Group's Petition Asking Members of Congress to Help Protect Some of Michigan's Last Wild Places

The Upper Peninsula Public Access Coalition has started a petition asking their Members of Congress to help in their fight to protect thousands of acres around several wild flowages in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from a proposed residential development, including several hundred boat slips. The lands are owned by the Upper Peninsula Power Company ("UPPCO"), who now proposes to sell the land to developers. However, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to prepare environmental impact statements for major proposals that may impact the environment, and to supplement those statements when substantial changes are made to the projects. When Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) prepared the original, required environmental studies for the energy projects, UPPCO claimed that it had no intention of selling or developing these lands. The impact of residential development on these lands was therefore not investigated by the licensing process. Now that UPPCO seeks to sell the land to a developer, FERC regulations require that the impact of that land use be examined in a supplemental environmental impact statement. Unfortunately, UPPCO has thus far shown no signs of complying with that requirement.

The Coalition is currently collecting signatures on a petition asking Members of Congress to do what they can to ensure these requirements are fully met. To sign the Coalition's petition, go to: new.petitiononline.com/uppaceis/petition.html