TNC engagement with the Copper Country provides key updates on progress with the Keweenaw Heartlands Project

Taking on a project as large as the Keweenaw Heartlands’ 32,000 acres requires significant community involvement, according to The Nature Conservancy. 

Since the organization completed its purchase in 2022, the group has worked with local stakeholders to plan how the land will transition to public management. Project Manager Julia Petersen shared updates on the Heartlands’ progress Wednesday with the Chamber of Commerce’s Wake UP Keweenaw. 

Petersen says it’s important to continually engage with residents so the community feels comfortable with how the land will benefit the region. 

“Projects like these do take time, they take years. And this one is actually moving along at quite a clip, but it can feel like that sometimes,” Petersen said. “If you’re somebody who’s part of that 1,800 hours that have been put in, it can feel like a long haul, but people keep coming back to the table. They keep showing up to the Heartlands Community Advisory Committee meetings and the subcommittee meetings that we have.” 

In her presentation to regional business leaders, Petersen shared an initial look at a map showing what the DNR will purchase along the Keweenaw Point. 

“We’ve been working towards how will we transition the Nature Conservancy’s ownership of the Keweenaw Heartlands into primarily public ownership. And the Department of Natural Resources have stepped up in a big way and they are planning to own and govern and manage about 10,000 acres,” Petersen said. “The DNR has secured the funds. So that’s the great news. We know it’ll happen. It’s just a matter of when.” 

A section to the west, highlighted in yellow on the map, would become the Keweenaw Heartlands Community Forest. Petersen says the committee found the nearly 21,000-acre area would be managed by a local governing body. The community forest further accomplishes four goals established for the Keweenaw Heartlands from the onset. 

“Protecting natural and cultural features, ensuring long-term public access, restoring the health of the working forest, and maintaining government tax revenues,” Petersen said. “That’s really what people came together around. Some people felt more strongly about one than the other, but everyone shared collectively that they wanted a healthy working forest, and they wanted this forest to retain its continuity to be not fragmented, to not have the trails be broken up.” 

Next Thursday, The Nature Conservancy and Michigan DNR will have representatives in Allouez Township for a community update where residents can ask questions about project progress. Petersen says local engagement has been exceptional compared to other projects she has worked on. 

“The Keweenaw Sportsman’s Club is another group that I just recently presented to for the third time. It’s been three years,” Petersen said. “Local organizations are really great about pulling me in to talk about the project or pulling other partners on the project. Some of those community advisory committee members know this project as well, if not better than I do, and they get pulled in to talk about it. So there is very high engagement relative to any public engagement that I’ve ever worked on, The Nature Conservancy or otherwise.” 

Petersen will also present updates on Saturday at the Trout Unlimited annual banquet. 

The Keweenaw Heartlands will continue offering recreation opportunities while partially supporting itself as a working forest. TNC and the Heartlands Advisory Committee still have many more details to finalize, however the project has steadily made progress over the last three years. The project awaits word on several important funding opportunities for the Michigan DNR as well as community stakeholders, and legislation in Lansing to help move the forest forward to benefit the community.

Those interested in staying updated can find information online, including TNC Michigan’s monthly newsletter. Those interested in learning more about the Keweenaw Heartlands and want to support the Heartlands Forest Fund can find more information provided by the Keweenaw Community Foundation here.

Find event details for next Thursday below.