Across the department, we are moving towards utilizing electric vehicles and equipment, such as side-by-sides, chainsaws, trucks and more. Some of our parks are already using 100 percent electric trucks for operations and maintenance. Switching to EVs helps us reduce gas and diesel use, while transitioning to using more renewable sources for the electricity that electric vehicles and equipment will require.

In addition, several state parks now have EV charging stations available for everyone to use, with more on the way!

Solar panels installed on rooftops and on the ground at our facilities are helping to offset our electrical use. We’ve been both installing panels at our hatcheries, parks, and customer service centers, with more projects in the works.

We are working to reduce energy usage and make state fish hatcheries a leader in the use of green technology. Five out of our six fish hatcheries are now offsetting their energy use with solar. Oden State Fish Hatchery has two arrays installed and the other four facilities each have a single array.

In addition, we have worked with solar developers to install solar arrays at six state parks and one customer service center. The solar developer will own and maintain the equipment, while we benefit from lower-cost energy!

In addition to offsetting our own electrical use with renewable energy, the Michigan DNR also leases a small portion of the land it manages for large-scale solar development.  

Former industrial sites, mining sites, and old landfills (collectively referred to as “brownfields,”) provide an excellent opportunity for such leasing because they are often difficult to redevelop for more traditional uses due to environmental issues. Constructing large-scale solar arrays on these sites, called "brightfields," is a way to put public lands back in productive use and produce clean, renewable energy, helping the DNR and Michigan achieve sustainability goals. 

Through a competitive process, the DNR has an agreement with a large-scale solar developer for one such brownfield site, the Groveland Mine site in Dickinson County. This project will repurpose underused public lands for greater benefit, increase the local tax base and diversify energy sources. 

Geothermal energy is energy produced from the heat that is naturally generated underground. One example of how we use this renewable energy source is the geothermal heating and cooling system at Tawas Point Lighthouse in Tawas Point State Park. In the coming years, we are planning on replacing several outdated HVAC systems within our state park system with geothermal systems. We also plan on offsetting the electrical use of the geothermal systems with solar power, to create a true 100 percent renewable energy heating and cooling system.

Wind turbines have been offsetting electrical use at Straits State Harbor since 2010. Energy use is particularly high at harbors in the winter to power specialized ice suppression equipment to keep the water near docks open. Wind energy will continue to be an important part of how we power state harbors.