Seeking input

DNR creating U.P. advisory councils

By KIM HOYUM Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — About 80 Upper Peninsula residents attended an organizational meeting in Marquette Saturday for a citizens advisory council for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.


The goal of the meeting was for interested citizens to give input on creating a structure and goals for an advisory council, which is in the early stages of organization.


The meeting was for the western U.P. council, one of two that would be formed in the U.P. Another similar meeting is scheduled for next Saturday in Newberry for an eastern U.P. council.


The impetus for the citizen councils came from regional sportsmen’s meetings at which many residents were unhappy with the DNR. Natural Resources Commission members John Madigan of Munising and J.R. Richardson of Ontonagon and DNR Director Rebecca Humphries came up with the idea of advisory councils in order to have a method of conveying residents’ concerns to the DNR.


Attendees formed small groups and discussed possible answers to three questions about how the council might proceed.


They were asked how good communication could be established between residents and the DNR, what elements would be needed for the council to work, and what challenges the council would need to overcome.


Non-DNR facilitators wrote down the suggestions from each group, which were going to be compiled by DNR staff after the meeting.


Common concerns from the groups included the need for transparency and feedback, whether the council’s recommendations would be listened to, the need for trust between the DNR and citizens, and whether politics would dominate decision-making.


More specific suggestions were made also. One group said the council should be structured with an executive committee, then sub-committees and focus groups to handle a wide variety of issues.


Several groups mentioned the need for understanding among people of differing opinions, and suggested the representation on the council should be as broad as possible. Others noted Marquette was not a central gathering place for the western U.P. and meetings should be held more centrally, or else rotated among locations.


Don Seymour, a member of the U.P. Whitetails who attended as an interested citizen, spoke about his experience in the 1960s as a member of a DNR citizens advisory council in the Delta County area. He said the council disbanded after a few years because its recommendations never resulted in action or a response from Lansing.


“If we don’t hear feedback when they discuss these things, even a couple of times a year, we are for naught,” Seymour said.


His concern was echoed by other attendees, who wanted to make sure any recommendations from the councils would at least be responded to with explanations, if not actions from the DNR.


While there was some disagreement in the groups about the specifics, Michigan State University Extension facilitator Linda Rossberg said many of the concerns were still common among the attendees.


“There’s one thing that is real clear in this room, and that’s that you all care,” she told the groups.


Tom Courchaine, U.P. Field Deputy for the DNR, addressed the meeting about the next steps in creating the councils.


He said a Web site was in development and would incorporate requests from the attendees for ways to keep in contact with the DNR and each other. After the eastern U.P. meeting, a charter for the councils will be finalized and the selection process for council members will begin.


“We want to build trust and make sure the feedback loop is there, to make sure there are some victories in this process right on through,” Courchaine said. “It’s going to be an engaged process along the way, and it is going to be a commitment of resources, and our director is committed to giving those resources.”


During the meeting, Humphries said the goal of the councils is for citizens to have input on the DNR’s actions. She added the details of how to do that have yet to emerge, but the meetings’ purpose is to begin with residents’ input and go from there.


“We’re at the very beginning, so I told them, ‘be gracious with us. We’re designing it as we go,’ ” she said.