Skeel Rd., Oscoda, MI, from 4-7 p.m.;
2/01/11-Hilton Garden Inn, 26000 American Drive, Southfield, MI, from 4-8 p.m.;
2/01/11-Mio Ranger Station, 107 McKinley Road, Mio, MI, from 4-7 p.m.;
2/02/11-Causeway Bay Hotel (Will be changing to a Best Western), 6820 South Cedar, Lansing, MI, from 4-8 p.m.;
2/02/11-Days Inn of Manistee, 1462 US 31 South, Manistee, MI, from 4-7 p.m.;
2/03/11-Crowne Plaza, 57000 East 28th St., Grand Rapids, MI, from 4-8 p.m.;
2/03/11-Plainfield Township Hall, 885 Eighth Street, Baldwin, MI, from 4-7 p.m.
For more information, contact Kenneth Arbogast, public affairs officer for the Huron-Manistee National Forests, at (231) 775-5023, Ext. 8726 or visit the forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/hmnf
You can also write mail your written comments so to the Forest Planner, Huron-Manistee National Forests, 1755 S. Mitchell Street, Cadillac, MI 49601 or faxed to (231) 775-5551.
