DNR Rejects Camp Grayling Expansion

(source: community of Grayling)

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has rejected a proposal by the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to lease 162,000 acres of state forest surrounding Camp Grayling.

The proposed 20-year lease would have allowed for the National Guard training camp to conduct low-impact exercises on the land, but concerns were raised over protecting water and maintaining public access to the land during an 8-month-long public comment period. The DNR says feedback from the public and from Tribal governments, as well as internal reviews of the proposal led them to decline the agreement.

The department says that the DMVA will still be able to apply for limited land use permits for exercises on 52,000 acres of the forest, but that the area would remain open to the public at all times. More information can be found at michigan.gov/dnr.