Latest news with #LittleTraverseBayBandsofOdawaIndians
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Little Traverse Conservancy makes final fundraising push toward Boyne City land acquisition
BOYNE CITY — Another plot of land could be preserved in Northern Michigan if the Little Traverse Conservancy can reach its $3 million fundraising goal by May 31. The group is looking to acquire what's locally known as "White Mountain" — 654 acres of land in Charlevoix County overlooking Boyne City and Lake Charlevoix. According to Emily Hughes, Chief Development Officer for the Little Traverse Conservancy, the $3 million includes the purchase price of the land and the funds necessary to care for the land — both immediately and in the future. "We need to have a certain amount of money ready to go to be able to protect this property forever," Hughes said. "We also want to have funds to care for the property as soon as we acquire it, and also 100, 200 years down the road." A portion of the $3 million will go towards a long-term endowment that the conservancy uses for operations and long-term care for all the properties the group owns. The conservancy already has $2.4 million raised for the project. If the conservancy is able to acquire the land, the anonymous lead donor group asked that the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians name the property, so the final name of the land will be in both Anishinaabemowin and English. The additional money raised will help the group in their mission of permanently protecting the 654 acres of land, preserving the wildlife habitat and forest ecosystems, and open the land for future public enjoyment. Hughes said if the conservancy is able to acquire the land, the group will be able to spend some time getting to know the land with the stewardship team and determining the best care and management plan for the area. She added that once the conservancy owns the property, people are able to use it. Signage and mapping won't be up immediately, but could come in time. More: Little Traverse Conservancy plans mix of outdoor events: See what's scheduled this spring Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage Hughes said the community's interest and wants will lead their decisions, so a thorough trail system could be on the property in five or 10 years, or the land could be kept as a wild property if that's what the public wants more. What they know about the property now is that there is a lot of diversity within the wooded areas of the land, and there are a lot of two-track trails already on the property. To learn more or to donate to the cause, visit or call the conservancy at (231) 347-0991. — Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@ Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN. This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Little Traverse Conservancy works toward White Mountain property buy in Boyne City
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Up North residents hit by ice storm endure cold, power outages: 'How are we gonna manage?'
Elizabeth Montez, 44, lives in the rural outskirts of Harbor Springs. When severe ice storms swept through northern Michigan last month, she and her family hunkered down in a Traverse City hotel. When Montez returned to her home, "it was like driving into an apocalypse." Montez, a member of the Waganikising Odawa (Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians), told the Free Press she had been without power for about two weeks after the storms. She and her family — a husband and two children, ages six and 11 — finally received power back Saturday night. "We realized, like, oh my gosh, how are we gonna manage in this house that's 40 degrees with two little kids and stuff? So we bundled up," Montez said. "We all slept in one bed to keep each other warm and everything. It was really scary because we could still hear all of the trees falling all around." Montez had no power, water, or heat for nearly two weeks — and she couldn't work her remote job without internet and power. She has spent the month of April scrambling to keep her family warm while making sure she can keep her job. And she says she's not alone. As crews work to address the damage and reconnect residents to the power grid — which is operated in northern counties by Great Lakes Energy — rural citizens like Montez feel like they've been left behind in the aftermath of a storm that prompted a state of emergency declaration from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer doubled down Friday, requesting a Presidential Emergency Declaration following her White House visit with President Donald Trump. 'Approval of this request would bring critical federal resources to support local response operations that are still ongoing,' said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the Michigan State Police. Meredith Migizi's team at Miigwech Inc. in Alanson is on the ground addressing the emergency every day. To her, help can't come soon enough. Migizi's community center, Miigwech Inc., usually aims to serve the indigenous population in Emmet County. But Migizi, who herself is Wagankising Odawa, said she has been serving hundreds of people — indigenous or not — from half a dozen different counties across the state as people cope with the fallout. "We typically service indigenous folks, right?" Migizi said. "But anybody who walks through those doors, if they need something, we provide it." Migizi said she is still seeing life-or-death situations two weeks after the storm concluded. Recently, an elderly man has been using the electricity available at Miigwech to charge his wife's glucose monitor. "That's a life or death situation with his wife. I mean, those are the types of situations that people need to know about," Migizi said. She feels like her community up north — indigenous and nonindigenous alike — has been left behind. While power has been restored to suburban centers like Petoskey, rural residents at the top of the mitten continue to struggle without power. "You can definitely see the haves and have-nots of this situation," Migizi said. "Because when I drive into — to me personally — when I drive into Petoskey, it's like nothing ever happened and people are just cleaning their yards. Meanwhile, my neighbors are still without heat, water, and electricity." Montez said the same: "Everything was directed back to Petoskey, but it was the rural people who were most affected, and yet we had the least support out here." Migizi said everyone is affected, from rural residents to visitors who have summer homes up north. She worries that seasonal travelers may be shocked to see the idyllic landscape ravaged by widespead ecological damage. On Monday, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources told MLive that nearly 1 million acres of state forests have been damaged. "The Anishinaabe part of me is like, this is a bigger ecological issue that I don't think people are realizing," Migizi said. "Those folks coming up at the end of May, thinking that they can just open up their cottage, are in for a rude awakening." DNR Cleanup map: Thousands still without power in Michigan. Officials share resource links, cleanup map Outside of Montez's Emmet County home, a tree laid toppled on a powerline feeding into her house. She first reported the damaged line two or three days after returning home. Then, she reported it again. After a few days without the line being serviced, she reported it again. "I have this really damaged line that I've reported three times over 10 days at that point, and there's power coming to our meter, but our line is damaged," Montez said. Without a response from Great Lakes Energy, she called an electrician. "And the electrician was like, 'This is so dangerous, you guys. You know, this is how house fires start. You guys are in danger,'" Montez recalled. It was only after the electrician sent a "strongly worded email" to Great Lakes Energy that the fire hazard was fixed. "At that point, we were 10 days into it, they sent someone out immediately," Montez said. "But it had been 10 days and I had reported it three times; no one had bothered to come disconnect this really dangerous line." Migizi said stories like Montez' are common in her community. Support from the county and the state has been hard to come by, and the communication has been difficult to understand. "And it's bad enough that people are without power and their homes are destroyed, but then the people that are supposed to be helping them don't even know what's going on," Migizi said. Great Lakes Energy's online outage map indicates there are still nearly 2,000 people without power in their service area — with a majority of outages in Otsego, Charlevoix, Montmorency and Emmet counties. Outages are down substantially from reports last week, which indicated 1,700 homes were without power in Emmet County on Friday. In a video address posted to YouTube Thursday, President and CEO of Great Lakes Energy Shaun Lamp said he expected service to be restored to a majority of customers soon. "The damage caused by this storm is unprecedented. Please understand with damage of this scale what we share today may change," Lamp said. "The situation is shifting hour by hour as new damage continues to be uncovered as we work in the more remote areas." Great Lakes Energy did not respond to Free Press requests for comment. As power trickles back to rural communities up North, Migizi is frustrated with the strain the storm has put on her community, but she is willing to do what it takes to help people get by. Donations of any kind — either in the form of gas cards so people can stay warm in their car or simple necessities, like menstrual products — can be sent online through a Help Link or in person. They are necessary and appreciated, Migizi said. "It may seem silly, but I'll take hard donations at this point if it means we can get it into the hands of our community," Migizi said. Serving her community through a crisis is all in the name, she said. "Miigwech (Incorporated) is called Miigwech because it literally means 'I have what I need,'" Migizi said. "And then in modern times, it means 'thank you.' There's a reason that we're called Miigwech, and anybody that comes through that door, I'm hoping that they're leaving saying Miigwech because at least they have what they need." Contact Liam Rappleye: LRappleye@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Northern Michigan residents still without power weeks after ice storm
CBS News
11-04-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Whitmer asks Trump for federal disaster help toward ice storm recovery in Northern Michigan
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made a written request for a presidential emergency declaration on the Northern Michigan ice storm of March 28-30 , citing an estimated cost of over $65 million that will be involved with restoration efforts. "We are bringing an all-hands-on-deck approach to help get the power back on, clear roads, and keep people safe. I declared a state of emergency, deployed the National Guard, and took key steps to expedite recovery. But our work is just beginning," she said on social media, when announcing this step. A formal request from the appropriate state official is part of the process for applying for a presidential declaration and assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Whitmer's letter, dated Friday, related that she mentioned the weather disaster when meeting President Trump Wednesday at the White House. "Parts of northern Michigan have been devastated by recent extreme weather and we're in need of federal assistance," the governor's letter said. "I request that you declare on an expedited basis an emergency for the State of Michigan and the counties of Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Mackinac, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otsego, and Presque Isle as a result of impactful winter weather that resulted in extreme and severe ice accumulation that began on March 28, 2025, and lasted until March 30, 2025." The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians also asked to join with the state of Michigan in this effort, Whitmer's letter adds. Accumulations of up to 1.5 inches of ice fell across a large region of Northern Michigan during the storm. Interstate and state highways had to shut down in some counties. The fallen trees and high winds caused power outages that still linger for thousands in the state. Local and state agencies, along with volunteers, have been assessing the damage and providing services to residents, such as a warm place to stay for those who have no heat at home. Other specific relief efforts cited in her letter include: "While local and tribal governments are still actively responding to the incident and have not been able to provide comprehensive, substantiated cost estimates, electric utility cooperatives alone estimate their response costs to exceed $65 million. This does not yet include damages incurred by municipal utilities or private utilities that would not be eligible for federal assistance under the Stafford Act." Furthermore, her letter relates that many of the residents in the affected counties are reliant upon retirement income or government assistance programs, with a higher rate of poverty and unemployment than average when compared to the United States and the State of Michigan.
