The Committee received the White Pine Award for Environmental Excellence for over five years of work to make our state parks better. This work culminated with the recent passage of the Recreation Passport.

The White Pine Award is actually a white pine — Michigan’s state tree — which will likely be planted in a Michigan state park. Senator Patricia Birkholz, Chair of the Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee presented the award and hinted that the tree could be planted in her district.

As a member of the committee, it was very rewarding getting this recognition on the Senate Floor. My Senator John Pappageorge was on hand and was a key supporter of the Recreation Passport. We spoke briefly about the recently passed texting-while-driving legislation. He said he helped push that those infractions to be a primary offense — something we certainly agree with.

– Todd Scott

(Photos by Lori Rhodes)

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Detroit on Two Wheels: Wheelhouse

A short article from Papermag gives some love to the Wheelhouse Detroit, which is now open for business.

Not every form of transportation in the Motor City requires an engine. Wheelhouse Detroit, a bicycle shop in downtown Detroit, that offers rentals, retail, and service. They also offer tours that help make little-known tourist gems more accessible in a city that is spread across many miles.

Detroiters Kelli Kavanaugh and Karen Gage opened Wheelhouse two years ago and they emphasize the ecological practices of their business, including the t-shirts and sustainable water bottles they sell. “Our store is an opportunity to get to talk to people about road safety and spread the word that cars need to share the road with riders,” said Gage, who also works as an urban planner in the city.

Real Detroit also ran a nice article on the shop.

Big plans for the future Detroit

The Detroit Free Press published a big article which compiles the various plans for Detroit — including the greenway and non-motorized plans.

The city plans to put up about 30 miles of bike lanes and more than 12 miles of routes designed for cyclists starting in September in southwest Detroit, near Wayne State and on the east side. The aim is a network of hundreds of miles of biking and walking paths connecting neighborhoods and attractions across the city.

There’s also updates on the RiverWalk and Midtown Loop. The Free Press did a find job creating a map showing bike lane projects planned for this year.

The same issue included an editorial.

For all its troubles today, Detroit is also a place brimming with hope for tomorrow.

When you assemble all the proposals, plans and dreams that have been advanced in recent months, the city of 2020 looks dramatically different than it looks today: smaller, smarter, greener, more mobile, with more job opportunities — and once again the pounding heart of a metropolitan region.

You see thousands of kids attending schools that work for them. You see people using light rail and boarding buses in a transit system that serves them. You see a gleaming, growing medical complex; banners being hoisted to the rafters of a new sports arena; and people tending little farms that nourish their neighborhoods in more ways than one. You see convention-goers strolling a crowded RiverWalk and bicyclists coasting the downhills of a new trail network.

Bicyclists coasting the downhills? It’s a nice thought, but with Detroit being built on a former lake bed, there aren’t going to be many downhills of note.

Michigan residents are winners under new state parks passport law

Howard Meyerson, a columnist with the Grand Rapids Press, has covered the state park funding situation for years. His latest column celebrates the passage of the Recreation Passport legislation. He also shined some light on those that opposed or at least delayed these bills.

It wasn’t an easy passage. The Chamber of Commerce and transportation lobby opposed it. Speaker of the House Andy Dillon held it up over the holidays, reportedly to help an old college buddy, now a transportation lobbyist.

But in the end, wiser heads prevailed.

Yes, wiser heads did prevail. The new payment system begins this October, so everyone will still need to purchase their 2010 Motor Vehicle Pass stickers.

Detroit was represented well at the 10th annual National Bike Summit in DC

And, Model D just published an article on the recent National Bike Summit. They referenced our review of the event. Thanks, Model D!

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Shortly after 3pm today, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed the four state park funding bills — collectively known as the Recreation Passport — into law.

The Department of Natural Resources is now working on Question & Answer sheets that explain the effects of this new fundamental change in how our Michigan state parks as well as state forest recreation, are funded.

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This morning Detroit News published an article on these bills prior to their passage:

“We have not had any general fund support for our parks for almost six years now, and in the meantime the infrastructure continues to deteriorate,” [Senator Patty] Birkholz said. “We’ve barely been able to keep up (with basic maintenance).

“This gives us a way to streamline how we operate our state parks, so that now we can have parks people that were in booths out working in the parks to improve them.”

The Governor is expected to sign the bill package.

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Please contact your State Senator and ask that they support these bills.

HB 5752 passed the Senate last week, was ordered enrolled and was presented to the Governor.

More information on this state park funding legislation, also known as the Recreation Passport, visit the OurMichiganParks.org web site.

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If you care about Michigan’s state parks, forest recreation areas and trails and their contribution to Michigan’s tourism economy, today and tomorrow morning is the time to call your state representative and ask them to support this legislation.

The passport will drop state park annual fees by 60% and allow a convenient, individual option that people will be able to partake of when they register their vehicle every year. By having more people participate, it is expected that enough revenue will come in to maintain and improve our state park infrastructure and award small grants to local community recreation projects.

Thanks to the champions of this legislation: Senator Patricia Birkholz, Senator Raymond Basham, Representative Rebekah Warren, and Rep. Arlan Meekhof.

Let?s give this package one last push! Call your State Representative today! You can go to www.michiganlegislature.org for contact information for your particular legislator.

For more information on state park funding, please visit the OurMichiganParks.org web site.

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While the House speaker initially held up the House vote, it eventually went forward and passed. However, the House passed a different version of the legislation, which now much be reconciled with the Senate version.

According to a report in the Free Press, “Republican State Rep. Arlan Meekhof from West Olive tells The Muskegon Chronicle the bill has bipartisan support and should be passed in January by both legislative chambers.” That article incorrectly says that if passed by both houses and signed by the Governor, it would take effect in April.

If signed into law, the starting date would be October 1st, 2010.

The DNR provided this clarification:

We had several media outlets erroneously report on Monday, Dec. 28, that the Governor signed legislation to create the State Park Passport, the $10 fee added to Michigan license plate renewals that would take the place of the Michigan State Park Motor Vehicle Permit window sticker. This is not true.

Senate Bill 388 originally was a bill to create the State Park Passport; however, the Legislature substituted language in the bill to simply extend the expiration date on the Motor Vehicle Permits to the end of March 2010. This gives them more time to work on the agreement to create the State Park Passport – which has NOT been approved by the Legislature yet.

I would respectfully ask for a correction from any media outlets that reported this, as many DNR offices are getting calls from angry state park users who already purchased a 2010 Motor Vehicle Permit and want a refund. The State Park Passport ($10 license plate fee) has not been approved yet. And if it is approved, it would not take effect until Oct. 1, 2010. In order to enjoy a state park or state recreation area in 2010, people will need to purchase a 2010 Motor Vehicle Permit window sticker, as they have in the past. They are available at any state park, or online at www.michigan.gov/dnr.

You can also keep on top of this critical funding issue at www.OurMichiganParks.org.

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We need Michigan residents to call him, especially those within his district, annd ask that he call for a vote on Senate Bills 388 and 389. His phone number is 517.373.0857.

It might take a minute but it means preserving our state parks for generations to come.

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This vote was a major step forward towards sustainable state park funding.

There’s no knowing how the House will vote, though we did seem to have good support for similar legislation in the House’s Great Lakes and Environment committee.

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There is a summary analysis on-line as well. This analysis provides all the details of what these bills would do if passed and signed into law. There’s also additional information (as well as media coverage links) on the Citizen’s Committee for Michigan State Parks web site.

We urge you to please contact your state senator and state representative and ask that they support these bills to help fund our state parks.

This funding is absolutely critical as the state parks have been kept afloat for years by relying on previous fund balances. Those fund balances are now drained. We should also note that since 2004, no state taxpayer money has gone towards our state parks.

This funding would also be a huge boost to Michigan trails, not only in state parks, but in state forests as well. Those trails are significantly unfunded.

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