The Department of Natural Resources will host open houses on Tuesday, Sept. 16 and Thursday, Sept. 18, to provide information and receive public comment on proposed forest management treatments for 2010 and Phase 2 of the Red Pine Project in the Sault Ste. Marie Management Unit.

The Sept.16 open house will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. at the DNR Naubinway Field Office on US-2 in Naubinway. This meeting will focus on west Mackinac County. The Sept. 18 open house will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Kinross Township Hall, located at 4884 W. Curtis in Kincheloe. This meeting will focus on Chippewa County and east Mackinac County.

Each year, DNR personnel inventory and evaluate approximately one-tenth of the state forest. Information gathered includes the health, quality and quantity of all vegetation; wildlife and fisheries habitat and needs; archeological sites; minerals; recreational use; wildfire potential and social factors, including proximity to roads and neighborhoods; and use on adjacent lands, public and private. Proposed treatments, which may include timber harvesting, replanting and other management activities, then are designed to ensure the sustainability of the resources and ecosystems.

The open house is an opportunity for the public to review proposed treatments and to provide input toward final decisions on those treatments. It also provides the public an opportunity to talk with foresters and biologists about issues of interest. Maps and information regarding the proposed treatments will be available at the open house, and can be accessed at www.michigan.gov/dnr under the Forests, Land & Water section.

Each management unit is divided into smaller units or compartments to facilitate better administration of the resources. Compartments under review this year are in Newton, Garfield, Hudson, Hendricks, and Moran townships in west Mackinac County; Clark Township in east Mackinac County; and Pickford, Kinross, Raber, Superior, Detour and Drummond townships in Chippewa County.

The formal compartment review to decide on prescriptions for these areas is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 10, at the Quality Inn, 913 Boulevard Dr., St. Ignace.

Individuals attending the meeting are requested to refrain from using heavily scented personal care products, in order to enhance accessibility for everyone. Persons with disabilities needing accommodations for these meetings should contact Pat Hallfrisch at (906) 635-5281, a minimum of five (5) business days before this meeting. Requests made less than five business days before the meeting may not be accommodated.