The Michigan Legislature has introduced legislation that, if passed, would be extremely devastating to the state's 3,288 miles of shoreline and coastal wetlands. HB 4257 is cleverly disguised as a tool for beach maintenance activities. The bill allows riparian property landowners to use mechanized means -- plowing, bulldozing, etc. -- to "maintain" their property. Maintenance includes the removal of topsoil, removal of vegetation, and the relocation of naturally deposited sand. The property that would be affected is the land located between the ordinary high water mark and the water edge of Lake Michigan's, Huron's, Erie's, and Superior's public water trust bottomlands. Furthermore, these activities would not be subject to any oversight or environmental review even though they would be occurring on public lands, including wetlands. HB 4257 has already passed the House and is currently in the Senate's Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs. The Senate's version, SB 244, has not made it out of committee. A compromise bill passed through the Senate and is expected to pass through the House. Under the compromise, cottage owners along Saginaw Bay and Grand Traverse Bay, as part of a three-year pilot study, will be able to till weeds and level sand with an approval letter from the Department of Environmental Quality. The beach grooming will be allowed as long as it is not in environmentally sensitive areas. Shoreline owners on areas outside of the study area will still need to apply for a permit before beach grooming can be done. However, beach maintenance, which is considered less intensive than grooming, will be permitted as long as the roots of the vegetation are not destroyed. This compromise is an improvement on the original bill since it limits the amount of damage that can be done to sensitive areas. We should be wary, however, of any bill that destroys public land and natural habitat in the interest of aesthetics.

Ran 4/21/03