Great Lakes Access Snag

Pure Michigan is the state slogan that includes boasts to the most publicly accessible freshwater coastline in the world. But those shores you fish may be closed under a new bill being considered in the Senate Natural Resources committee.

Via Michigan United Conservation Clubs: “Senate Bill 1052 (Sen. Tom Casperson, R–Escanaba) stems from a fight between some coastal land owners and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) on the requirement that the owners apply for a permit from the DEQ in order to mow, groom, and remove vegetation between the ordinary high water mark (OHWM) and the water’s edge. The bill would allow Great Lakes property owners the ability to groom their beach up to the water’s edge without getting a permit, and eliminates the law’s reference to the OHWM.

“Past Michigan Supreme Court cases have held that any area of dry or wet land between the water’s edge and the OHWM are subject to the Public Trust Doctrine. As part of the Public Trust Doctrine, the public has the ability to use that area for accessing our four bordering Great Lakes. It does not mean you can set up camp and stay the night there, but using the shoreline for beach walking,  fishing access, and access for other recreation has always in the past been acceptable.”

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