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Senate Bill 0248, introduced to the Michigan Legislature in March is being promoted as a means of leveraging the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) into balancing public land holdings to be more efficient and/or to control land tax issues.

At least that’s one of four points on record in the bill, being sponsored by UP Senator Tom Casperson. Unfortunately, the points given use innuendo to discredit the MDNR’s management rather than straight facts.

One document of record from the fist public hearing on the subject sites the MDNR for “crying poor” when it comes to paying the Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) obligation on state owned land. In fact, 108^th District Representative Ed McBroom was recently quoted saying “the DNR is not paying taxes”.

In reality the MDNR is assessed and paying for every inch of land owned by the “public” and it is done at three different levels.

Lands reverted back to the state from tax delinquency are charged at a property tax rate of $2.00/acre and accounts for 55% of the obligation. Land purchased or acquired as Commercial Forest Reserve is taxed at a rate of $1.20/acre and accounts for approximately 21% of the obligation. Other lands purchased outright from private ownership are at Ad valorem (the full local property tax rate) and accounts for approximately 24% of the obligation.

It should be noted that school taxes are not part of the equation. Those funds are derived through the Department of Education, providing revenue from the State General Fund for all school related mills. If amounts appropriated by the Legislature are insufficient for full payment, amounts are prorated.

In the last audited fiscal tax year, 2009, the MDNR paid out over $11.226 million in PILT. Approximately 50% comes from restricted funds paid by hunters, trappers and fishermen as well as other payer source users. The other comes from taxes collected from the public under the State General Fund.

From this, we can conclude that the general license buying conservationists are being double assessed, once through what they pay into the state for taxes and then again through licenses and permits.

Casperson himself listed “added restrictions being placed on lands held by the MDNR” as cause to cap the amount of land the MDNR manages on behalf of the public users. Written testimony submitted to the Casperson’s Senate Committee sites how “over 124,000 acres of these lands are designated as Natural Areas that restrict or make access difficult.”

The implication here is that the MDNR is managing the land to keep people out. This is somewhat twisted in that the lands managed by the MDNR are done so under a certified sustainable program. In fact, the MDNR uses two certified programs to manage land in the broadest ecosystem sense. With over 4,440,000 million acres of state land, the required amount of specialized areas equal only 2.78% of the total. The rest is for public recreation and support of the timber industry.

A point omitted here is that some of those lands being sold as Commercial Forest Reserve to private individuals is being taken off CFA classification, or the new owners are restricting access by means of charging for gate leases, restricting vehicle access by closure or charging a fee. The MDNR has absolutely no control over this issue and should be addressed separately by the legislature if anything can be done at all.

The cap suggested in Casperson’s Bill appears to be arbitrary and capricious as there is no explanation as to how the number is derived. Furthermore, it is within 22,000 acres of current holdings and will in all probability jeopardize future projects that include recreational trails (including motorized and non-motorized), boat launches and especially wildlife habitat acquisitions.

SB0248, per written testimony, also accuses the MDNR “of pursuing agendas and uses of the lands they hold in trust for the people of this state that will restrict development of the resources on those lands for (the) good of the people.”

Oh really!

Since 2002, the MDNR has purchased nearly 20 square miles of critical deer habitat mostly in the UP and a little in the northern LP. It has utilized funding through the Natural Resources Trust Fund and the Deer Range Improvement Plan (DRIP) funds in a good part of the acquisitions. The 2008 ATV/OHV Master Plan commits a continuous growth rate in the creation of connecting motorized trail systems, especially in the UP. All are specific to continued and expanded public recreation.

The MDNR has worked a consolidation of lands project which liquidated holdings not considered essential to the core mission. In 2008, the MDNR sold of 17,339 acres of and has since converted 5,610 acres as deeded to local governments or conservation organizations.

Boiler plate language, put in place by the legislature, requires the MDNR to meet certain quotas in working the land. They historically meet 92-96% of the quotas with variances mostly dealing with access issues or lack of harvestable timber. Dissatisfaction by some who support SB0248 believe the MDNR takes too long to work their program. With 1.77 million acres of state land in the UP, the current system requires the MDNR to work ten percent the total per year. It is quite a handful given the lack of field personnel available to do the work.

If Mr. Casperson really wants to help make Michigan better, perhaps he could look for opportunity to exploit what we have available and follow Governor Snyder’s plan to make tourism and recreation one of the top industries we have to bolster out economy, rather than throwing stones at an agency he just doesn’t seem to like.