This month, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources bought an 8,844-acre property in the middle of Pigeon River Country State Forest. The Black River Ranch, formerly a private hunting club, is now public land owned by the DNR.
Kerry Heckman is the Forest Land Administrator for the Michigan DNR. She said the property was a priority for the department because of its natural resource value and potential for public recreational opportunities. She said the goal is for the DNR to “ensure that those natural resource values on the property are protected going into the future.”
Pigeon River Country State Forest is nicknamed “The Big Wild,” because it’s one of the most intact wilderness areas in the Lower Peninsula. “There’s not a lot of those areas left,” Heckman said.
She said Black River Ranch has three lakes, one of them 150 acres, that the public will be able to use for recreation, kayaking, and fishing. It also has trout streams, provides critical habitat for black bears, white tail deer, and bobcats, and is in the heart of Michigan’s elk country.
Heckman said that while members of the private hunting club will no longer have exclusive use of the property, they’re still able to continue hunting, fishing, and using the land for recreational opportunities.
“It’s open for them all to use,” she continued. “We’re hoping that people come up and enjoy it. This beautiful resource is now theirs to enjoy.”
Heckman said they have been working on this project for eight years. She said the opportunity to acquire the land came when the landowner contacted Little Traverse Conservancy, the DNR’s project partner, about protecting their property. Heckman said it’s a good fit for state ownership because it’s adjacent to state land on three sides.
The DNR bought the property just south of the Mackinac Bridge for $18 million. Heckman said 75% of the funding came from the Federal Forest Legacy Program grant. The rest was funded by two grants from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, and private conservation donations from their project partner Little Traverse Conservancy, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, and the J.A. Woolham Foundation.
Heckman said non-motorized access to the property is currently permitted. In the coming months, the DNR will conduct a public review process and develop an access plan on how to manage the property. The DNR will also use the Pigeon River County’s Concept of Management for basic parameters of management.
