TRAVERSE CITY -- A cherished way of life may be changing in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, with new owners of vast forest tracts putting up fences and reducing public access long taken for granted, says a report issued Wednesday.
For more than a century, residents and visitors have had little trouble finding places to hike, ride snowmobiles, hunt deer and fish for trout across the peninsula. Woodlands cover 8.5 million acres -- 79 percent of its land base -- and the economy is built around forest products and tourism.
About half the forest land is private. Timber and paper companies kept most of it open for public recreation in exchange for tax breaks.
But real estate trusts and investment companies are becoming the U.P.'s new land barons, having bought nearly 1.6 million acres in recent years. They see the forests as an investment rather than just a timber source for mills, says the report by a team of university researchers and environmental groups.
"These new owners have different masters," said Robert Froese, an assistant professor with Michigan Tech University's forestry and environmental science school.
Their long-term plans are not clear, the report says. But such companies are more inclined to sell parcels for real estate. They manage forests for timber but their logging policies may be based more on maximizing profits for far-flung shareholders than the needs of local mills, it says.
Because of its remote location the U.P. is an unlikely candidate for heavy development, said Leefers, a Michigan State University forest economist.
Still, change is already evident. Many longtime outdoor enthusiasts complain about proliferating "No Trespassing" signs keeping them away from prized fishing and viewing spots.
Chopping forestland into parcels usually brings fences, roads, buildings and other structures that disrupt trails and wildlife corridors, the report says.
Some of the peninsula's most beautiful Great Lakes shorelines and stream fronts "are increasingly owned by small private interests and therefore less accessible to the public," Froese said.
The report makes nearly two dozen suggestions for promoting sustainable ownership and management of U.P. woodlands.
Among them: promoting the timber and tourism industries; continuing the commercial forestry tax incentive program; and increasing conservation easements, which grant tax breaks in exchange for limiting development.
It also encourages local governments in the U.P. to use land-use planning and zoning to guide development.
"We take for granted that the U.P. will always be there, that it will provide this great up-north experience," said Brad Garmon, land programs director for the Michigan Environmental Council. "That's part of Michigan's sense of itself."
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