By - Milton F. Whitmore

DNR Director K.L. Cool recently advised his staff to schedule hearings on whether to designate the Upper Manistee and Pine rivers as Natural Rivers. It took two years of prodding from a variety of conservation groups to bring Director Cool to urge the moving forward of the process. Many of Michigan’s most outstanding river and their adjacent watersheds are in danger from a wide variety of conflicting uses and political pressure. The Michigan Legislature enacted the Natural Rivers Act in 1970. The act, protecting the river’s boundary lands from wanton development and degradation, now includes fourteen streams stretching along over 1600 miles of waterway. The Boardman, Jordan, Betsie, and Two-Hearted rivers are all included as protected streams.

The Natural Rivers Act was instituted with the purpose of guiding development along riverbanks, preventing unscrupulous and/or unwise uses that have a negative impact on the waterway. The act is administered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in conjunction with local government. It is the local officials who carry the foremost responsibility in creating and applying statutes and ordinances which will allow our children and grandchildren to experience these rivers, that are so designated, in all their splendor. As Bill Kuhn, Kalkaska Conservation District board member, noted, "Choosing whether or not to support making the Upper Manistee a natural river is one of those decisions that communities must make when deciding where they are headed and where they hope to be in 10, 20 or 30 years and beyond. Mr Kuhn adds, "It’s like a gift to our great-grandchildren, and what better gift could we give than the preservation of the things we love most?".

On both rivers waterfront owners and fishermen enjoy the treasures the rivers have to offer. Public access sites and private canoe liveries also provide opportunities for citizens to access these lovely streams. They can view the secluded, cedar draped bends dappled under an intermittent sunny sky. To see the sinewy otter maneuver its serpentine shape in a restless search for dinner.

The Michigan Council of Trout Unlimited supports the designation of both streams as Natural Rivers as well as the adoption of the draft natural rivers management plan. The value to a river being designated is the management plan and each plan is unique and specific to that river system, and a good deal of local input goes into each plan.

Republican House Speaker Rick Johnson apparently has bowed to intense pressure from property rights advocates and publicly opposes permanent protection for both the Upper Manistee and Pine rivers. He feels the current plan is a threat to private property rights such as the freedom to build homes, businesses, and docks along the banks.

As expected, property rights groups, having gross misconceptions about how the Act would impact streamside lands, praised his decision

Supporters of the measure to include the two rivers in the Natural Rivers Act, note that in staking out his position, House Speaker Johnson has rejected the recommendation of biologists with the DNR who worked with local officials and citizens to draft protection plans for both rivers that, they assert, are practical and prevent development from degrading water quality and diminish the wild character of both rivers. The Speaker’s position is contrary to the recommendations of a Republican led State Senate Task Force on the Great Lakes, which in 2001 called on Michigan to renew its commitment to protecting natural rivers. Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rich Posthumus, was forceful in his advocation of expanding the rivers covered under the Natural Rivers Act.

In all of this it appears that a small, vocal, and active minority of citizens is holding this plan up and the top brass of the DNR is playing politics. Leadership, effective in nature, is needed to protect our treasured waterways.

Local Control

The Natural Rivers Act advocates the use of basic, locally developed zoning laws to keep waterways clean and quiet, while allowing for riverfront homes, docks, and other private land use. The official designation of the Upper Manistee and Pine rivers as Natural Rivers would carry forward a plan created by local residents to prevent ruining the streams with erosion and pollution from future construction projects. Landowners would be required to implement protective measures by limiting their ability to remove trees and plants and by also requiring specific setbacks for buildings.

"Can’t townships create the same zoning?", some ask.

There are township officials who claim they can develop and implement such zoning ordinances and state interference is unnecessary.

However, it is the experience in many areas, that townships don’t plan and develop protective measures for our rivers. They either lack the expertise and manpower or the willpower to do so.

Bob Garner, a member of the NRC related how "Missaukee County (in the Upper Manistee Watershed) recently voted in favor of a resolution to oppose Natural River designation. The county commissioners said that they could do a better job of managing the resource locally. But Missaukee County has no planning and no zoning. They don’t even have the authority to plan or zone."

It seems that good intentions have little or no fruition when and where it really matters. How long can these two rivers, both shamefully exposed to unfettered development and use, maintain the standards of pristine water, wetlands, and woodlands? The four lane, limited access highway I-75 rushes traffic only a few miles to the west of the Upper Manistee River watershed. Traffic on US131, another limited access traffic mover crosses the headwater creeks of the Pine River. In the past thirty years the population of Michigan has made steady movement to the north. Grayling, Gaylord, Traverse City, and Cadillac have grown exponentially in the past two decades. With this major influx of people, the watersheds of these two storied and treasured streams are vulnerable to degradation.

Since no two stream systems are alike, local input is vital to the success of any such Natural River designation. In fact a stream having any length at all will vary considerably from its headwaters to its terminus wherever that may be. Three classes of rivers are recognized; each has its natural and esthetic qualities. A Wilderness stream is a free flowing river having primitive and undeveloped tracts of land. A Wild-Scenic river is adorned with wild, forested borders, some development and moderately accessible. A Country-Scenic river drains an agricultural setting with pastoral borders, some homes, and is readily accessible. It is through the control of local citizens with help, direction, and urging from the state’s qualified and willing experts, that these characteristics can best be maintained. The development of each river’s plan of action is in local hands. While plans for each waterway begin at the local level, approval from the state DNR is required before they can take effect.

The Pine River Watershed Coalition, as well as the Upper Manistee River Association, are two groups whose work and dedication has been invaluable in pushing to revive the long inactive Natural Rivers Act. Their work and untiring efforts have finally brought the designation of these two rivers as Natural Rivers to the forefront.

Mike Solomon, Wexford County Drain Commissioner and chair of the county planning commission, states that, "The ultimate goal is to protect water quality and scenic beauty. It doesn’t matter whether we call the Pine or the Manistee a Natural River. But the standards included in the (Natural Rivers) plan are good, solid ways to protect the two rivers. They are not overly restrictive and I do not believe they will hinder future development.

A Closer Look At the Pine R. Proposal

Rumors and misconceptions abound when the topic of the Natural River Act rises. It is best to look at facts.

When a river is considered for designation into the Natural River program citizen advisory groups are formed to comment and actually write the management plan, with the DNR’s help. The plan is specific for the river being considered.

The plan for the Pine River was over two years in the making. A 400 foot "River District" on either side of the river is the area that Natural River development standards are applied. This, by the way, despite what opponents say, is NOT the setback. The development standards include setbacks for buildings and vegetation buffers for NEW development.

Setbacks on the Pine R.

Building Setback: 150 ft.

Vegetation Buffer: 100 ft.

Bluff Setback: 50 ft.

Minimum lot size: 200 ft.

Standards for Tributaries

Building Setback: 100 ft.

Vegetation Buffer: 50 ft.

Bluff Setback: 25 ft.

These standards affect new construction only; all existing structures are grandfathered into the program.

It is recognized that not all new construction may meet these standards. A zoning variance procedure is in place to take care of this concern. The request for a variance is brought before the Pine River Sate Natural River Zoning Review Board consisting of only local individuals. The Board is membered by two county representatives, one local township official, one soil and conservation person, one local DNR official, and two citizens at large from the surrounding community. The Natural River program strongly encourages local control through the zoning and review process. The decisions stay locally rather than go to Lansing.

The vegetation buffer is NOT a no cut zone; there is cutting allowed for a filtered view of the river. Stream-bank vegetation is important in that it keeps the river’s temperatures cooler and provides needed root structure, helping to prevent erosion.

Opponents claim that the Natural River program crushes personal freedom to build on the stream-bank and usurps local control. To the contrary, the program empowers local government to take an active role in protecting our rivers from overdevelopment and unscrupulous use leading to degradation of the downstream waters.

Public hearings on the question to include the Upper Manistee and Pine rivers are scheduled for:

6-7PM Information Session

7-9 Public Hearing

Taken as a whole, the management plans, as proposed, represents a smart growth approach to preserving not only water quality and the adjacent lands involved. It utilizes the resources that only the state can provide and couples them with local input and intimate knowledge of each river system. This is a win-win situation for all parties involved.