KORC: Community Action for Permanent Public Land

By Nicholas Wilson*
With photos by guest photographers

Mountain biker Ben Ciavola rides the "On The Edge" trail along the Brockway Mountain ridge. Click on photo for larger version. (Photo © and courtesy Nathan Miller)

The Keweenaw Outdoor Recreation Coalition (or KORC for short) has attracted public interest from Keweenaw residents and outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds. You may have received a KORC letter in the mail, seen social media content on Facebook or Twitter, or heard about the group’s work at High Rock Bay and Schlatter Lake. So, what is this organization all about?

KORC was founded in 2019 when a coalition of community organizations, local businesses, outdoor recreation interests, and Keweenaw residents came together to pursue a common goal: securing permanent public access to at-risk land in Keweenaw County.

With over 600 members and more than 15 different organizations represented on its steering committee, KORC has united a wide variety of recreation interests and Keweenaw institutions.

"We all decided to get together and develop a coalition to provide for all types of outdoor recreation, where all of the different voices are represented," said Gina Nicholas, a member of KORC’s Steering Committee. "We are working together to keep the land base intact for everyone, so that whether you’re a berry picker or an ATV rider, you have a place to go." Inset photos: At left, a midsummer snack of bilberries along the Copper Harbor Trails. (Photo © and courtesy Devin Leonarduzzi) At right, ORV riders enjoy Keweenaw’s fall color. (Photo © and courtesy Nathan Miller)

KORC’s recreation interests range from self-powered activities like hiking, camping, biking, kayaking, skiing, and snowshoeing, to motorized sports like ATV/ORV riding and snowmobiling. KORC also represents hunting, fishing, berry-picking, and bird watching as well as environmental, geological, historical, and cultural heritage interests. KORC wants to secure permanent public access and provide land use opportunities for all of these varied interests.

KORC Steering Committee member and Eagle Harbor Township Supervisor Rich Probst described the importance of this coordinated effort.

"The biggest thing is the collaboration with all the groups," Probst said. "We are all in this together, getting it done with everybody’s input for the good of the whole."

KORC members are working together to secure land access because much of Keweenaw’s real estate is at risk to fragmentation and loss of public access. Today, a significant portion of the land in Keweenaw County is controlled by an absentee corporate owner.

During the Keweenaw’s copper mining boom in the late 1800s and early 1900s, mining companies amassed ownership of the majority of the land in Keweenaw County. Over time, these companies and the land that they controlled were consolidated under the Calumet and Hecla mining company. But as the industry declined and the mines closed in the latter half of the 20th century, Calumet and Hecla and other mining companies sold off their land.

Since then, this Keweenaw land has changed hands between a string of corporate owners who buy and sell the land as an asset for timber harvest and value appreciation. Today, approximately 120,000 acres of Keweenaw land are owned by the New York based hedge fund complex, The Rohatyn Group (TRG), and overseen by a land management consulting firm called American Forest Management (AFM). Prior to TRG, most of Keweenaw County’s land was owned by another international hedge fund complex, GMO (Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo and Co., LLC). GMO is the name that appears in the most recent plat book.

Because this land has mostly been controlled by one owner at a time, much of it has remained intact with largely uninhibited public access. But although TRG and its predecessors have generally been tolerant of public recreational access, they care little for the land’s well-being (other than the return on investment it generates) and do not guarantee that the public will always be able to enjoy it. TRG holdings are often aggressively harvested for timber, sometimes to the detriment of the native ecosystem and land quality. Logging also disrupts the trail systems and roads that provide access to remote areas. Inset photo: Keweenaw deer hunters. (Photo © and courtesy Gina Nicholas)

The biggest risk to public access on this land is fragmentation. Hedge funds are almost always ready to sell parts of their holdings for the right price. If pieces of TRG’s holding are sold, and the land is sectioned off into pieces controlled by many private owners, public use may be restricted, trail systems may be forced to re-route or be removed entirely, and Keweenaw residents could lose access to land that they have enjoyed for generations.

Fragmentation is already occurring. In 2000, a forest products company called International Paper owned approximately 175,000 acres of Keweenaw County land. Today, only 120,000 acres of this land are still controlled by a single corporate owner (presently TRG). The difference between these two figures, 55,000 acres of Keweenaw land, has been sectioned off and sold by hedge fund owners over the past two decades. While some of this land was purchased by local conservancies and units of government and is still open to the public, some prime lakeshore properties and other desirable areas have been sold to private owners and are now developed or inaccessible to the public.

Skiers and snowshoers trek up Mount Baldy. (Photo © and courtesy Nathan Miller) 

"We had the privilege for almost 100 years of using this land that we didn’t own and we didn’t pay taxes on -- we just used it because the owners didn’t care," Nicholas noted. "But it wasn’t a right; it was always a privilege. We can’t rely on privileges any longer. We have to find a way to secure access in a legal and respectful manner."

Working with Michigan DNR

KORC hopes to secure this access by collaborating with the State of Michigan to help manage existing State land and to assist the State in acquiring more Keweenaw County land.

In 2002-2003, the State of Michigan purchased roughly 6,300 acres of land on the tip of Keweenaw using money from the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. The initial Tip purchase was made possible with help from The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Over time, TNC, Keweenaw Community Forest Company, and other organizations have helped the Michigan DNR (Department of Natural Resources) add additional parcels and eliminate inholdings. Today the DNR owns 8,999 acres at the Keweenaw Tip and 822 acres at Fort Wilkins.

Dana Richter photographed this view of Manitou Island from High Rock Bay in 2004 during a tour with members of the Keweenaw Point Advisory Committee and DNR staff, following the initial Keweenaw Tip purchase. Remains of a campfire can be seen in the foreground. (Keweenaw Now file photo © 2004 Dana Richter. Reprinted with permission.) 

In 2005, representatives from the community collaborated with the DNR to produce a management plan for this land. But in the years since, management and stewardship actions have been limited. Visitors to the Keweenaw Tip land are increasingly impeded by poor roads, and they often find these beautiful places damaged by garbage dumping and other misuse.

Community partnerships for management

"The land has huge recreational value and potential, but it is underutilized and undermanaged," noted Aaron Rogers, owner and president of Rock Solid Trail Contracting and a KORC Steering Committee member. "The only way to improve management is with more community involvement. We can do this locally -- not only by advocating for the purchase of more land, but by actively helping to manage it ourselves." 

A smiling woman mountain biker heads down one of the Keweenaw's challenging trails. (Photo © and courtesy Nathan Miller)

In the spring of 2020, KORC representatives began working together with the DNR to improve public access and clean up this land. KORC and its partner organizations purchased and installed bear-proof trash receptacles at High Rock Bay, and will be funding and constructing a vault toilet to be installed at High Rock in 2021. KORC will provide services for trash collection and vault toilet maintenance by funding partners with local employees.

Trash receptacle installed at High Rock Bay in the summer of 2020. (Photo © and courtesy Gina Nicholas) 

KORC also raised money to improve the West Schlatter Lake Road. During the summer of 2020, KORC members raised funds to retain Mike McMahon through JE Hendrickson Excavating to repair the road, enabling safer public access for camping and other recreation at Schlatter Lake. KORC also helped Keweenaw County raise money to improve amenities at the Gratiot River Park in Allouez Township. 

Summer camping at High Rock Bay. (Photo © and courtesy Jim Vivian III)

"I see KORC as a mechanism to allow all the local interest groups to work together to utilize this land," said Mark Ahlborn, Calumet Keweenaw Sportsmen’s Club member and KORC Steering Committee member. "It’s how we are all going to get together to serve everyone who wants to come and visit us."

Businesses and tourism economy

KORC members also believe taking care of Keweenaw’s land and providing positive experiences for visitors are crucial for the local economy. Many of Keweenaw’s restaurants, hotels, shops, and other local businesses depend upon tourism revenue. Visitors are drawn to the Keweenaw for a variety of reasons, from the area’s unique geological features to its mountain biking trails. But these features, and the tourists that they attract, are dependent upon wise management and sustained public access to Keweenaw land.

"Historically we’ve always had it -- it’s always been viewed as a recreational asset for the community, not only for personal use but for tourism and generating tourism dollars for the region," said Rogers. "If it gets sold off and it disappears, it will have a significant impact on tourism and the local economy."

Runners race along the Point Trail during the Run the Keweenaw event. (Photo © and courtesy Nathan Miller)

Don Kauppi, KORC Steering Committee member and co-owner of The Mariner North in Copper Harbor, reflected on the economic impact of Keweenaw’s growing tourism industry. Since the 1970s, tourism-based jobs in the Keweenaw have increased dramatically, largely due to outdoor recreational attractions like snowmobiling and biking. Don explains that despite little change in the year-round populations of Houghton and Keweenaw counties, today there are 35 more restaurants in the two-county area than there were in 1978.

A snowmobiler traverses the rugged terrain. (Photo © and courtesy Rich Probst)

Don also described how the recently growing interest in outdoor recreation during all four seasons has extended the months of profitable tourism business in Copper Harbor.

"The terrain is our product," he said. "Now, we’re going to try to save Keweenaw jobs by saving the terrain that brings people up here."

For many KORC members, protecting the local economy means protecting a way of life.

Steering Committee member Jim Vivian III points out that 70 percent of Keweenaw jobs are tourism-based.

"If we lose access to the land, I think it will take decades for our local economy to recalibrate," Vivian said. "It’s to protect our way of life and our economy."

For Keweenaw business owners, promoting the area’s economic vitality goes hand in hand with protecting land and securing public access.

"KORC represents an underlying goal of why I got into business 20 years ago," explained Sam Raymond, Steering Committee member and the owner of Keweenaw Adventure Company. "I thought that trails and outdoor recreation could result in the preservation of the Keweenaw for permanent public access and utilization of all of the wonderful resources that we have. KORC is the vehicle to get us there right now."

Kayaking in blue Lake Superior Waters. (Photo © and courtesy Chris Guibert)

KORC seeks public support for State land ownership

KORC is now supporting the DNR’s effort to acquire approximately 15,800 acres of additional land by using the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund or other methods to bring this acreage into permanent State ownership. This land includes the actual geographic Keweenaw Point, much of the Mandan road, and portions of the motorized trail system.

If the State purchases this land, it will ensure permanent public access for all to the "Keweenaw Tip Recreation Area." It will secure the main motorized trail corridor ("the rail road grade") from Mohawk to the Tip, and could expand trail systems and other outdoor recreation opportunities. This acquisition would also connect the ecosystems found on the Tip to the larger Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor by linking the Tip to township and conservancy lands along the Brockway Mountain ridge to Eagle Harbor and Eagle River.

This map shows the potential Keweenaw Tip Recreation Area that State land acquisition would allow. Click on map for larger version. (Map courtesy KORC)

KORC is conducting outreach using mailings, email blasts, and social media to raise awareness and gain public support for this project. Additionally, KORC has collaborated with the Keweenaw County Road Commission to collect data on public use of the Mandan Road from the end of US 41 in order to help build the case for land acquisition. KORC encourages anyone who supports this acquisition to submit a nomination form either electronically or through the mail to tell the State why acquiring this land is important.

"Over the years the State never really had the chance to see what we have to offer up here, but now I think that we can prove to them that we are such an asset," said Peg Kauppi, Steering Committee member and co-owner of the Mariner North. "Here we are with this unreal piece of real estate that juts out into Lake Superior. We have so much to offer: the largest vertical drop east of the Rockies, the wildflowers, the rocks, it goes on and on."

Brockway Mountain Summit west vista, showing Lake Superior and Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor, Eagle Harbor Township. A Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant allowed Eagle Harbor Township to acquire the Brockway summit in 2012. That purchase added to the Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor for conservation and recreational access.(Keweenaw Now file photo courtesy Eagle Harbor Township)

"I think that if we don’t take control of this property now so that it can’t be segmented off, then we lose that ability forever," Peg concluded.

KORC and its partners intend to keep working to secure access to Keweenaw land for outdoor recreation, for the local economy, for conservation, for Keweenaw’s cultural heritage. Their hope is that everyone can experience and enjoy this land forever. Gina Nicholas expressed this wish for future generations.

"I’ve always loved Keweenaw, and I want my child and my future grandchildren to have the same thing that I feel is one of the most important things in my life," Nicholas said. "I have to fight for posterity."

Aaron Rogers noted his belief that everyone who has a life in the Keweenaw region can support the KORC mission of securing public access to this land.

"I would encourage people -- if they have any questions about KORC, its mission, and what it stands for -- to reach out and gain an understanding of what we are trying to do," Rogers said. "All of our communities stand to benefit from what KORC is doing."

More information on KORC and its initiatives can be found on the KORC Website, and on KORC’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. KORC encourages interested individuals to become members and support the group’s efforts to secure permanent public access to Keweenaw land.

* Editor's Note: Keweenaw Now guest writer Nicholas Wilson is a Keweenaw resident and free-lance journalist. 

Gov. Snyder, The Nature Conservancy, Michigan DNR commemorate 10-year anniversary of Big U.P. Deal in Luce County

Text and photos from Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources 

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, right in kayak, talks with canoeists in his paddling party along the Two Hearted River Wednesday, Aug. 12, in northern Luce County. (Photos courtesy Michigan Department of Natural Resources)

LUCE COUNTY, Mich. -- In January 2005, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and several partners announced the "Big U.P. Deal" that preserved roughly 423 square miles of forest land for forestry, recreation and conservation through a unique public-private partnership.

Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 12, 2015, Gov. Rick Snyder and other dignitaries, including TNC’s Michigan Director Helen Taylor and Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Keith Creagh, marked the 10-year anniversary of the historic land deal with a ceremony at the Mouth of the Two Hearted River State Forest Campground.

During Wednesday’s ceremony, Gov. Snyder cut a ribbon on a sign detailing efforts of The Nature Conservancy and its partners to reconnect 35 miles of rivers and tributaries within the 130,000-acre Two Hearted River watershed. 

Gov. Rick Snyder uses his left-handed scissors to cut a ribbon on a new interpretive sign detailing the re-connection of the Two Hearted River. Watching, from left, are state Rep. John Kivela; state Sen. Tom Casperson; Helen Taylor, The Nature Conservancy’s Michigan state director; and Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

"This monumental land deal provided key environmental protection for landmarks across the Upper Peninsula, from the Porcupine Mountains in the west to Tahquamenon Falls and the Two Hearted River in the east," Snyder said. "Michigan has set a model for responsible land management that supports healthier forests and rivers while creating more jobs and improved recreation opportunities."

Before the ceremony, Gov. Snyder, Taylor and Creagh joined others on a canoe and kayak trip down a stretch of the Two Hearted River.

Gov. Rick Snyder gets ready to begin his Two Hearted River canoe trip Wednesday, Aug. 12, with the help of Theresa Neal of Tahquamenon Falls State Park.

Along the way, the group saw some of the landscape scorched as the Duck Lake Fire raced north in May 2012, blackening 21,069 acres and claiming 136 structures at a cost estimated at $4.1 million.

Gov. Rick Snyder’s paddling party heads down the Two Hearted River in northern Luce County. Higher along the banks of the river, burnt trees from the Duck Lake Fire continue to stand.

The river is home to more than 50 fish species.

In 1919, famed author Ernest Hemingway fished for brook trout along the East Branch of the Fox River, which is located farther to the west. Afterward, Hemingway penned "Big Two-Hearted River," borrowing the name for his Nick Adams adventure from this winding river in northern Luce County, because its name had more poetry.

Gov. Snyder and the canoeists floated the river for roughly an hour, from the fish ladder north to the campground where the ceremony was held, which is located just a short distance from the Lake Superior shoreline.

Gov. Rick Snyder, in blue life vest, takes a picture as he kayaks toward a bridge over the Two Hearted River in northern Luce County Wednesday, Aug. 12.

During his visit to Michigan Tech on Thursday, Aug. 13, Gov. Snyder -- who is a strong advocate for Michigan’s developing system of water trails -- mentioned how much he enjoyed his trip down the Two Hearted River leading to the campground.*

Under the $57.9 million Northern Great Lakes Forest Project -- nicknamed the "Big U.P. Deal" -- the conservancy facilitated the DNR purchase of several conservation easements over a period of years on about 248,000 acres located throughout eight counties in the Upper Peninsula.

In addition, the deal included the purchase of 23,338 acres in the Two Hearted River watershed in northern Luce County, helping to enhance an existing conservancy nature preserve.

Gov. Rick Snyder is pulled ashore at the end of his paddle down a stretch of the Two Hearted River Wednesday, Aug. 12.

At the time the deal was announced, Snyder was serving as a member of The Nature Conservancy Michigan Board of Trustees, a position he held from 2004-2009.

Managing the conservation easements under a "working lands" approach provides several benefits to a range of interests in the region. Among them, the conservancy said the easements:

• Keep the lands open to the public for recreation, including fishing, hunting, snowmobiling and other pursuits.
• Protect thousands of timber and tourism jobs.
• Keep the lands in private ownership and on the tax rolls, generating important revenue for local communities.
• Help protect some of Michigan’s most treasured landscapes.
• Keep valuable and environmentally sensitive forest lands habitat from fragmentation.
• Limit development, which keeps forest lands from being converted to non-forest uses.

The easements and lands were purchased from The Forestland Group, LLC, a North Carolina timberlands investment firm, which outbid the state and bought 390,000 acres at auction in 2002 from the Kamehameha Schools Trust of Hawaii.

Much of that land had been purchased by the trust from Cliffs Forest Products more than a decade earlier.

Some of the notable features protected with the easements and land purchase include the following:

• More than 500 miles of rivers and tributaries, with almost 200 miles of prime trout streams.
• More than 300 lakes.
• 52,000 acres of wetlands.
• Thousands of acres of important buffers along federal and state park units and forests.

Taylor praised and thanked the public and private donors to the deal for their support. She also commended others, including government officials and interest groups who worked hard and cooperatively to make the ambitious project a reality.

"We always accomplish more when we work together," Taylor said.

Helen Taylor, The Nature Conservancy’s Michigan state director, talks Wednesday, Aug. 12, at a ceremony in northern Luce County commemorating the 10-year anniversary of announcement of the "Big U.P. Deal."

"The leadership of three of Michigan’s governors -- John Engler, Jennifer Granholm and Rick Snyder -- is unprecedented and should be applauded," Taylor added. "We were fortunate that this was truly a bipartisan effort with many legislators in both Washington, D.C., and Lansing who supported this project along with staff at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, The Forestland Group, LLC, and within the conservancy."

Taylor said she especially wanted to recognize the conservancy’s local partners, including Luce County and the Luce County Road Commission, McMillan Township, the Central Superior Watershed Partnership and the East Branch Sportsman’s Club.

Taylor also acknowledged local contractors and businesses that have worked to complete many of the conservancy’s improvement projects and the loggers and mills that buy its forest products.

During the Aug. 12 celebration, Gov. Rick Snyder, left, listens as Jeff Knoop, The Nature Conservancy’s Upper Peninsula director of land protection, talks about the Duck Lake Fire.

Some of the biggest donor contributions to the project’s land and easement purchases included $10 million from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, $5 million each from the Kresge Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and $4.5 million from the Herbert H. and Grace Dow Foundation.

Among the additional donors to the land project was the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund -- administered through the DNR -- which contributed a total of $16.1 million over a five-year period, beginning in 2002.

"This project represents a great use of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund to leverage local partnerships and assure access, recreation and forestry on Michigan lands," DNR Director Creagh said. "This deal ensures generations to come will be able to celebrate Michigan’s world-class natural resources, and U.P. residents will continue to benefit from the jobs these lands provide."

Over the past 39 years, the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund has granted more than $1 billion to state and local units of government to develop and improve recreation opportunities in Michigan.

Nearly $10 million was also contributed in federal funding through the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program, which is funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

Twenty-three re-engineering projects were undertaken to remove obstructions, stabilize stream banks and make other improvements, reducing the estimated sediment load into Michigan’s only designated "wilderness river" by 626 tons each year.

The Nature Conservancy’s interpretive "Reconnecting the Two Hearted River" sign will be erected along the CCI Road, a few miles to the west, just north of Pine Stump Junction.

* Editor's Note: See our Aug. 13, 2015, article, "Video preview: Gov. Snyder visits Michigan Tech's GLRC."

Story of Brockway Mountain -- now part of Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor

Gina Nicholas, fourth from left, Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District chairperson, and other partners who helped with the Michigan Natural Trust Fund grant and fundraising for the purchase of 320 acres of property including the summit of Brockway Mountain, participate in the Aug. 13, 2013, dedication of the parcel, which adds to the Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor for conservation and recreational access. Also pictured are, from left, Dana Richter, Copper Country Audubon; Evan McDonald, Keweenaw Land Trust; Jeff Knoop, The Nature Conservancy; Steve DeBrabander, Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Grants Management section supervisor; attorney Jim Tercha; and Eagle Harbor Township Supervisor Rich Probst. (Photo by Nick Wilson and courtesy Gina Nicholas)

Note: The following speech was written and read by Gina Nicholas, Keweenaw County citizen and chairperson of the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District, speaking on behalf of the core partners at the Brockway Mountain Summit dedication on August 13, 2013. The core partners were Ed Kisiel and later Rich Probst, Eagle Harbor Township supervisors; Doug Sherk, Eagle Harbor Township Parks Committee; Dana Richter, Copper Country Audubon; Evan McDonald, Keweenaw Land Trust; Jeff Knoop, The Nature Conservancy; and Gina Nicholas, Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District.* 

By Gina Nicholas

The Brockway Mountain story combines the ancient tale of Mother Nature’s wondrous creation with the recent one of how farsighted individuals, the community and many working together can serve the needs of society and protect the beauty and integrity of the natural world.

A billion years ago, shifting plates crashed together creating a rift fault with deep cracks in the earth’s crust. A series of lava flows emerged and formed the Lake Superior basin from Isle Royale to the Keweenaw Peninsula. Eons of geologic events, glaciers, time and weather sculpted this coastal ridge of which Brockway Mountain is a part.

This topography of basalt, conglomerate and sandstone is the canvas for the mosaic of native habitats you see from where we stand. Flora and fauna evolved over time and thousands of native plant and animal species call these forests, balds and wetlands home.  The Peninsula’s position as a bony finger of land jutting into Lake Superior also make this Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor important to migratory species -- raptors, water fowl, passerines, bats and insects.

This osprey is typical of birds observed from Brockway Mountain, which is also a site for the Keweenaw Raptor Survey. (File photo © and courtesy Michael Shupe Photography.**)

Ancient Native Americans, and later the Anishinaabe, used the land lightly for its abundance of wild berries and game. They discovered the red metal copper and used it for tools and trade. Hundreds of years later the United States formed and its pioneers moved beyond the eastern seaboard. Horace Greeley said, "Go west young man, go west." While some thought he meant the California Gold Rush, he was really talking about the UP for Copper. Keweenaw County’s highest mountain visible to the southwest was named for Greeley.

In the 1840s Douglass Houghton and other geologists explored and documented the mineral riches of the Keweenaw. Mt. Houghton, just visible to the southeast, was named after Houghton, Michigan’s first State Geologist.

Miners and settlers followed including Daniel and Lucena Brockway. Brockway was a mine agent at Cliff, a business man, served as a postmaster, road commissioner and opened the first school in Copper Harbor. At that time, Keweenaw County was the heart of the Copper Boom.

By the early 1900s mines at Quincy and Calumet and Hecla had supplanted the earlier mines on the north end.

A new industry -- tourism -- was emerging. The National Park System, urbanization, the loss of wilderness and mass-production of affordable automobiles all contributed to scenic road trips becoming the popular family vacations. Michigan, rich with beautiful natural features, established public beaches, campgrounds and wilderness areas. Landscape architect Warren H. Manning is credited with first suggesting a scenic drive along this ridge in the 1920s.

The Great Depression hit in 1929 and miners and many others were out of work. These men had hungry families to support, and federal efforts to create a safety net were mired in political wrangling.

The Keweenaw County Road Commission -- Ocha Potter, William Hartman and William Bolley and engineer Clem Veale -- took the lead in organizing a local project that would give many productive work and build something of lasting benefit for the community.  Manning’s concept to build a scenic highway along this coastal rocky ridge was resurrected in 1932. Construction began in 1933. This road was built by the manual labor of many men. Road Commission employment increased -- from about 70 to 700 -- to give meaningful work to as many as possible. Although the rock walls came later, the road itself was completed in October 1933 and named "Brockway Mountain Drive." While the builders’ names are long forgotten, their work -- Brockway Mountain Drive -- is here for the benefit of all of us today. Our project was possible only because of theirs.

This view from Brockway Mountain Drive along the Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor shows Copper Harbor on Lake Superior, at left, and Lake Fanny Hooe, at right. (File photo courtesy Eagle Harbor Township.)

During 1934-35, Harold Wescoat purchased the 320-acre summit and built the original "Skytop Inn." Brockway Mountain has been in the Wescoat family for three, going on four, generations, and, although private land, has always been open to the public.

Clyde and Lloyd Wescoat had foresight and realized how important Brockway Mountain was to the community and the environment. In 2010, rather than sell to developers who would subdivide and alter the land, Clyde called The Nature Conservancy. TNC knew this should be a local project, so Jeff Knoop called together the locals -- a.k.a core team: Eagle Harbor Township, Keweenaw Land Trust, Copper Country Audubon and the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District -- to find a way to permanently protect Brockway Mountain. 

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant was identified. Ed Kisiel, former township supervisor, led the successful grant proposal effort.**

However, the Trust Fund grant required a 25 percent local match. The core team, with help from Houghton to Copper Harbor and across the State, got the word out that donations were needed to Save Brockway Mountain. Hundreds and hundreds of people -- from local areas, Michigan, most states and even foreign countries -- sent donations, wrote articles, told friends, penned thank you notes, filled out forms, documented history and geology, took photographs, did the legal work pro bono and made contributions in uncountable ways. The project started in late 2010 and Brockway Mountain summit was acquired by Eagle Harbor Township in February 2013.

On the summit of Brockway Mountain, before cutting the ribbon on the sign, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (standing left of sign) speaks at the Aug. 13, 2013, dedication of the Brockway Mountain parcel, now part of Eagle Harbor Township -- protected for conservation and open to the public for recreation. (Photo courtesy Bonnie Hay, Gratiot Lake Conservancy executive director.)

Just like the many that built Brockway Mountain Drive 80 years ago this year, we also worked together and got the job done. The summit of Brockway Mountain is permanently protected. Our names may be forgotten, but our work will stand for future generations to enjoy thanks to all of you!

My hope is that 80 years from now our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and others will be here to take in the views of Lake Superior and the Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor, to see the constellations, Milky Way and the Northern Lights in the night sky, to count raptors flying down the valley as they rise on the updrafts, and to enjoy this unique, beautiful and ecologically rich place called Brockway Mountain. I also hope that our heirs continue the Keweenaw legacy of farsighted conservation for the benefit of man and nature.

* Author's Note: Clyde Wescoat, "The Brockway Mountain Drive Story" by Paul Lavanway, geologist Bill Rose, the Keweenaw Coastal Wildlife Corridor proposal prepared by Ed Kisiel, and other online research the author forgot to document were used or contributed oral information for this article. Thanks Everyone!

** Editor's Notes:

Click here for a TV-6 video clip of the ribbon cutting and comments from Lloyd Wescoat, Gina Nicholas and Gov. Snyder at the Brockway Mountain dedication.

View more photos of raptors at www.mjshupephotography.com, the Keweenaw Raptor Survey and the Brockway Mountain Hawk Watch.

See Keweenaw Now's Dec. 9, 2011, article, "Updated: Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board recommends funding for Brockway Mountain parcel in Eagle Harbor Township."