Dear Members,
You and the more than 700 other
members of this organization are known far and wide for pulling together and
doing whatever it takes to protect the Au Sable River. Once again, we need your
help. Once again, the Au Sable is under threat of new oil and gas drilling.
In late October, the Michigan
Department of Natural Resources auctioned nearly 2,800 acres in and near the Au
Sable Holy Waters corridor (between the Whirlpool and Thendara) for potential
oil and gas development. Most if not all of these leases were purchased by
Encana, the Canadian company which is using massive amounts of water for
deep-fracking wells in the Manistee River basin.
A number of these proposed leases
could allow surface wells, pumping stations, and pipelines. Many of these
parcels are in the Rayburn Tract. This wonderful piece of state land was once
private, and slated for development. Only the efforts of dedicated
conservationists prevented condominium development on the parcel, and allowed
it to become public land, accessible to all.
We urged the DNR not to lease
these lands. They did it anyway.
There's one more opportunity to
stop this. A few minutes of your time could really help.
While the auction is complete,
the final decision on whether or not to finalize the leases will come on
December 12. Before that comes to pass, please let DNR Director Keith Creagh
know that you support leaving the Holy Waters undeveloped. Personalized letters
are best. Form letters are not helpful.
As late as November 25th, we met
with DNR Director Creagh, and requested that he not authorize these new Holy
Water leases. At this meeting he requested letters from our membership
supporting our position.
You can write to: DNR Director
Keith Creagh | Executive Division | PO Box 30028 Lansing, MI 48909. Or you can
send an email to DNR-Director@michigan.gov.
Please do not call on the telephone as this will simply overwhelm and alienate
DNR staff.
Also, if you copy us on your
communications to Director Creagh, we can hand-deliver all member comments to
the Michigan Natural Resources Commission on December 12 where the final
decision on the leases will be made. To do so, send a copy of your
communications to info@ausableanglers.org.
Finally, we can't tell you what
to write and we suspect emotions among many members will run high because of
this news. But it is most helpful if your communications to the DNR are
professional and well-reasoned rather than emotional rants.
More Background...
The DNR tells us that if drilling
occurs on these Holy Water parcels, they'll be "able to protect the
valuable surface features" of the area. We don't buy it. You either think
it's a good idea to have oil and gas development along the Au Sable River, or
you don't. We emphatically do not.
A growing chorus is asking DNR
Director Creagh to cancel the auction of these parcels. We're now joined by the
Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, Sierra
Club, Au Sable Big Water Preservation Association, North Branch Foundation, Au
Sable Watershed Restoration Committee, Michigan Trout Unlimited (and it's
Mason-Griffith and Headwaters Chapters), the Great Lakes Council of the
Federation of Fly Fishers, and the Au Sable Property Owners Association.
In practice, these leases are a
significant change of DNR policy. In the past, the DNR has refrained from
offering these leases in or right next to this prized river corridor. The
Anglers Board of Directors believes the DNR should never have put a
"Development" designation on any parcel near the river corridor, nor
leased such parcels for potential oil and gas development. We fear the DNR is
saying the Au Sable corridor is "open for business" to oil and gas
developers.
As we all remember very clearly,
this entire organization, most notably its founder Rusty Gates, has worked
tirelessly to extinguish these kinds of threats to the river we all love. We
won the Mason Tract fight. We won the Kolke Creek fight. We don't go looking
for these fights, but Rusty would surely demand that we continue to "keep a
perch eye on it."
A word about "optimizing
revenue"...
In a recent letter to the
Anglers, Director Creagh said he planned to go forward with these leases and
noted the "DNR is responsible for managing state-owned mineral rights in a
matter than ensures protection of natural resource values, while optimizing
revenue for the people of the state."
The only industry which really
stands to benefit from these leases is oil and gas. Their potential gain comes
at the risk to too many others.
The October auction results are
not yet fully public. But recent auction trends suggest the DNR is likely to
fetch less than $100,000 for these Holy Water leases. And the state would
eventually collect a royalty of one-sixth the value of production. Statewide,
oil and gas wells average roughly $3,000 each in annual royalties to the state.
Altogether, that's a pittance
compared to the current value of the existing river economy.
Sport fishing in Michigan is a $2
billion annual economy, with Grayling as one of its epicenters.
Riverfront property owners in
Crawford County have a combined property market value of $275 million and pay
more than $3.3 million in annual property taxes. That's nearly a quarter of all
property taxes paid in the county, according to a recent study conducted for
Anglers of the Au Sable by Public Sector Consultants, Inc.
Stay tuned...
There's more to come. We will
have additional news soon about other oil and gas developments in and near the
river corridors this organization is duty-bound to protect.
What's more important: the
currently thriving river economy or a low-return gamble on oil and gas
development next to the Au Sable River - one of Pure Michigan's purest assets?
We think the DNR is making a
horrible choice on this one. We need your help to reverse it.
We're sure many of you will have
questions about all of this. Feel free to email Tom at tbairdo@aol.com for more
information.
Also, Anglers board members will
have maps, displays, handouts and more information about this issue available
at the fly tying show in Holt on December 7th. Please stop in and chat with us.
Thank you for your consideration
- and for your dedication to the Au Sable River. Rusty would be proud.
Bruce Pregler, President
Thomas Baird, First Vice-President
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