Winter Weather Report

This winter, compared to the last, has turned out to be a long, but a somewhat peculiar one. Beginning with a rather severe snowstorm just after Thanksgiving, we have had at least three thaws, two of them in January, the first of which, complete with a thunder and rain storm, just about washed away any of the snow left over from the Christmas season. Then, after more snow in mid-January, we had another meltdown toward the end of that month.  Then much of the snow that fell in February was compacted by sleet and freezing rain, with the result that the snow cover, which at present only amounted to about 9”-10” the last week in February, is nevertheless unusually dense and heavy in consistency.  However, none of this has curtailed the movement of the deer, and a recent x-c ski outing by your editor found signs of much acorn digging by deer and elk up in the hardwoods. But the density of the snow is also making it hard for partridge or grouse to hide from hawks and other predators. An eagle was spotted nearby my place along the Black River this past weekend, but with the lakes still frozen over, the eagle will probably have slim pickings for some weeks while the deer remain in good shape. Of course, a bad late winter snowstorm could change all that.

Above: Ice formed on branches by freezing rain, Sunday, February 7, 2008.

PRC Advisory Council Report

The meeting was held on January 19 at the Pigeon River Country Forest administrative and information center. Chairman Pete Gustafson reported that Bud Slingerlend has resigned from the Council due to health reasons.

     Ty Ratliff and Eric Nelson discussed the ongoing efforts of the Pigeon River Habitat Initiative to protect land adjoining the Forest from development to create a buffer zone for wildlife.

     Mindy Koch of the DNR Lands and Forest Division addressed the updates to the Concept Of Management and some of the reasoning for the update. One of the criteria for the update was that it had to be enforceable and much of the old one was not.  It also had to follow guidelines as to how lands that are purchased through fish and game money can be managed. The majority of the Pigeon was purchased through fish and game money, so the management needs to favor that type of use. 

     The DNR will form a work group to see if changes in the plan for horseback use and trail bike use are needed. The workgroup will be comprised of members of the PRCAC, the PRCA, Horseback users, bike riders, DNR and other interested parties.

     Lynne Boyd reported that Dayle Garlock would be the enforcement officer for oil and gas issues until there is a permanent replacement for the forest manager’s position.

     Brian Mastenbrook reported that 120 Elk were taken during the December hunt. He also reported that the Elk count is in progress now.

      Ken Glasser and Rique Campa were elected to be the new council chairman and vise chairman.

The next advisory council meeting will be held on April 11, 2008 at the Forest Administration Building, starting at 6:30 pm. The public is welcome to attend.

                                                                        (report by Eugene Horan)

PRCF Recreation Use Workgroup

As promised by DNR Director Becky Humphries at the Natural Resources Commission meeting back in November, a workgroup was formed to suggest policies regarding recreational use of the Pigeon River Forest, especially by horseback and mountain bike riders, in a way that will be in conformity with the general directions outlined in the new updated Concept of Management for the PRCF. The snowmobile use issue has been settled, specifically banning their use anywhere within the Forest (except by Forest management personnel) except on the county roads and those forest roads open to vehicle traffic. The updated Concept of Management outlined a similar policy for horses and bicycles, except that horses and their riders will also have the north spur of the Shore to Shore Riding and Hiking Trail for their use, and bicyclists may also use the High Country Pathway, which although is was not originally designed with bicycles in mind, presents a fine, and often challenging, opportunity for off-road bicycling. (See our new map for the extent of these two trails.)

            However, the problem is that both of these trails and pathways were laid out with long distance, over many days, travel in mind. This means that those who are out for just a single day or afternoon’s jaunt are likely to have to reverse and retrace their route (which doubles the traffic on that section) or else find themselves back out on the county roads in order to complete their excursion, which poses something of a traffic and safety hazard in the case of horses, and not the most pleasant or easy ride for bicyclists, especially when summer dry spells often turn parts of the roads either into washboard or else into something resembling golf-course sand traps. In addition, the Michigan Mountain Bike Association people pointed out that over the past decade of two, it has been their volunteer labor that has done a lot to keep the Shingle Mill Pathway—from which the revised Concept of Management would have banned bicycle use (except for the eastern half of the Shingle Mill that is also part of the High Country Pathway)—in usable shape for all.           While the eighteen or so members of the workgroup, who met at the DNR Conference center at Higgins Lake during the afternoons of Feb. 15th and 29th were not there make any final decisions—which can only be made by the DNR Director—the majority did seem to favor including the entire Shingle Mill Pathway (and possibly the Pickerel Lake Pathway as well) along with the High Country Pathway as being open to bicycle use, but not making any further changes at present regarding the new restrictions on horseback riding until the results can be assessed after a year’s implementation.

            Three members designated by the PRCA board served in the workgroup addressing these questions: Joe Jarecki as former PRCF manager, Eugene Horan as our PRCA representative on the Advisory Council, and myself as a bicyclist who is independent of the MMBA. After consideration by the DNR Director, her decisions will be reviewed by the Natural Resources Commission before being enacted as part of the official Land Use Regulations.                           (Report by Richard Kropf)

PRCA Finances

Book and map sales, especially over the internet, have been brisk, bringing in needed income, particularly to cover the initial cost of the printing of our new map. However, to meet the cost of our summer intern program, we are hoping to see an increase in early payments of this year’s PRCA membership dues. To help move things along in this direction, we have initiated a new policy (at least for us it’s new) of marking your newsletter label with a code number designating when you last paid your association dues.  For example, those who paid last year will find the marking “/07” on the label after your name, and those who haven’t paid dues since 2005 or 2006 will find a /05 or /06 — with some even marked /04. If you find no such key on your label, it probably means that your last dues payment was before our present treasurer took charge of finances, or else that you have received a complimentary copy of the newsletter in hopes that you will join us in our support of work that needs to be done.

The cost of supporting a summer student intern this year will be approximately about $3500 and we are entertaining the idea of employing alternative community service labor (alternative to going to jail) at the cost of $15 per person per day.  Much needs to be done, especially regarding pathway maintenance, campsite repair, and other tasks for which the DNR has run out of money and personnel. So we need your financial help as  soon as possible in order to plan the summer projects.

                                         (Ray Hoobler, PRCA President)

Pigeon River Habitat Initiative

The rest of this newsletter will be given over to material presented by the Pigeon River Habitat Initiative, a consortium of organizations formed some years ago to address the problem of growing land and housing development taking place in and around the Pigeon River Country.

The purpose of the initiative, which to a large part has been a major project of the Huron Pines organization (a non-profit organization serving eleven northeastern lower peninsula counties) is to work with private landowners bordering on or near the Pigeon River Country to protect the ecological characteristics, diversity of wildlife and water quality of the forest, helping these landowners develop management plans and implement techniques that will attract wildlife to their property.

Among the other organizations or groups involved in this effort are the Headwaters Conservancy, the Little Traverse Land Conservancy, the Headwaters Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Mershon Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Pigeon River Country Advisory Council, The DNR, the Montmorency County Sportsmens Club, Merit Energy, OWLS (Otsego Wildlife Legacy Society) The Charlevoix Community Foundation, the Rough Grouse Society and the PRCA. Additional support for the Initiative also comes from the Dart Container Corporation and from the family of the late William L. Myers. We hope you will give the additional material that follows (part of what was presented to the most recent advisory council meeting) your close attention.