Nearly a million acres of Upper Peninsula forestlands have changed ownership over the last year, signs that a dramatic change is occurring in the U.P. that could transform the area's landscape and potentially undermine its natural resources and economic sustainability.

In an effort to understand the implications of these shifts for Michigan's U.P., MEC has joined forces with the National Wildlife Federation, Keweenaw Community Foundation, Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University on a new initiative. Together, these groups are undertaking a vital new project to better understand how ownership and land use changes might affect the wildlife habitat, public access and economy of the U.P.

Timber companies in Michigan, like those across the country, have sold huge tracts of land to Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs) and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Two key U.P. timberland sales highlight the potential magnitude of these shifts. Escanaba Timber LLC (formerly MeadWestvaco) announced the sale last October of 650,000 acres of U.P. forest property to Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber Co., an REIT with a controversial environmental history. More recently, International Paper recently announced the sale of 440,000 acres to a TIMO investor group led by Resource Management Service, LLC (RMS) out of Alabama.

While both companies suggest they will continue managing their newly acquired land primarily as timber and abide by current Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI®) standards, there are reasons for skepticism.

When Plum Creek Timber Co. bought 900,000 acres of Maine woods in 1998, it explicitly said it had no intentions to subdivide and sell the land for development. Four years later, Plum Creek developed an 89-lot subdivision-by far the largest ever undertaken in that remote area of Maine. And in mid-December of 2004, Plum Creek announced plans for another development project-the largest subdivision in Maine's history, including approximately 1,000 house lots and two destination resorts.

Both projects, backed by the huge financial and public relations resources of the parent company, overwhelmed the rural agencies and elected officials charged with upholding community interests through orderly planning, ordinances and zoning.

"They're doing exactly what we feared-slicing and dicing the best of Maine's North Woods into second home development," Cathy Johnson of the Natural Resources Council of Maine told the Maine Environmental News in 2005.

While the new owners' plans for Michigan's remote forest acreages remain unknown, MEC is helping to ensure that the U.P.'s communities are prepared for the changes that might lie ahead. For more information or to get involved in this project, contact Land Programs Director Brad Garmon at bradmec@voyager.net or (517) 487-9539.