More than 900,000 acres of state forest were affected by the March 28-30 ice storm. This is a site in the state forest near Gaylord.
The completion of the new, 10-year State Forest Management Plan will be delayed by at least a year following the devastating ice storm that struck northern Michigan March 28-30, the state Department of Natural Resources announced today.
This historic storm coated trees with more than an inch of ice in some areas, causing widespread damage in the northeastern Lower Peninsula. More than 900,000 acres of state forest land were affected, with trees of many species incurring varying levels of damage.
Damage assessment of stands and existing treatments is underway, and timber salvage harvests have begun. Both are being tracked closely to gauge their impact on the plan.
Storm damage spans across the entirety of five management areas: Avery Hills, Emmet Moraines, Huron Sandy Lake Plain, Presque Isle Lake and Till Plains, and Wolverine Moraines. Three additional areas – High Sand Plains, Camp Grayling and Kalkaska Sandy Moraines – were partially affected.
Once modeling is updated to account for storm damage, the DNR’s planning team will then need to produce new harvest targets, wildlife habitat outputs, current and future age-class distributions and volume estimations, among other calculations.
The revised plan will then go through another formal review process including external and internal feedback. Future updates and additional information regarding state forest planning can be found on the DNR’s state forest planning website. The projected final approval date is June 2026.
If you have additional thoughts regarding what should be included in the planning process and the new plan, contact Dan Heckman at HeckmanD@Michigan.gov.
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