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		Points of View Merle Kindred Posted and Updated May 8, 2003; further updated May 9, 2003. Guest Column © 2003 Merle Kindred. Photo of Swedetown Creek © 2003 Michele Anderson.

Hancock City Council rejects Swedetown Creek grant

HANCOCK -- Efforts to conserve and preserve America's natural resources are being blasted at both the federal and local levels. The cash-strapped State of Michigan has offered the City of Hancock $333,000 under the Great Lakes Coastal Restoration Grant for land acquisition at the Swedetown Creek Corridor, and at the May 7 City Council meeting the offer was rejected.

This vote occurred despite pledges from the Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club (KNSC) and the Keweenaw Land Trust (KLT) to raise $83,000 in matching funds plus a commitment of funds to  handle additional appraisal and other related fees connected with land acquisition for the city. The only responsibility of the city would be to process the paperwork under its letterhead.

Picturesque Swedetown Creek flows along the Maasto Hiihto Cross-Country Ski Trail in Hancock. The Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club and the Keweenaw Land Trust recently raised pledges to match a potential land acquisition grant to preserve the Creek Corridor for habitat conservation and recreation. (March 13, 2003, photo © Michele Anderson)

"The city stands to acquire ownership of $333,000 of globally significant habitat at no cost except for administrative functions," said Valorie Troesch, representing both the KNSC and the KLT. "The full grant amount and $63,000 of the match are allocated toward the purchase price of the land. That amounts to a $396,000 value in land to the City (plus all other expenses paid for by KLT and KNSC)."

The grant application to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) calls for creation of the Swedetown Creek Nature Corridor, which would include about two and a half miles of land along the creek and the surrounding gorge.

The creek and gorge enhance the beauty of the Maasto Hiihto trail system, a multi-use recreational area currently on private land.

Councilors Lisa McKenzie and Mary Tuisku were the only Council members who voted for the grant.

"I am dismayed that the vote (5-2) rejected the acceptance of the grant," said McKenzie. "Believe me, Mary and I are frustrated at every turn that important projects such as this become such work, not only for us, but for those who have done such a service to the community to spearhead such a drive."

It will be critical for all Hancock residents interested in the preservation of this magnificent creek to attend the next City Council meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21, to request that the Council reconsider its position on this one-time, exceptional offer from the State of Michigan.

Learn more about the author of this guest column, Merle Kindred.

Editor's Notes: For background on the grant proposal, see Dean Woodbeck's January 2002 Letter to the Editor, "Trail users ask Hancock to reconsider Swedetown Creek proposal." 

Read about the upcoming Keweenaw Chain Drive Festival June 14-15, 2003, for bikers at both Maasto Hiihto and the Michigan Tech Trails.

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Note: Views expressed by our guest columnists are not necessarily the views of Keweenaw Now.