About a month ago my son Sam,15, and I were out checking our deer blinds behind our cabin in Antrim County in northwestern Michigan. My blind (of all places) is amid a major wild blackberry patch thus a major dining area for resident black bears. Needless to say, the “four-legged-fur-bags” deposit their calling card in strategic places, thus answering the long pondered question, “Do bears — in the woods?” Answer: “No, in MY hunting blind.”
Anyway, the bears have never posed a real problem, since by the time late November rolls around and deer hunting opens they hibernate and leave the woods to our hunting camp.
See, nature has a way of cooperating — we don’t bug the bears when they eat, they don’t pester us at the cabin or when hunting. We stay and take care of our world and they’re happy in theirs.
Lansing and their “Land Use” ideas should pay close attention to the bear—hunting camp relationship.
The latest round of “Land Use,” proposals released last week tell townships how they should zone residents’ property — an imposed Master Plan contrary to the wishes of those who pay taxes and live in the township.
In a report from the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council, members chastised local governments saying Michigan communities often zone land at a very low density (such as one to three acres), “severely underutilizing limited infrastructure and forcing development to be spread further across the landscape.”
Sounds a lot like Brandon and Groveland Towships, not to mention a host of other communities that prefer greater space between homes.
Currently, if any change in zoning policy were to be implemented, residents would petition local leaders on the planning commission and bring the issue to a vote. Majority then rules—a concept that has lasted more than 225 years and works today.
Game over.
Lansing is simply seeking to rid itself of the automatists that comprise the most effective means of government in Michigan.
The report from the land use council adds that, “the sheer number of governmental units making independent decisions has led to conflicts and the lack of coordinated efforts to address multijurisdictional concerns.”
Obviously, it’s just one way that Lansing is working to erode township government — with the assumption they can do it better, more effectually and, (my personal favorite) with greater equality for all.
Lansing needs to live along-side local government, work with townships and stay clear of trying to manage, “their turf.”
Like the bears and hunters we share the same hunting area-we don’t force our ways or diet on them (I doubt even a bear could digest my brother’s hunting camp beans)-conversely, we stay clear of the acres of berries in the late summer.