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Drilling Begins, Protest Builds
Months later, the industry's intention became vividly clear.As the snow melted in the spring of 1969,
exploration and drilling crews rushed into the region.
Jerry Myers, a DNR fisheries research technician, watched dozens of trucks rolling out of Vanderbilt each
day to conduct seismic operations. In May 1969, Mr. Kellum saw a drilling rig in newly cleared woods near
the Osmun Trail. Amonth later, Shell confirmed the existence of potentially huge reserves of oil and gas a
mile beneath the surface in the Niagaran formation.
The movement to block energy development in the Pigeon River Country State Forest began shortly
afterwards. Mr. Kellum organized opposition within the DNR and among conservationists in the area. The
movement emerged publicly for the first time in February 1970, when the Pigeon River Audubon Club
distributed a resolution, drafted by Mr. Kellum, that opposed drilling in the forest. The resolution was mailed
to other Audubon chapters around the state to collect signatures.
Later that spring, an event occurred deep in the woods of Otsego County that proved to be the decisive
motivating factor for the industry, the state, and opponents. In May 1970, Shell Oil began tearing down trees
to widen a little-traveled scenic road, House's Lost Cabin Trail, that wound along the edge of the impassable
Black River swamp. The road construction, which Shell needed to move enormous drilling rigs, began days
after the DNR had granted the company a permit to drill a well in Corwith Township.
The sight of toppled trees, mounds of dirt, and acres of mud stirred up by the bulldozers aroused hundreds
of residents. They viewed the construction as a permanent scarring of forest that had lain essentially untouched
since the lumbering era. The public movement to prevent more new roads gained strength at the end of June,
when Shell struck oil at its Charlton 1-4 well. Five days later, 700 people crowded into a DNR public hearing
in Petoskey, most of them to voice their opposition to the development.
Within the DNR, the drilling initiated staff strife. Foresters and biologists urged the agency to go slow on
issuing new drilling permits. In a private meeting with Warren Shapton, the DNR Deputy Director, Mr. Kellum
vowed to retire and fight the agency if more drilling permits were issued in the Pigeon River Country.
In the meantime, the companies pressed ahead. During the summer of 1970, five more wells were drilled.
Three struck oil and gas, an exceptional rate of recovery. Mr. Kellum then quit the DNR and began traveling
the state to stop the development. He visited newspaper editorial boards, spoke at public meetings, and
appeared before the Natural Resources Commission (NRC), the citizen body that oversees the DNR.
The commissioners were sympathetic. At an NRC meeting in August 1970, Mr. Kellum put forward the
first substantive proposal to protect the forest. He urged the state to set aside 120 square miles of land, most of
it in public ownership, for a semi-wilderness to be managed with special resource protections, including those
for energy leasing and drilling. The wild area, said Mr. Kellum, would include all of the Pigeon River State
Forest in the northwest corner of Otsego County, and parts of three other neighboring state forests. |
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Governor Brings AHalt To Drilling
The idea was welcomed by Michigan's press, by citizens, and by
Gov. William G. Milliken.
On September 16, 1970, in an action that would change the
political dynamic of the debate, Gov. Milliken sent a letter to E. M.
Laitala, chairman of the Natural Resources Commission. In it, the
Republican governor called for a moratorium on leasing in the Pigeon
River Country until a thorough review of state leasing policy and of
the law for regulating energy development could be completed.
"I have great concern about potential environmental intrusion and
encroachment from oil and gas drilling in this important scenic state
forest area," said Gov. Milliken.
The letter had a dramatic effect. It alerted state residents, the
DNR, and the oil industry that advocates for protecting the Pigeon
River Country had a champion in the Governor's Office. The letter
also bestowed on Ford Kellum a measure of credibility and prestige
that was unattainable in any other way.And it elevated the battle in
the Pigeon River into a major political event, one to which citizens,
public officials, and the news media paid close attention.
On October 9, 1970, the Natural Resources Commission ordered a
halt to drilling in the Pigeon River Country pending an evaluation of
state energy development policy.
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