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Case Study of the Pigeon River Hydrocarbon
Development Plan
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New requirements, he argued, should include conducting an intensive survey of wildlife before drilling
starts. He also suggested that drilling occur in stages -- as the industry proved it could develop with minimal
dis-turbance, then it should be allowed to proceed.
The compromise plan very quickly gained support. Michigan United Conservation Clubs endorsed the
concept. The oil and gas industry said it was interested. And the DNR announced it would negotiate a new
deal. The environmental coalition, however, was split.
Though its own leader had introduced the concept, the Pigeon River Country Association announced it
would oppose a compromise. "We are convinced that it is unrealistic and contrary to known conditions to
believe that drilling can be controlled in such a way that it won't be harmful," the group said in a public
statement.
The protest was not as effective as the association hoped. Negotiators met through the summer and fall,
and on November 24, 1980, a new management plan was announced for the Pigeon River Country State
Forest.
It advanced the 1976 plan by requiring new wildlife studies and surveys of recreational users, the posting
of a performance bond for each well, and by directing that drilling occur in stages. It also called for
eliminating waste pits in the forest used for the disposal of salt water brine, a common byproduct of oil and
gas development, due to concerns that high concentrations of chloride from the brine would contaminate
groundwater. (A complete listing of the safeguards required under the final Pigeon River Hydrocarbon
Development Plan appears on page 15).
The agreement was entered as an amended stipulated consent order with the Circuit Court in Lansing, and
incorporated into SB1119, which was approved by the Legislature. On December 5, 1980, Gov. Milliken
signed the new bill.
In February 1981, after an eight-year moratorium, drilling resumed in the Pigeon River Country State
Forest.
Assessing The Energy Development Plan
In all, 58 oil and gas wells were drilled in the Pigeon River Country State Forest -- 22 yielded proven
reserves of oil and gas.
Through the end of 1996, the most recent year for complete statistics, the Pigeon River field yielded 13.5
million barrels of oil and 58.8 billion cubic feet of gas worth more than $400 million. Income to the state from
royalties, rent, and taxes has totaled $65.5 million through the end of 1996. Of that amount, payments to the
Natural Resources Trust Fund totaled $19.75 million.
The flow of oil and natural gas in the Pigeon River wells has declined sharply in recent years as the
reserve becomes played out. Shell Oil has said it could shut down operations in the forest by 2008.
In 1988, Shell Oil called the agreement "finally, unarguably, a success on all counts." Many of the state
officials involved consider the agreement one of the high points of their careers. "If there is a better plan for
allowing oil and gas drilling in sensitive ecosystems, I'm not aware of it," said Ned Caveney, the DNR Field
Operations Supervisor and the first Area Forester in the Pigeon River Country State Forest.
Environmental advocates also recognize the value of this model. Ann Woiwode, program director for the
Mackinac Chapter of the Sierra Club, said, "The drilling plan for the Pigeon River Country was a significant
improvement over the type of drilling that now blankets the landscape of the northern Lower Peninsula."
Said Ken Ide, a member of the Pigeon River Country Advisory Council, "It certainly limited the number
of wells and prevented the kind of rampant development that we've seen with the Antrim gas drilling."
Lessons From The Pigeon River Struggle
The Pigeon River Hydrocarbon Development Plan represented the convergence of many social and
political trends. But the most important factor by far in motivating government and industry to consider such a
novel plan was intensive public pressure. The potential for one of Michigan's natural treasures to be
permanently spoiled kept public interest focused on the Pigeon River Country for a decade.
Other factors that led to the plan:
•The personal and timely intervention of Gov. Milliken and his wife, Helen Milliken. Both opposed oil
and gas drilling in the Pigeon River Country.
•The Natural Resources Commission, and the three DNR directors during the period of the Pigeon River
controversy, consistently supported taking strong measures to limit environmental damage by restricting oil
and gas development.
• Persistent, high-profile coverage by Michigan's print and electronic media kept the case before the public
eye. The Detroit Free Press led the coverage, and published at least 29 editorials in the 1970s that supported
decisive state action to protect the Pigeon River Country.
•The national and state environmental movement was motivated, young, aggressive, and on the rise.
Environmental groups enjoyed enormous popularity and credibility with the public in the 1970s. When the
debate over drilling in the Pigeon River Country first erupted, the nation had just been alerted to the hazards
of drilling for oil in sensitive environments. In 1969, an oil well off the coast of Santa Barbara, California,
ruptured and spilled hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil on the city's beaches. The accident was a signal
event for the American environmental movement.
Thus the political conditions in the 1970s were conducive to important public policy initiatives for the
economy and the environment.
Faced with regulatory and public relations obstacles in Michigan, Shell made it known early in the Pigeon
River debate that it was interested in negotiating a compromise that would protect the forest while allowing
drilling. Shell's prominence in and out of the industry was more than enough to overcome the substantial
dissent to such a plan that was stirring in the Michigan Oil and Gas Association, the industry's statewide trade
group composed primarily of small energy companies.
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