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Early lessons taught Jim Maturen, 63, of Reed City how heedless human behavior can injure the natural world.
Jim grew up in Essexville, an area where rich wildlife and wetlands had been overshadowed by Bay City's
industrial plants. He recalls fishing out of the Saginaw River and sniffing his catch for chemicals before taking it
home. He hunted ducks at a marsh near Saginaw Bay, but saw all signs of life disappear after the marsh was
filled with fly ash. He and his two brothers even suffered from inhaling cement dust from a neighboring plant,
going to the hospital for pneumonia a total of 12 times.
These childhood lessons imprinted on Jim a love of nature and the strong desire to protect it. An Institute
member since early 1997, he spoke with Outreach Director Anne Stanton last December.
Q: Tell me about your history as a conservationist.
A: I believe that things are an evolutionary process. When you have kids and you're busy, you don't look at
things. But after my kids were grown, I thought, "Hey things are worse for my grandkids now than when I grew
up, and things were bad then."
So back in 1983 maybe, I and a couple of other guys co-founded the first local chapter of the National Wild
Turkey Federation at a time when the number of turkeys was decreasing.
We established winter surveys and a winter feeding program. We secured the most severe poaching penalties
possible. We obtained a law that bans hunting wild turkeys over bait. We threatened to shut down a proposed
turkey hunt in the U.P. so that we could transfer 300 turkeys from the U.P. to places where there weren't any. In
1996, we parted ways with the national group and I cofounded the Michigan Wild Turkey Hunters Association.
One thing that we've always done is look in a crystal ball to see how we can enhance things. The vast forests
hold the key to success in northern Michigan.
For this reason, we'll continue to be deeply involved in the management of the Huron Manistee National Forest.
When Friends of the Forest first formed, we were the very first conservation organization to come on board.
We regularly sit down with the timber interests, the Sierra Club, and other groups to hammer out how to manage
a million acres of public land. It hasn't always been smooth riding. We take the same interest in state forests.
Q: You've been on the Osceola County Board of Commissioners for six years. Why did you decide to run?
A: Our creeks and rivers in the Pine River and Muskegon River watersheds were once high quality, deep,
cold trout streams. Now they're ruined from erosion. Old timers talk about catching trout out of streams that no
longer exist. We have health warnings on one of the main branches of the Hersey River because of creosote.
We have 19,000 acres of state forest in our county, all of it designated as timber intensive. The DNR took
this once beautiful biologically diverse forest and made it into a mono-culture of aspen. We have numerous sites
where our drinking water is polluted.
We really have no land use planning. Our whole county is trashed. As a citizen I went to the board and said,
"Take a look at the heritage of our children in this county. The board can certainly make a difference if we try."
They didn't address the problems, so I decided to run.
Q: Have you been able to make a difference?
A: In a way, yes. We were the only county to be involved in planning the designation of the Manistee River
system under the Natural River Act. We're getting together with other counties to manage and restore the
Muskegon River watershed.
On the Pine River we're looking at the cost of repairing 86 road crossings that are causing erosion. Now
when the road commission repairs a bridge, they do a much better job of preventing soil runoff into the river.
This isn't winning the battle, but it certainly makes a difference.
Q: What's your vision for Michigan?
A: I'm a member of the Republican Party, but until we have a change in governing administrations and the
DNR and DEQ are in one unit again working in the same direction, things are not going to get any better.
Q: What suggestions would you give to fellow conservationists?
A: There's a number of good organizations to join, like the Michigan Land Use Institute. But don't just join to
join. If anybody looks right in their backyard, they’ll see there’s a whole lot of things that need fixing. Shame on
them if they don’t take an active role in trying to get some changes.
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