Last week, Aggregate Industries US (AI) gifted its 318-acre Grass Lake Operation (located in Jackson and Washtenaw counties) to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The gifted land is bordered by the Waterloo Recreation Area on three sides and includes frontage on Pond Lily Lake.
The DNR also entered into a non-metallic mineral lease agreement with AI, allowing AI to mine sand and gravel on 50.23 acres of adjacent state-managed land within the Waterloo Recreation Area. Aggregate Industries will also retain non-metallic mineral rights for a portion of the gifted land and the right to maintain and operate its existing processing facility during the term of the lease.
Eighty-nine acres of the land gifted by AI is now open for public recreation.
“It’s a historic partnership between the DNR and AI that has been in the works for more than 10 years,” said Ron Olson, chief of the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. “With this agreement, we are ensuring the integrity of the Waterloo Recreation Area and providing an additional 318 acres of land for public recreation and enjoyment.”
Paul Yauk, lands program manager with the DNR Parks and Recreation Division, said the project received support from Jackson County and Waterloo Township. Friends groups, conservancies and other community groups also stepped up in support of the project.
“People recognized that this agreement provides a huge benefit to the public,” Yauk said. “Surrounded by the Waterloo Recreation Area, it’s a 318-acre land parcel that has many appealing possibilities for outdoor recreation like hiking, birding and wildlife viewing. Once restored, the land will provide important wildlife habitat, including increasingly rare native grassland.”
Aggregated Industries will pay a market rate royalty for the minerals, with all royalties accruing to the State Park Endowment Fund and the Game and Fish Protection Trust Fund, as required by statute.
AI is required to restore all leased lands to native grassland and oak hickory forest, according to DNR specifications.
The non-metallic mineral lease will continue for 10 years with three optional three-year extensions, if extension is in the best interest of the state.
Aggregate Industries has owned the Grass Lake Operation since 1999 and the site has been a key source of materials for Michigan Department of Transportation projects along the nearby I-94 corridor and contributes to the local economy. At full capacity the site operates with seven full-time employees and up to six additional seasonal workers.
The 50.23 acres of state-managed land that will be mined is the site of a former farmstead that the DNR purchased more than 15 years ago. Most of the land is overgrown farm field and young forest, both dominated by non-native invasive plants. The area will be appropriately restored following the mining.
