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.

First, the Citizen’s Committee for Michigan State parks was dissolved during the consolidation of the DNR and DEQ. A new NRC subcommittee has been formed in its place. This web site will continue to operate under the auspices of this new committee.

Second, the Recreation Passport has been signed into law. We have removed our Recreation Passport advocacy  pages and are directing viewers to the DNRE web site for more information on this exciting new program.

It has taken a year and half of political wrangling, but a smart proposal for funding Michigan state parks finally is law. A four-bill package was signed Wednesday by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The bills create a state park passport that will go into effect in October. The passport will do away with daily entry fees for Michigan residents and reduce the cost of annual admission from $24 to $10.

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.

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Shortly after 3pm today, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed the four state park funding bills –known collectively 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.

West Michigan tourism officials are pleased by passage of a plan that will allow Michigan motorists to visit state parks by paying a $10 fee when they renew their vehicle license plates each year.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to sign the plan into law.

Bills setting up a state parks passport system were finalized Thursday by the Michigan Legislature and are headed to Granholm’s desk.

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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.”

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.

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.

Some local lawmakers championed a smart idea for fixing this problem — a “Parks Passport” plan that would change the $24 annual fee system to a $10 fee on license plates for Michigan residents who opt in to the plan.

The Passport plan got shoved aside in December by House Speaker Andy Dillon, who said lawmakers needed to concentrate on school reforms. But he also pledged that the legislation could come back to life this month.

Sen. Patty Birkholz, R-Saugatuck, and others spearheading this idea should hold him to that promise. This legislation deserves to pass, and promptly.

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Caught in the sad malingering that has become a Lansing hallmark, Michigan’s state parks continue to deteriorate without sustainable funding.

Lawmakers need to proceed promptly when they return this month with a plan to offer annual park admission to car owners as they renew their license plates.

If one in every five drivers signs on for the $10 fee, the program will raise a bit more than park admission fees do now (at a cost of $6 a day or $24 for an annual pass).

If half of drivers sign on, parks funding will improve greatly — allowing superintendents to start tackling their backlogged maintenance projects. The legislation also designates some of the new revenue for local parks, state forest trails and other minor categories.

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