To: The Michigan State House, The Michigan State Senate, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer
MI Senate Bill 78: Michigan's Natural Resource Legacy Threatened
Oppose Michigan Senate Bill 78 and keep biodiversity as an important factor in natural resource management.
Why is this important?
Michigan's legacy as a leader in natural resource management and conservation is being threatened by the "Anti-biodiversity Act", Senate Bill 78 (SB78).
SB78 would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (Act 451 of 1994). Specifically, the bill would amend PART 355 (Biological Diversity Conservation) and Part 525 (Sustainable Forestry on State Forestlands) to do the following:
-- Prohibit the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the Natural Resources Commission from promulgating or enforcing a rule or an order that designates or classifies an area of land specifically for the purpose of achieving or maintaining biological diversity.
-- Delete the conservation of biological diversity from the MDNR's duties regarding forest management, and require the Department to balance its management activities with economic values.
-- Eliminate a requirement that the MDNR manage forests in a manner that promotes restoration.
-- Provide that a State department or agency would not have to designate or classify an area of land specifically for the purpose of achieving or maintaining biological diversity.
-- Revise the definition of "conservation" with regard to biological diversity.
-- Delete a legislative finding that most losses of biological diversity are unintended consequences of human activity.
Why this Matters:
The MDNR has considered biodiversity in its land management decisions for over 100 years, which has successfully restored the health of forests after decades of deforestation and helped to recover wildlife populations enough to remove them from the endangered species list.
SB78 would needlessly undercut longstanding and important protections that are helping restore Michigan’s natural resources and safeguard the genetic diversity of plants and animals managed on state lands.
The “Anti-Biodiversity Act” prevents the DNR from acting under the Endangered Species Act or a number of other laws to promote and restore biodiversity on public lands. It jeopardizes almost $22 million in federal funding for forest management and puts Michigan’s sustainable forestry certificates that cover 3.9 million acres across the state at risk.
This decision is a short-sighted approach that rejects science and sustainability. This stifles our ability to ensure our forests, native plants and wildlife will be here for future generations.
As stated by Sen. Rebekah Warren from Ann Arbor, this bill would “make Michigan look like a laughingstock to the scientific community around the country."
It is up to us to warn our legislature that SB78 is irresponsible, lacks common-sense, void of basic ecological principles, and will damage our reputation as a leader in natural resource management.
SB78 would amend the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (Act 451 of 1994). Specifically, the bill would amend PART 355 (Biological Diversity Conservation) and Part 525 (Sustainable Forestry on State Forestlands) to do the following:
-- Prohibit the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the Natural Resources Commission from promulgating or enforcing a rule or an order that designates or classifies an area of land specifically for the purpose of achieving or maintaining biological diversity.
-- Delete the conservation of biological diversity from the MDNR's duties regarding forest management, and require the Department to balance its management activities with economic values.
-- Eliminate a requirement that the MDNR manage forests in a manner that promotes restoration.
-- Provide that a State department or agency would not have to designate or classify an area of land specifically for the purpose of achieving or maintaining biological diversity.
-- Revise the definition of "conservation" with regard to biological diversity.
-- Delete a legislative finding that most losses of biological diversity are unintended consequences of human activity.
Why this Matters:
The MDNR has considered biodiversity in its land management decisions for over 100 years, which has successfully restored the health of forests after decades of deforestation and helped to recover wildlife populations enough to remove them from the endangered species list.
SB78 would needlessly undercut longstanding and important protections that are helping restore Michigan’s natural resources and safeguard the genetic diversity of plants and animals managed on state lands.
The “Anti-Biodiversity Act” prevents the DNR from acting under the Endangered Species Act or a number of other laws to promote and restore biodiversity on public lands. It jeopardizes almost $22 million in federal funding for forest management and puts Michigan’s sustainable forestry certificates that cover 3.9 million acres across the state at risk.
This decision is a short-sighted approach that rejects science and sustainability. This stifles our ability to ensure our forests, native plants and wildlife will be here for future generations.
As stated by Sen. Rebekah Warren from Ann Arbor, this bill would “make Michigan look like a laughingstock to the scientific community around the country."
It is up to us to warn our legislature that SB78 is irresponsible, lacks common-sense, void of basic ecological principles, and will damage our reputation as a leader in natural resource management.