Retired Directors

Retired Directors Defend Jordan

Three former DNR directors have rallied to oppose drilling in the Jordan River Valley. Two have agreed to help raise funds for an expected lawsuit.

Former directors Howard Tanner, Gordon Guyer, and Mike Moore denounced the Department of Environmental Quality's apparent readiness to allow Antrim gas development in the 22,000-acre tract of state land. The DNR has refused to consider all previous attempts to drill in the valley.

"The Jordan Valley is where we must make our stand," Moore told The Call. Current director K.L. Cool, he added, has the authority and responsibility to prevent gas field development in the valley. When told DEQ director Russ Harding has issued a legal order declaring DNR "land management authority and policies" are "subservient" to him, Moore, literally, snorted, "Bull ____ !" Moore, who twice blocked previous Antrim gas forays into the valley, added, "I don't know where he'd get that authority."

Tanner, who regards the Jordan as his "home stream," having been raised trout fishing in it, indicated no surprise when he learned of Harding's November 20th bid to preempt DNR control of state forest land. He described it as "proceeding as planned" by Governor Engler. Engler, Tanner explained, deliberately split out the DNR's geology and land and water management divisions when creating the new DEQ under Harding. Engler and Harding's rationale, he said, was to "ease regulation" of the oil and gas industry. The sanctity of the Jordan Valley tract, the largest solid block on a major Lower Peninsula trout stream, Tanner added, is not recognized by Harding and Engler.

Joining the former DNR directors is the Antrim County Board of Commissioners. It unanimously stated it "opposes any attempt to drill on state-owned land in the Jordan Valley" and announced it will contribute to court costs, if necessary, to defend the valley. The county board also denounced Harding's bid to take control of DNR lands in the valley and endorsed an Antrim Country Road Commission statement that it will not allow pipeline construction along roadways through the valley unless supported by the DNR.

When drillers discovered the Niagaran oil formation under much of northern Michigan in the mid 1960s, the only block of state forest land DNR personnel exempted from leasing was the Jordan. That led to the historic, more than decade-long battle over drilling in the Big Wild, the Pigeon River Country. While conservationists were not able to block drilling in the Pigeon, they have held tight in the Jordan. A 1975 management plan for the valley specifically protects it from drilling, and other industrial development. (The Jordan was the first river set aside under Michigan's 1970 Wild Rivers law.)

Guyer, a longtime Jordan fisherman and hunter, who has a summer home nearby, snarled uncharacteristically, "No way in hell!" when Harding's November 20th order usurping DNR control over state land was read to him. He instantly, asked how he could get into the battle and offered, as did Tanner, to help raise funds for an expected lawsuit. (Moore is teaching and has other commitments on his time.)

The DNR, at the field level, is openly opposing the drilling. But it lacks standing to legally and publicly challenge Harding's "subservient" order. Tanner, Guyer, and Moore say that will have to come from director Cool and the public. At stake, they and others point out, is a precedent that will open the 1,540 acres of privately-owned mineral rights under state-owned surface in the Jordan Valley. Drilling on those lands would be accompanied by pipelines, roads, and production facilities that would sprawl across the state forest.

Harding's November order was prompted by a spacing issue over one forty, along Cascade Creek, a Jordan tributary in the heart of the valley protected under the Natural Rivers law. Walt Zaremba owns the minerals under the forty. The state owns the surface. Zaremba is demanding the right to drill.

Spearheading the "defend the Jordan" campaign is the Michigan Land Use Institute and Friends of the Jordan. MLUI spokesmen Hans Voss and Keith Schneider say Zaremba may be trying to set up a "takings" claim, rather than drilling and producing natural gas. He knew when he leased the mineral rights from the private owner that the DNR would reject development, they explain. If he is denied development rights, Voss and Schneider expect Zaremba to claim his rights have been taken by the state and demand a settlement, possibly one of several million dollars.

Governor Engler set the "takings" precedent when he voluntarily settled a drilling claim in Nordhouse Dunes for $95 million. Since then, state officials say, it has become routine for those denied permits (for drilling, dredging, filling, etc.) to charge "takings" and demand payment.

Harding managed to block testimony on the environmental issue in Zaremba's preliminary hearing on drilling. Under pressure, he now has agreed to a one-hour hearing on January 14. One hour, Voss and Schneider claim, is wholly inadequate to air the matter. They also charge the hearing should be held in the East Jordan area, for the convenience of the public.

Attorneys hired by MLUI have told Schneider that barring some unexpected development, a lawsuit appears inevitable, whether Harding issues the permit or denies it and Zaremba files a takings claim. Due to the DNR's historic protection of the Jordan, they seem confident the courts will uphold that precedent. RWOL

Readers who want to participate in the fight to DEFEND THE JORDAN should send their tax deductible contributions to The Michigan Land Use Institute, P.O. Box 228, Benzonia, MI 49616. (All gifts will be acknowledged.) All donations are specifically directed to protecting the Jordan Valley. Your donation also entitles you to membership in the Michigan Land Use Institute, and a subscription to the Great Lakes Bulletin. Don't procrastinate, do it now before it's too late. Your investment will pay lasting dividends---please give generously.

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