by Barry Drue

Much has been said and letters to the editor have been typed about the logging project that began last winter on the county-owned 260-acre park at the tip of Pt. Abbaye. The 15-20 acres on the walk to the point were logged this spring and that, more than anything, has drawn attention. So far a total of about 80 acres of the county land has been single-tree marked and selectively logged. The tip and a parcel on the southern end near McBeth Road have been logged. To avoid rutting and ground damage the project has been put on hold. If the winter cooperates with enough cold to freeze the ground the interior of the parcel will be logged after the snow flies. The county park parcel includes about a mile and a half of Lake Superior shoreline. A minimum of a 50-foot buffer will be left there so that totals about 15 acres that won’t be logged. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016, two foresters from JM Longyear, the company that is contracting with Baraga County on the job, walked through a detailed look at the planning and forestry decisions that are going into the project. Tim Schnieder, Longyear’s Forest Operations Manager headquartered in Marquette, and Procurement Forester Kirk Kass, who works out of his home office in Skanee, took the editor around the site. Kass has been the dayin, day-out forester on the ground for the Pt. Abbaye job. He’s a 23-year forester and has been with Longyear for six years. Kass works on private sites generally in Baraga County, and also on jobs in Iron, Houghton and Marquette counties. Kass and Schneider are well aware that Pt. Abbaye is a park, and therefore, not all standard forestry practices to maximize production and future growth are necessarily appropriate. They also realize there is much over-mature, defective and dying timber on the site. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.

by Melissa Lehto
Officials from the Michigan Department of Environmental Health (MDEQ) held an informational and question/ answer session at the L’Anse High School cafetorium on Wednesday, Sept 7, 2016, from 7-9 pm regarding the L’Anse Warden Electric Company (LWEC). Approximately 50 community members gathered in the cafetorium along with the officials from the MDEQ. Chris Hare, MDEQ Supervisor, opened the meeting with a PowerPoint presentation, outlining the investigations done to date of the LWEC, the enforcement process, the compliance plan and the proposed permit and consent order, and to notify the community of a public hearing (if requested) on Sept 28, from 7-9 pm at the L’Anse High School cafetorium. According to Catherine Andrews of L’Anse, the public hearing has been formally requested. Questions from the public may be mailed in advance to the attention of Annette Switzer, Permit Section Supervisor, Department of Environmental Quality, PO Box 30260, Lansing, MI, 48909. Comments may also be mailed to that address or submitted on-line at http://www.deq.state.mi.us/aps/cwerp.chtml. The Sept 28 public hearing will begin at 7 pm. There will be an information session prior to the meeting starting at 6 pm. The meeting will be recorded and any questions that have been addressed will be followed up in writing by the MDEQ to the questioner. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.