Yesterday featured a number of interesting stories at the intersection of where we’ve been and where we’re going. First, the Traverse City Record-Eagle had another great story by AP environmental writer John Flesher about declining access to thousands of acres in the UP that has been available to the public for more than a century for hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and other activities. Much of this land is private, but timber and paper companies have traditionally kept this land open to the public in exchange for tax breaks. Increasingly, however, these lands are being bought up by real estate developers and investment companies – to the tune of 1.6 million acres in recent years, or about 40% of the private timber land in the UP. As Robert Froese, an assistant professor with Michigan Tech University’s forestry and environmental science school, put it, “These new owners have different masters.” Indeed. The news story is based on a report jointly issued by the Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, the National Wildlife Federation and the Upper Peninsula Resource Conservation and Development Council. More information is available from the project website.

The Record-Eagle also ran a Forum piece by State Senator Patty Birkholz defending the water withdrawal legislation she has introduced. The legislation relies on a computer model to determine “appropriate” withdrawals. The problem is, the computer model would allow diversions of up to 42% from the Betsie River, 25% from the Boardman, 22% from the Pere Marquette, 22% from the Manistee, and up to 22% from the Au Sable. Clearly, this computer model is broken, which is why Birkholz’s legislation is opposed by groups from the Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited to the Michigan Environmental Council to Great Lakes, Great Michigan, a coalition of organizations dedicated to protecting the Great Lakes from various threats. To be fair, unlike too many of her Republican colleagues, Senator Birkholz is often on the right side of conservation issues. But in this case, it seems she’s let a blind belief in a computer model get in the way of common sense for how to protect Michigan’s water. A system that drains 25% or more from some of Michigan’s Blue Ribbon trout streams is simply wrong.

Finally, a new report out yesterday from MSU’s Land Policy Institute puts more concrete numbers on the economic benefits of wind energy development in the state of Michigan. Looking only at jobs and investment tied directly to commercial wind generation, the study predicted that wind energy will produce 1,100 construction jobs annually for the next two decades, $1.25 billion in construction-related investment over that timeline, $4.8 million each year in lease payments to farmers and other land owners by 2010 (a number that will increase by a factor of 10 – to $47 million annually – by 2029), and more than 3000 permanent, full-time jobs related to the maintenance and management of Michigan’s wind installations, in addition to other economic benefits. (Hat tip to the Great Lakes IT Report for pointing me to this story.)

Michigan has some of the best natural resources of any place in the world, but these resources are under pressure from a number of different threats. These stories show that our natural resources are not only worth protecting from a conservation perspective, but that a better understanding of how to use our natural advantages can provide jobs and economic investment for a state that needs both. A green future for Michigan is a brighter future indeed!