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DNR/DEQ Case Study #3
DEQ May Breach LegalAgreement;
DNR Says State Should Stand Firm

IMAGE imgs/glb-su.fa9814.gif

A conservation easement is meant to keep valuable public assets in their natural state -- and off the development bargaining table -- forever. It is as binding as any legal restriction on a property deed recorded at the county courthouse.

If the luxury subdivision project goes through as
proposed, this favorite recreation spot south of
Detroit will be a memory. Housing is planned for
both sides, along with a golf course at the far end.

Rather than enforce a conservation easement that protects the last, large Great Lakes coastal wetland in
downriver Detroit, the Department of Environmental Quality may allow a developer to build luxury houses there.
Russell Harding, director of the DEQ, has the full legal authority to uphold the easement on the Humbug
Marsh, located at the mouth of the Detroit River where it empties into Lake Erie. Yet he agreed to hear the
developer's proposal at a public hearing on Sept. 15 in Gibraltar that attracted more than 1,200 people, almost
all of them opposed to the project. Among those testifying at the hearing was Tim Roby, spokesman for the
Department of Natural Resources, who urged the DEQ to reject the permit applications. Mr. Roby was cheered
and received a standing ovation from the crowd. The DEQ has until Dec. 31 to make its ruling.
An oasis in a concrete jungle, the Humbug Marsh serves as a resting place for thousands of migratory
waterfowl. It is a critical spawning ground for more than 28 species of fish, including the walleye, an impor-
tant part of the state's multi-million dollar sport-fishing industry. The marsh is a home to several endangered
or threatened plants and animals, a vital hydrological link to the Great Lakes chain, and a sanctuary for people.
The developer, Made in Detroit, Inc., wants to build a $750 million luxury subdivision that would surround
the marsh. Saying it needs extra land near the shoreline to make the project profitable, the company is seeking
permission to modify the easement boundaries and fill 3.5 acres of the wetland.
"Our concern is if they start re-negotiating easements at the request of a developer, they are really
breaching the public trust," said Bruce Jones, a downriver resident and activist in the Humbug Network, which
opposes the project.
If the DEQ agrees to the request, it will be the first time in Michigan's history that a conservation easement
was breached for a project of this magnitude for private financial gain, said Rich Powers, acting chief of the
DEQ's Land and Water Management Division.
Andy Frank, habitat project coordinator for the Great Lakes United Biodiversity and Habitat Protection
Task Force, said that the fact that a developer would even propose a massive project in such a critical
coastland that's protected by a conservation easement indicates how "flaccid our regulatory regimes are and
how cynically empty the mantra of 'no net loss' of wetlands has become.
"It raises the question if there is a line at all or do you just keep crossing it every time you get a request
from a developer," said Mr. Frank.
The easement was established in 1995, when Waste Management Inc. wanted to fill in a wetland to expand
its Wayne County landfill. The state granted permission to do so in a deal that required the company to create
a 112-acre conservation easement containing the Humbug Marsh and an upland buffer zone. G
CONTACTS: Rich Powers, 517-373-1170;Tim Roby, 517-335-4228; Patty Cantrell at the Institute,
616-882-4723.



DNR/DEQ Case Study #3 DEQ May Breach LegalAgreement; DNR Says State Should Stand Firm

		A conservation easement is meant to keep valuable public assets in their natural state -- and off the development bargaining table -- forever. It is as binding as any legal restriction on a property deed recorded at the county courthouse.
			If the luxury subdivision project goes through as proposed, this favorite recreation spot south of Detroit will be a memory. Housing is planned for both sides, along with a golf course at the far end.
	Rather than enforce a conservation easement that protects the last, large Great Lakes coastal wetland in downriver Detroit, the Department of Environmental Quality may allow a developer to build luxury houses there. Russell Harding, director of the DEQ, has the full legal authority to uphold the easement on the Humbug Marsh, located at the mouth of the Detroit River where it empties into Lake Erie. Yet he agreed to hear the developer's proposal at a public hearing on Sept. 15 in Gibraltar that attracted more than 1,200 people, almost all of them opposed to the project. Among those testifying at the hearing was Tim Roby, spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources, who urged the DEQ to reject the permit applications. Mr. Roby was cheered and received a standing ovation from the crowd. The DEQ has until Dec. 31 to make its ruling. An oasis in a concrete jungle, the Humbug Marsh serves as a resting place for thousands of migratory waterfowl. It is a critical spawning ground for more than 28 species of fish, including the walleye, an impor- tant part of the state's multi-million dollar sport-fishing industry. The marsh is a home to several endangered or threatened plants and animals, a vital hydrological link to the Great Lakes chain, and a sanctuary for people. The developer, Made in Detroit, Inc., wants to build a $750 million luxury subdivision that would surround the marsh. Saying it needs extra land near the shoreline to make the project profitable, the company is seeking permission to modify the easement boundaries and fill 3.5 acres of the wetland. "Our concern is if they start re-negotiating easements at the request of a developer, they are really breaching the public trust," said Bruce Jones, a downriver resident and activist in the Humbug Network, which opposes the project. If the DEQ agrees to the request, it will be the first time in Michigan's history that a conservation easement was breached for a project of this magnitude for private financial gain, said Rich Powers, acting chief of the DEQ's Land and Water Management Division. Andy Frank, habitat project coordinator for the Great Lakes United Biodiversity and Habitat Protection Task Force, said that the fact that a developer would even propose a massive project in such a critical coastland that's protected by a conservation easement indicates how "flaccid our regulatory regimes are and how cynically empty the mantra of 'no net loss' of wetlands has become. "It raises the question if there is a line at all or do you just keep crossing it every time you get a request from a developer," said Mr. Frank. The easement was established in 1995, when Waste Management Inc. wanted to fill in a wetland to expand its Wayne County landfill. The state granted permission to do so in a deal that required the company to create a 112-acre conservation easement containing the Humbug Marsh and an upland buffer zone. G CONTACTS: Rich Powers, 517-373-1170;Tim Roby, 517-335-4228; Patty Cantrell at the Institute, 616-882-4723.