DEDICATION AS A UNIT

The name PIGEON RIVER COUNTRY for this area has been established through use by people over the years. It appears as the title on maps and documents prepared and published by the Department of Natural Resources. It has been officially adopted in the name of the Pigeon River Country Association, a primarily local association of lay persons deeply interested in the area.

Although the area was previously managed as a State Forest unit, in recent years, after an effort to equalize work loads of foresters and to use County lines where possible as forest unit boundaries, the State lands have been parts of four separately-administered State Forests. (Pigeon River State Forest, Hardwood State Forest, Black Lake State Forest and Thunder Bay River State Forest.)

Present Pigeon River Country Administration

42% -- 34,8?5 acres Pigeon River State Forest - Otsego County
36% -- 31,599 acres Hardwood State Forest - Cheboygan County
21% -- 15,674 acres Black Lake State Forest - Cheboygan and Presque Isle Counties
1% -- 635 acres Thunder Bay River State Forest - Montmorency County
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Total = 82,785 acres

(intermingled within this area are an additional 9,763 acres of private lands.)

This area should be recognized, named, dedicated, administered and managed as a cohesive unit. Neither cover on the land, wildlife, water nor visitors recognize county or township lines as divisions of the area. Conditions and uses do vary considerably within the pro posed boundaries, but not on political lines.

Management as a unit, including planning, is essential to achieve a regular, coordinated flow of those actions necessary to the maintenance of conditions beneficial to wildlife, aesthetics and popular uses. Cover manipulation for conditions to satisfy both wildlife and people needs unit consideration in management. Administration under one forester, with supporting staff, will make this possible.

The unit needs an official name. It is enjoyed by people as a distinctive area. It should have a headquarters for visitors and administration, which it once had as the original Pigeon River State Forest. There is ample reason for it to be named, designated and placed under the supervisory responsibility of an Area Forester with necessary assistants.

What is needed now is a purposeful deviation from the general pattern with the intention of achieving the specific set of objectives designed for this particular area. This is not just another State Forest. This is the Pigeon River Country, with its own character and potentials. It has its own capabilities and needs. Management here should have some elements of difference, suited to this area and to the attainment of objectives designed for this particular area. This can and will be done within the framework of policies and objectives for dedicated state forest lands, as approved by the Natural Resources Commission in July, 1970.

It is proposed that this area be dedicated as a separate state forest named the Pigeon River Country. This will necessitate redefinition of all affected forest units and renaming of the non-contiguous state forest lands in Otsego County which have recently been administered as parts of the Pigeon River State Forest. Those lands in Otsego County outside the Pigeon River Country will be called the Otsego State Forest.

The Forestry Division of the Department of Natural Resources has had little opportunity in the past to manage any area intensively. It has long been restrained by juvenile forest conditions, a lack of markets for timber, and insufficient personnel and funds to respond to any but critical needs.

With the approval and adoption of this plan, it is expected that the Pigeon River Country, administered as a state forest under this plan, will demonstrate the full benefits of multiple use management as advocated by the Department of Natural Resources.

The Pigeon River Country is indeed a special possession owned by the people of the State of Michigan. As such, it deserves and will get special consideration and careful management to maintain and enhance its unique values and benefits.

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File:COMded.htm 11/27/2001