Rivers At Risk

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Introduction

***
The Pigeon River plan proved that high energy
production and habitat protection are compatible.
The setback for Michigan's public interest is that
the planning process did not continue as the
standard for development of public resources.
***

(continued from previous page)
In a distinct departure from the careful analysis and high-minded debate that characterized the formation of
the Pigeon River Plan, the tapping of the Antrim reserve a decade later is more like a 19th-century free-for-all.
The $1.5 billion infrastructure investment, heavily subsidized by the state and federal governments, has
produced thousands of miles of new roads and pipelines, and hundreds of processing plants. Ugly muddy
swatches were cut out of more than one million acres of forest. Rivers and streams have deteriorated in the
region's most sensitive forest environments.
- Ongoing Damage -
The damage from the state's mismanagement of the Antrim Shale development is ongoing. Some vivid
examples follow:
•The 22,000-acre state forest in Antrim County's Jordan River Valley surrounds a clean and picturesque
river as close to its natural condition as any in Michigan. Under a land use management policy established in
1975, the DNR barred all industrial development in the Jordan Valley, including drilling for oil and gas. But
for two years, energy developers have sought aggressively to negate the management plan and gain permits to
drill in the Jordan. Initially, they were aided by senior officials in the Administration of Gov. John Engler.
•The Blue Lakes Ranch area of the Pigeon River Country State Forest is 2,608 acres of clean lakes, Black
River frontage, and unbroken woods that was purchased by the DNR to protect its unique and environmentally
sensitive character. In 1990 the state paid $1.9 million for the tract from the Natural Resources Trust Fund.
The DNR has managed Blue Lakes as an area off-limits to wheeled motor vehicles. Now the state's largest
developer of Antrim Shale gas, Terra Energy, has applied for permits to drill test wells in the Blue Lakes, a
move that also could lead to new roads, pipelines, and a noisy compressing station.
• Other exquisite natural areas being eyed for development by the energy industry include the watersheds
of the Au Sable, Betsie, Black, Boardman, Jordan, Manistee, Pigeon, Sturgeon, and Thunder Bay rivers. All
are among the cleanest and least developed rivers in the nation.
Why The Model Was Abandoned
There are several reasons why the hydrocarbon development planning model was abandoned:
•The new conservative administration led by Gov. Engler was hostile to the planning approach, and sought
instead to aid the energy industry by lowering regulatory barriers and making publicly-owned natural
resources more easily available to them.
• Energy companies did not want to continue to engage in what they considered an effective but time-
consuming management process.
•The capacity of state agencies to oversee the oil and gas industry was dramatically reduced. From 1988,
when Antrim Shale development began, to 1995, the staff of the DNR/DEQ Geological Survey Division was
cut by 50%.
•While small, all-volunteer grass roots groups in northern Michigan sounded the alarm, the state's bigger
environmental groups were immersed in other programs and agendas, and did not immediately respond to the
sudden industrialization of the north woods.
Michigan Energy Reform Coalition Initiative
In 1995, six grass roots conservation groups and a Manistee County township formed the Michigan Energy
Reform Coalition (MERC), a statewide alliance to gain greater public oversight of Antrim Shale natural gas
development. The coalition, managed by the Michigan Land Use Institute, has grown to 24 organizations and
township governments representing more than 200,000 state residents.
•As one of its four core goals, MERC identified the need to "protect Michigan's rivers, streams, and lakes
by requiring the oil and gas industry to prepare hydrocarbon development plans, based on the Pigeon River
model, before new wells are drilled or any additional permits are issued in sensitive watersheds."
• Asecond goal is to establish a non-renewable energy fee on producers to offset the damage to
communities and assist in paying for the design and implementation of hydrocarbon development plans.
This report outlines the intensive work needed to meet the requirements of MERC's first goal. An
accompanying effort is underway to build the constituency for achieving the second.
•••••••



Introduction
Introduction		* The Pigeon River plan proved that high energy production and habitat protection are compatible. The setback for Michigan's public interest is that the planning process did not continue as the standard for development of public resources. *
	(continued from previous page) In a distinct departure from the careful analysis and high-minded debate that characterized the formation of the Pigeon River Plan, the tapping of the Antrim reserve a decade later is more like a 19th-century free-for-all. The $1.5 billion infrastructure investment, heavily subsidized by the state and federal governments, has produced thousands of miles of new roads and pipelines, and hundreds of processing plants. Ugly muddy swatches were cut out of more than one million acres of forest. Rivers and streams have deteriorated in the region's most sensitive forest environments. - Ongoing Damage - The damage from the state's mismanagement of the Antrim Shale development is ongoing. Some vivid examples follow: •The 22,000-acre state forest in Antrim County's Jordan River Valley surrounds a clean and picturesque river as close to its natural condition as any in Michigan. Under a land use management policy established in 1975, the DNR barred all industrial development in the Jordan Valley, including drilling for oil and gas. But for two years, energy developers have sought aggressively to negate the management plan and gain permits to drill in the Jordan. Initially, they were aided by senior officials in the Administration of Gov. John Engler. •The Blue Lakes Ranch area of the Pigeon River Country State Forest is 2,608 acres of clean lakes, Black River frontage, and unbroken woods that was purchased by the DNR to protect its unique and environmentally sensitive character. In 1990 the state paid $1.9 million for the tract from the Natural Resources Trust Fund. The DNR has managed Blue Lakes as an area off-limits to wheeled motor vehicles. Now the state's largest developer of Antrim Shale gas, Terra Energy, has applied for permits to drill test wells in the Blue Lakes, a move that also could lead to new roads, pipelines, and a noisy compressing station. • Other exquisite natural areas being eyed for development by the energy industry include the watersheds of the Au Sable, Betsie, Black, Boardman, Jordan, Manistee, Pigeon, Sturgeon, and Thunder Bay rivers. All are among the cleanest and least developed rivers in the nation. Why The Model Was Abandoned There are several reasons why the hydrocarbon development planning model was abandoned: •The new conservative administration led by Gov. Engler was hostile to the planning approach, and sought instead to aid the energy industry by lowering regulatory barriers and making publicly-owned natural resources more easily available to them. • Energy companies did not want to continue to engage in what they considered an effective but time- consuming management process. •The capacity of state agencies to oversee the oil and gas industry was dramatically reduced. From 1988, when Antrim Shale development began, to 1995, the staff of the DNR/DEQ Geological Survey Division was cut by 50%. •While small, all-volunteer grass roots groups in northern Michigan sounded the alarm, the state's bigger environmental groups were immersed in other programs and agendas, and did not immediately respond to the sudden industrialization of the north woods. Michigan Energy Reform Coalition Initiative In 1995, six grass roots conservation groups and a Manistee County township formed the Michigan Energy Reform Coalition (MERC), a statewide alliance to gain greater public oversight of Antrim Shale natural gas development. The coalition, managed by the Michigan Land Use Institute, has grown to 24 organizations and township governments representing more than 200,000 state residents. •As one of its four core goals, MERC identified the need to "protect Michigan's rivers, streams, and lakes by requiring the oil and gas industry to prepare hydrocarbon development plans, based on the Pigeon River model, before new wells are drilled or any additional permits are issued in sensitive watersheds." • Asecond goal is to establish a non-renewable energy fee on producers to offset the damage to communities and assist in paying for the design and implementation of hydrocarbon development plans. This report outlines the intensive work needed to meet the requirements of MERC's first goal. An accompanying effort is underway to build the constituency for achieving the second. •••••••