At their July, 1995 Annual Meeting, contributors to the Au Sable Manistee Action Council (AMAC), which monitors environmental degradation from National Guard training at Camp Grayling, approved plans for independent biological studies of the Au Sable River's North and East Branches. The studies are being designed by aquatic biologists and toxicologists from Michigan State University to fill in the gaps AMAC discovered in the 1994 National Guard sponsored testing in the North Post 40 (NP40) area of their bombing and artillery ranges, situated adjacent to the streams.

One study deals with overall stream "health" by classifying aquatic insect fauna into functional groups and checks population ratios between groups. Healthy streams have known ratios while the presence of contaminants like those already found in Camp Grayling's (NP40) surface water will significantly alter those "healthy" ratios.

The other would refine some of the bioassays performed for the National Guard in its 1994 surface water study, using modern methodology to analyze water extracted directly from sediments, as opposed to the diluted sediment sampling done at that time. This "pore" water toxicity testing methodology was requested by AMAC in the 1994 work but that request was ignored in favor of more diluted standards, yielding results more favorable to the National Guard.

AMAC President, Dan Alstott, explained the need for these studies: "The National Guard spent almost one million dollars on the 1994 NP40 surface water study. We have serious reservations about that program's methodology. It looks to us like the military spent a lot of effort trying to get favorable results. The Guard ignored the obvious cause and effect relationships between its shooting and bombing activities and the contamination found by its study in the Au Sable's North and East branches, both flowing to the Mainstream. The Guard also avoided any discussion of health risks and effects on biota. We've tried explaining this to the DNR but the field people presently seem more concerned over major staff cuts orchestrated by certain DNR hierarchy attempting to concentrate their political base in Lansing."

AMAC Sectretary/Treasure, William J. Mallory, further stated: "We are employing the best and brightest talent available to conduct these studies. If the results suggest serious environmental impact, then we may again be forced to seek legal remedies."