Around 400,000 people in Michigan own land with trees on it. These forests may be small woodlots where families live, or larger forests up north used for recreation or investment. Collectively these “family forest landowners” manage 9 million acres, which comprises almost half of Michigan’s 20 million acres of forest and more than double the 4 million acres of state-owned forest land.

Taking good care of a forest is hard work and some guidance is helpful for any landowner. Many people, programs, agencies and organizations in Michigan serve family forest landowners, but how can any of them help 400,000 people with woodlands in all 83 counties?

Public-private partnerships are when the government works with the private sector to solve a complex problem together. Helping 400,000 family forest landowners is certainly a team sport with many agencies and organizations working together. One growing partnership is the collaboration between the Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Forest Association. It is made possible with generous funding from the USDA Forest Service.

What is the Michigan Forest Association?

The Michigan Forest Association started in 1972 to represent family forest landowners and advocate for good policy about forests. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit governed by a board of directors and has about 1,000 members who pay just $45 a year in dues.

The mission of the Michigan Forest Association is to inspire and empower people to sustainably manage, conserve and enjoy forests through education, advocacy and fellowship. The Michigan Forest Association is expanding its staff and capacity to serve landowners with new funding from the USDA Forest Service and the DNR Forest Stewardship Program.

Who's new?

Nicole Frost started in January as the executive director for the Michigan Forest Association. (She's pictured above with colleagues Melissa Franquist, left, and Vic Lane). Nicole previously served as county administrator for Isabella County and has a forestry degree from Michigan State University. Nicole’s position is funded by a five-year, $500,000 grant from the USDA Forest Service to help the DNR Forest Stewardship Program better help under-served landowners. This catgory includes those owning a forest for less than 10 years, military veterans, Native Americans, low-income producers (federal poverty limit) or those who live in a high-poverty region (Clare, Houghton, Isabella, Lake, Mecosta, and Wayne counties).

Nicole is working with the DNR and partners around Michigan to help all forest landowners, with a new emphasis on underserved landowners. Nicole is the association’s lead on advocacy for local, state and federal policy and appropriations for private forests. You can reach Nicole at Nicole.Frost@MichiganForests.org or by calling (517) 816-7879.

The Michigan Forest Association is leading a new Forest & Water Fund to pay $6.4 million in cost share to landowners to increase climate resilience, carbon stocks and water quality. The fund will invest in high carbon reserves for conservation easements, prescribed fire for ecological restoration, tree planting in priority Forest to Mi Faucet watersheds and forest health treatments. The cost share project and two full-time staff to administer it are funded by a five-year, $8 million grant from the USDA Forest Service to the Michigan Forest Association in partnership with the DNR Forest Stewardship Program and the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts (MACD.org).

Vic Lane is the association's new project manager for the Forest & Water Fund. Vic is an ecologist and wildlife biologist who has worked for the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. Vic excels at fostering relationships with landowners, and he would love to hear from you. Reach out to Vic at Vic.Lane@MichiganForests.org or (517) 440-9430.

Melissa Franquist is the association's new grant accountant. Melissa brings a wealth of experience to manage landowner payments, meet federal financial requirements and do grant reporting to the Forest Service. You can reach Melissa at Melissa.Franquist@MichiganForests.org.

Emphasizing outreach

The latest addition to the association's staff is Ellie Johnson, outreach forester. (She's pictured at left with DNR park interpreter Craig Kasmer). Ellie is a candidate certified forester (the highest credential from Society of American Foresters) and will help the association partner with foresters and organizations in serving family forest landowners. Ellie will build collaboration with MSU Extension, conservation districts, land conservancies, consulting foresters, industry foresters, loggers, government programs and many others who work with private landowners.

The association intends to offer an online Woodland Stewards class with local, in-person field visits to showcase how people manage their woods. Ellie’s position is funded by a five-year, $500,000 grant from the DNR Forest Stewardship Program and USDA Forest Service to inform landowners about emerging markets such as carbon offsets, biodiversity credits and water funds. Ellie starts in September and you can reach her at Ellie.Johnson@MichiganForests.org.

Join the celebration!

You can learn more about the association at MichiganForests.org, but you will have much more fun if you attend the Michigan Forest Celebration event to learn about the organization first-hand. This is the biggest statewide meeting in Michigan for family forest landowners, hosted by the association and the Michigan Tree Farm Committee. This year's event will be held Oct. 3-4 at The H Hotel in Midland. An event overview and registration information are at MichiganForests.org. Join other landowners to hear speakers on Friday, Oct. 3 and to visit private woodlands near Midland on Saturday, Oct. 4. You can also meet all four of the new staff, along with many of the Board of Directors and officers who are growing and leading the Michigan Forest Association.

A note about grants

All federal grants mentioned in this article are appropriated by Congress through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (Section 23002). If you have questions about these federal grants or this exciting new public-private partnership, contact DNR Forest Stewardship Program Coordinator Mike Smalligan or by calling (517) 449-5666. All partners are equal opportunity providers and employers.