The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will not move ahead with proposed projects to extract sand and gravel or establish a tree seed orchard on two parcels of land in Genoa Township, southeast Livingston County.
The DNR had proposed removing excess material and leveling the hilly land on the 50-acre and 77-acre parcels between Brighton Road and Cunningham Lake Road by leasing the rights to mine sand and gravel on the properties. The land now is expected to be sold at auction in the future.
“People in the area have told us that they do not want the DNR to complete this process, and we have listened to their concerns,” said Jeff Stampfly, chief of the DNR’s Forest Resources Division. “Public input has always been an important aspect of proposed forest management activities, whether here or in evaluating other decisions across the state.”
The Forest Resources Division took over management of the two parcels in 2019. The properties had previously been listed as surplus properties by the DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division, which manages the nearby 4,947-acre Brighton Recreation Area.
Public input is part of the process
About 500 people attended an Oct. 12 informational meeting where DNR staff explained the proposed project. Public comment at the meeting was overwhelmingly negative, especially regarding the sand and gravel extraction phase. They also expressed concerns regarding a sodium and chloride groundwater plume on the 77-acre parcel, as well as an old township dump site on the site. The state’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy had determined that the plume was unlikely to be disturbed by the proposed gravel operation.
Stampfly said the location initially seemed like a good fit for needed expansion of the DNR’s Tree Improvement on Chilson Road, but that the department now will seek another site for expansion of seed orchards. Read more
