Speak for the Parks!

Speak for the Parks!

Send Email

What happens when a major industrial project threatens multiple Michigan State Parks, and the state agency responsible for that park won’t speak up?

That question is playing out right now in Southeast Michigan’s Irish Hills.

American Aggregates of Michigan is proposing a large gravel mine in Norvell Township, immediately adjacent to Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve—a refuge for wildlife and migrating birds, a rare wetland, and a place for quiet recreation. The proposed truck route would also pass through Hayes State Park, with approximately 18 trucks an hour. That's one truck every 3½ minutes, traveling between the campground and the beach and boat launch.

This is bigger than one gravel mine: Norvell Township must weigh the proposal’s potential consequences for the community and existing land uses, including the integrity of two state parks.

We are not asking the DNR Parks and Recreation Division (PRD) to evaluate the mine’s technical proposal or predict its impacts. We are asking this agency to do what only it can: establish what is at stake for Michigan’s parks. PRD has specialized knowledge and, by its own stated mission, a responsibility “to protect our natural and cultural resources.” That means helping Norvell Township and the people of Michigan understand what these parks are, what they provide, what Michigan has invested in them, and what public interests could be compromised by a major industrial operation adjacent to one park and heavy truck traffic through another.

 

How You Can Help: Tell The DNR to Establish What's at Stake

Call or write the DNR's PRD Chief Kosick and ask her to provide Norvell Township with a formal statement establishing these three stakes:

  1. What Michigan owns and has invested in at Watkins Lake State Park and Hayes State Park.
  2. What these parks are intended to provide—and what could be affected by a major industrial operation, including natural-resource protection, wildlife habitat, public recreation, and access.
  3. What is at stake for future generations if these public resources or their uses are diminished.

 

If You'd Like, Use This Script

Chief Kosick,

I am contacting you because I am concerned about the proposed American Aggregates gravel mine in Norvell Township and what it could mean for Watkins Lake State Park and Hayes State Park.

I understand that the DNR has no regulatory role in approving the mine, and I am not asking the Parks and Recreation Division to evaluate the project's technical proposal.

I am asking you to speak for the parks.

Please provide Norvell Township with a formal statement identifying what Michigan has invested in these parks, what resources and public uses they are intended to protect and provide, and what could be at stake if this project proceeds as proposed.

Others will bring the technical experts. PRD should speak for the parks.

Your stated mission is to protect Michigan’s natural and cultural resources. Please put that mission into action and tell Norvell Township—and the people of Michigan—what is at stake.

 

Your Support Matters!

With your help, we can protect Michigan’s investment and defend the public trust. This is not simply about one gravel mine in one Michigan township. It is about whether Michigan’s state parks have a voice when the public lands we have entrusted to the state are at risk. We need your voice!

What happens when a major industrial project threatens multiple Michigan State Parks, and the state agency responsible for that park won’t speak up?

That question is playing out right now in Southeast Michigan’s Irish Hills.

American Aggregates of Michigan is proposing a large gravel mine in Norvell Township, immediately adjacent to Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve—a refuge for wildlife and migrating birds, a rare wetland, and a place for quiet recreation. The proposed truck route would also pass through Hayes State Park, with approximately 18 trucks an hour. That's one truck every 3½ minutes, traveling between the campground and the beach and boat launch.

This is bigger than one gravel mine: Norvell Township must weigh the proposal’s potential consequences for the community and existing land uses, including the integrity of two state parks.

We are not asking the DNR Parks and Recreation Division (PRD) to evaluate the mine’s technical proposal or predict its impacts. We are asking this agency to do what only it can: establish what is at stake for Michigan’s parks. PRD has specialized knowledge and, by its own stated mission, a responsibility “to protect our natural and cultural resources.” That means helping Norvell Township and the people of Michigan understand what these parks are, what they provide, what Michigan has invested in them, and what public interests could be compromised by a major industrial operation adjacent to one park and heavy truck traffic through another.

 

How You Can Help: Tell The DNR to Establish What's at Stake

Call or write the DNR's PRD Chief Kosick and ask her to provide Norvell Township with a formal statement establishing these three stakes:

  1. What Michigan owns and has invested in at Watkins Lake State Park and Hayes State Park.
  2. What these parks are intended to provide—and what could be affected by a major industrial operation, including natural-resource protection, wildlife habitat, public recreation, and access.
  3. What is at stake for future generations if these public resources or their uses are diminished.

 

If You'd Like, Use This Script

Chief Kosick,

I am contacting you because I am concerned about the proposed American Aggregates gravel mine in Norvell Township and what it could mean for Watkins Lake State Park and Hayes State Park.

I understand that the DNR has no regulatory role in approving the mine, and I am not asking the Parks and Recreation Division to evaluate the project's technical proposal.

I am asking you to speak for the parks.

Please provide Norvell Township with a formal statement identifying what Michigan has invested in these parks, what resources and public uses they are intended to protect and provide, and what could be at stake if this project proceeds as proposed.

Others will bring the technical experts. PRD should speak for the parks.

Your stated mission is to protect Michigan’s natural and cultural resources. Please put that mission into action and tell Norvell Township—and the people of Michigan—what is at stake.

 

Your Support Matters!

With your help, we can protect Michigan’s investment and defend the public trust. This is not simply about one gravel mine in one Michigan township. It is about whether Michigan’s state parks have a voice when the public lands we have entrusted to the state are at risk. We need your voice!

Speak For MI Parks: Tell Chief Kosick to Establish What's at Stake

Where do you live?

Compose your email

How we use the data you enter on this form

Do Gooder (the advocacy platform powering this online action) processes personal information from you that you enter on this form so that we can provide the functions and related services to you and The Campaigner (the organisation responsible for this online action) for their legitimate purposes, including possibly exporting it to other systems, and to effectively respond to enquiries and communications related to those services.

Specifically when you enter:

  • Your location data (residential address or postcode) it is used to locate your elected representative, to pre-populate your email signature and to provide The Campaigner with a visualisation of the location of the support for this campaign.

  • All other data you may enter, including your email address, name, telephone number, commentary and so on is used by The Campaigner to advocate for the campaign’s goals and where required may be sent to the target of the campaign.

The data collected by Do Gooder is also used by us in aggregate form to improve the service and may be held on your behalf outside your country of residence by our third party service providers. These providers are bound by contract to only use personal information on our behalf, in accordance with agreed terms. While the privacy laws of the country in which personal information is stored or transferred may be different from those in your country, we will always have safeguards in place when storing or transferring personal information. We will never sell, rent, loan or in any other way pass your information on to other parties other than to provide this service to you and The Campaigner.

The personal information collected by Do Gooder is held subject to a Data Processing Agreement between Do Gooder and The Campaigner in compliance with the EU's GDPR and Australian law.

Learn more about our privacy policy here

How is my data used?