The Department of Natural Resources today announced an open house to provide information and receive public comment on proposed management areas for the Regional State Forest Management Plan for the Eastern Upper Peninsula (EUP) Ecoregion. The open house will be held at the Newberry Operations Service Center on Tuesday, April 14, from 4-8 p.m. with a formal presentation at 7 p.m.

At the open house, citizens can examine management area maps and discuss preliminary management concepts with DNR resource managers.

"Comments from stakeholder organizations and the public are an important part of this planning process," said Lynne Boyd, chief of the DNR Forest, Mineral and Fire Management Division. "We welcome and need public engagement on how the state forest should be managed over the next 10 years and beyond."

Management areas are groupings of existing state forest land compartments that have similar attributes, such as vegetation types, landforms or ownership patterns. Specific management direction for each management area will be incorporated into the EUP Regional State Forest Management Plan. This will help the DNR to provide landscape level analyses and direction that will guide operational decisions made at each Forest Management Unit through the existing compartment review process.

Additional information is available via the Internet at www.michigan.gov/dnr. Persons not able to attend the open house or wishing to respond in writing may send correspondence by May 15 to DNR-EUP-Eco-Team@michigan.gov, in person, or by postal mail to: EUP Ecoteam, DNR Newberry OSC, 5100 State Hwy M-123, Newberry, MI 49868.

Future public meetings will be scheduled when draft and final versions of the EUP Regional State Forest Management Plan are completed.

Persons with disabilities needing accommodations for the open house should contact Ann Mattson, at (906) 293-5131, a minimum of five business days before the open house. Requests made less than five business days may not be accommodated.