Keith Charters

Keith Charters was appointed to the Natural Resources Commission in 1994 and was reappointed in 1999, 2002 and 2006.   Charters was appointed Chairman of the Commission in 1996, and currently retains the Chair.

A longtime conservationist (hunter and angler) and steward of the land, Charters also served on the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board from 1992 until he resigned in 2003. He was then again appointed to Board in June 2006 then resigned September 2006, but currently represents the Natural Resources Commission on the Board. He was chairperson of the board February 1995 through December 1995.

Charters recently retired as a consultant specializing in land use growth management.  Prior to being a land use consultant, he was a restaurateur in Acme and Mt. Pleasant for more than 32 years.  He has always been active in community organizations.  Some past involvements include his work as Chairman of the Traverse City Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Mt. Pleasant Chamber of Commerce, and the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce. He has served as a Board Member of the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce and as a Commissioner on the Isabella County Board of Commissioners. 

He received the prestigious "Traverse City Chamber of Commerce 2003 Distinguished Service Award," received the Michigan United Conservation Clubs (MUCC) Conservationist of the Year Award in 2005; and received the 2007 Conservationist of the Year Award from the Michigan Senate. 

Charters taught in the Lincoln Park school system after graduating from Whittemore-Prescott Area Schools and from Central Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Charters and his wife, Carolyn, have two children: Elizabeth (Michael), an attorney in New Jersey , and Jeffrey (Kim), an aerospace engineer in Laurel , Maryland .  He also has two grandsons, John (Jack) Michael and Kyle Jeffrey and two granddaughters Ella Kate and Mia Rose.    

Mary C. Brown
Mary C. Brown was appointed by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm in 2004.

A former college teacher and community activist, Brown served 18 years in the Legislature on several environmental committees. Prior to her legislative service, she was active in the League of Women Voters, serving on the state board in the capacity of environmental affairs and land use chair. She also served on the state board of the Michigan Section of the American Camping Association.

Since retirement from the Legislature, Brown has been active in volunteer roles. She is a Girl Scout troop leader, serves on the boards of the state YMCA and the Michigan Environmental Council, and serves on the board of the American Lung Association of Michigan, and is chair of the Clean Air Committee. She is a founding member of the Kalamazoo Environmental Council and the Coalition for Urban Redevelopment in Kalamazoo. Commissioner Brown received the Michigan Environmental Council Helen and William Milliken Distinguished Service Award in 2007.

A graduate of Midland High School in Michigan, she attended Albion College and Syracuse University where she received a bachelor's degree in recreation and a master's degree in education.

She and her husband, Donald, who is a retired professor of chemistry have lived in Kalamazoo since 1960. They have three grown children-Linda (Charles) Cook a teacher in Chicago, Illinois; Jeffrey (Faith) Brown an architect of New Haven, Connecticut; James (Kathleen) Brown a physics professor of Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Hurley J. Coleman, Jr.
Biography coming soon.

Darnell Earley
Darnell Earley was appointed to the Natural Resources Commission by Governor Jennifer Granholm in 2005. A lifelong resident of Michigan, he has served as a public administrator in local and state government for 27 years.

Earley currently is deputy city manager and interim finance director for the city of Saginaw. He previously served as city administrator in Flint from 2001 to 2004, and also served as its acting mayor.

From 1993 to 2001, Earley worked as budget director and deputy county controller in Ingham County. In 1988, after serving two-and-a-half years as township manager in Saginaw County's Buena Vista Charter Township, Earley was appointed director of research and public policy with the Michigan House of Representatives by former Speaker Lewis Dodak.

Earley began his professional career in 1978 as the director of community and economic development with the Urban League of Greater Muskegon, and was an assistant to the county administrator and equal employment opportunity officer for Muskegon County.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Grand Valley State University and a master's degree in public administration from Western Michigan University. He also is an ordained Baptist deacon.

Earley has served on numerous boards and committees including the Muskegon Heights Board of Education, the International City/County Management Association Executive Board and the Muskegon Red Cross Board of Directors. He also was a member of the State Board of Examiners in Mortuary Science, appointed by Governor James Blanchard.

An avid hunter and angler, Darnell also enjoys golf, travel, running, hiking and camping. He is the father of two adult children: Jaison, an assistant service manager with a retail grocery store, who lives in Ann Arbor; and Jennifer, a human resources administrator in the Washington D.C. area. His wife of 32 years, Sandra, taught in the Muskegon Heights and Waverly schools for more than 25 years, before her death in 2003.

John M. Madigan
John M. Madigan of Munising was appointed to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission by Governor John Engler on October 8, 2002.

Madigan is an owner of the Mazzali Insurance Agency, which has offices in Munising and Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. He serves as vice president of the corporation. He also is an owner of the Munising Hardware Company, a business started by his grandfather in 1920 and operated by the family for the past 82 years.

Madigan earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Northern Michigan University in 1982 and taught at a public high school from 1982 to 1986 before going into business.

He is a past board member of the Alger County Fish and Game Alliance and is a member of other hunting and fishing organizations. He also worked as a charter boat captain on Lake Superior while attending college.

Madigan resides in Munising with his wife, Kristin, and daughter, Kathleen. They enjoy boating and fishing.

J. R. Richardson - Biography Coming Soon

Franklin C. Wheatlake
Franklin C. Wheatlake of Big Rapids was appointed to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission by Governor John Engler in 2001 and was reappointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm in 2005.

Wheatlake currently is chairman and chief executive officer of Reed City Power Line Supply Co., the Hydaker-Wheatlake Co., Hydrolake Leasing and Service Co, and Reed City GMC Truck Inc. The Hydaker-Wheatlake Co. began building power lines in 1927 in Ohio and through a progression of moves eventually selected its present site in west central Michigan. The Reed City Power Line Supply Company was founded in 1963 to provide quality material and services to the electric utility industry in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Hydrolake, founded in 1985, is a manufacturer of Michigan red pine poles used by the utility industry. Reed City GMC Truck is a light and medium duty dealership.

He received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1970.

A lifelong resident of Michigan, Mr. Wheatlake was a member of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board from 1998 through July 2001.