The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund announced their recommended projects to be funded for 2010.

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) Board of Trustees on Wednesday recommended to Governor Jennifer M. Granholm that 67 recreation projects and land acquisitions totaling $35.7 million be funded in 2010. The board this year had considered 175 applications for development and acquisition projects totaling $108.3 million, which were competitively evaluated based on scoring criteria developed by the Board.

“Our natural resources help set Michigan apart from other states, and the work of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund has made it possible to protect and acquire some of our most scenic lands and unique natural areas,” Granholm said. “These recommendations will allow all who live in and visit our state to further enjoy Michigan’s magnificent natural and recreational areas.”

We’d recently mentioned this upcoming decision. We also didn’t understand why the Wixom/Walled Lake/Commerce Michigan Airline rail-trail project was not listed. The DNR ruled the project ineligible until it can prove it has the required matching funds. (The Trust Fund does not cover 100% of a project’s cost.) It’s expected that this project will be resubmitted for next year’s grant funding.

Here are the final recommendations for trail-related projects within the Seven-county region. (more…)

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) board meets on December 2nd to make their funding recommendations for park development and acquisition projects across the state.

According to Chairperson Lana Pollack, there is an estimated $25.7 million available for land acquisition and $9.7 million for development.

Not all projects will get funded as there is over $59 million in land acquisition requests and nearly $26 million in development requests.

To help determine what gets funded, all of the land acquisition and development projects have been ranked.

Here are some trail projects of interest to Metro Detroit bicyclists and other trail users.

Dequindre Cut and RiverWalk connection

09-149. William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor-Detroit East Riverwalk-Parks and Recreation Division. This is to complete the riverwalk trail to link Dequindre Cut. $500,000 request.

This is for phase III development at Milliken State Park. It would continue the RiverWalk eastward from the new lowlands area, past the grassy mound, near the old dry dock, and to the Dequindre Trail.

This project scored very well and is likely to receive funding.

Note that the cities such as Detroit and Hamtramck do not have approved recreation master plans on file with the DNR — a requirement for receiving Trust Fund grants. While the city of Detroit has a recreation plan, it has not been endorsed by city council and therefore does not meet the DNR requirements. Efforts are underway to help get the recreation plan through city council in early 2010.

Michigan Airline Trail

For some unknown reason, this land acquisition request is not included in the final project list. It should be. A presentation on the project was given at the October Trust Fund meeting.

09-170. Michigan Airline Railway Acquisition

Ms. Kathleen Cassidy, Administrator for the Commerce, Walled Lake and Wixom Management Council made a presentation in support of 09-170, Michigan Airline Railway Acquisition. The project is for the acquisition of 5.45 miles of railroad right-of-way for a trail that would traverse Commerce Township and the cities of Walled Lake and Wixom. These communities have formed an intergovernmental trails management council for the purpose of acquisition and development of this trail. There is great support for the project, with over 100 letters of support being received from citizens, politicians, adjacent communities and trail enthusiasts.

When completed, the proposed trail will connect with the Huron Valley and West Bloomfield Trails. The trail is within a mile of eight elementary, two middle and two high schools. In addition it adjoins to the downtown areas of Walled Lake and Wixom.

All three communities have pledged to operate and maintain their portions of the trail through their parks and recreation budgets. There is a willing seller.

The trail is part of the cross-state Michigan Airline Trailway and is one of the nine missing links in this trail.

Ms. Nancy Krupiarz, Executive Director of the Michigan Trails and Greenway Alliance, made a presentation in support of 09-170, Michigan Airline Railway Acquisition. This is a critical connection for the Michigan Airline Trail. It is located in a heavily populated area. She outlined where the trail would be located via a map.

Mr. Charters asked how much was being requested for this acquisition. Ms. Krupiarz responded the council is asking for $4,222,700 from the MNRTF.

Ms. Krupiarz advised the Board that a grant has recently been received from the Kresge Foundation to close some of the other gaps in the trail (five gaps).

Ms. Krupiarz also mentioned the I-275 Pathway, 40 miles that will connect halfway to the middle of the critical link. These 40 miles of trail go south to Monroe.

Hines Drive trail extension in Northville Township

This is a significant request and larger than the typical $4 million ceiling. That means it could be funded in phases. It does score high on the list and could be funded.

Below are notes from a presentation given to the MNRTF board in October.

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We recently wrote about W.K. Kellogg’s early bicycling advocacy efforts including his lifetime membership in the League of American Wheelmen.

Those efforts have continued through the Kellogg Foundation which has invested in trails throughout Michigan.

Here’s more good news as of last Monday.

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In an effort to manage carbon emissions, Congress has been working on cap and trade legislation.

Since about a third of U.S. carbon emissions are due to transportation, bike and walk advocates want a portion of carbon credits sales to fund clean transportation. That effort resulted in CLEAN-TEA legislation.

The bill is predicated upon passage of a comprehensive climate change bill, such as the one considered by the Senate earlier this year, which would generate revenue for the Federal government. Under CLEAN TEA, ten percent of the revenue would be used to create a more efficient transportation system and lower greenhouse gas emissions through strategies including funding new or expanded transit or passenger rail; supporting development around transit stops; and making neighborhoods safer for bikes and pedestrians.

Certainly we could use more funding for transit and non-motorized transportation infrastructure. Unfortunately the House is only looking at 1%, while the Senate is looking at 2.4%. Both are less than the 10% called for in CLEAN-TEA.

But there’s another potential funding source for the city of Detroit thanks to legislation introduced by Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow.

According to the Detroit News:

Farmers, landowners and even cities could sell pollution credits to ease the costs of legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under a bill introduced in Congress.

The Clean Energy Partnership Act could be a boon for cities like Detroit, with an estimated 40 square miles of vacant land, or Flint, where a quarter of all the homes are vacant. The cities could reforest lots and sell the credits to business to shore up drained budgets.

And while Detroit’s vacant land issue has not been the highest priority of the Bing administration, that should change next year.

The mayor plans to address the issue of vacant land by the first quarter of next year, said spokesman Edward Cardenas. “We’re looking at a whole array of different options,” he said, adding the city is interested in Stabenow’s proposal.

“Planting trees could be one of those options. We need to look at everything that is out there.”

He said the city is looking at uses of the land for farming, green space and reforestation.

And green space is a great place for greenways. This could be a big win-win for Detroit trails.

In recent years Detroit has sold parkland. Fortunately some, like the Rouge Park sell off, have been stopped. Others potential park sales continue to hang around, especially as the city does not have enough funds to maintain them.

Stabenow’s Clean Energy Partnership Act would help.

Link: Contact Senator Stabenow

One of the last major missing pieces of the Detroit RiverWalk along the East Riverfront is the Uniroyal site.

While Senator Carl Levin has secured funding for building this RiverWalk section and MDOT has agreed to manage the project, the site contamination remains a hindrance.

It’s called the Uniroyal site because it was home to tire manufacturing from as early as 1906 through 1980 — hence some of the contamination.

The tire history began when Morgan and Wright, the world’s largest bicycle tire manufacturer relocated from Chicago to Detroit.

According to this Detroit News history article:

Construction on the first buildings in the riverfront complex began in August 1905. Completed in October 1906, the plant housed the Morgan & Wright Bicycle Tire Co., once the world’s largest maker of bicycle tires. Morgan & Wright had migrated from Chicago to link up with Detroit’s developing auto industry. In its early years, the tire plant housed several of the annual Detroit Auto Shows. Initially the 750 people who worked there produced 350 tires daily. In 1906, company President Samuel P. Colt commented on the auto-rubber connection: “Judging from the past, the growth of the automobile tire business will be of momentous importance in the future. Ten years ago, rubber tires were not important. Now they consume one-half of the raw unprocessed rubber product.”

It’s apparent in the 1911 Morgan and Wright advertisement that early car tires owed much of their design to bicycle tires. Detroiter Horatio “Good Roads” Earle asked in this autobiography, “Whoever heard of ball bearings and pneumatic tires until they were used in bicycles?”

In addition, this web site has an interesting collection of Morgan and Wright history and photos.

Morgan & Wright was founded in 1891 by Fred Morgan and Rufus Wright, while the pneumatic safety bicycle was still fairly young, and the bicycle boom was just coming into flower. besides tires, they also produced other tire-related items (pumps, patch kits, tire repair accessories…) and other bicycle products (pedal rubbers, rubber toe clips, chain lubricant), and distributed a variety of other bicycle-related sundries through their catalogue. With the advent of the 20th century, the company gradually turned to the early automobile rubber market, moved to Detroit around 1906, and was bought by the U.S. Rubber Company around 1911 (a 1912 supply catalog I have refers to M & W tires now being marked as U.S. tire), and later became Uniroyal.

The Uniroyal site was also the site for stove and auto manufacturers. This industry was served by the Michigan Terminal, a now abandoned rail line that roughly parallels Beaufait. It’s the reason for the slight hump in Jefferson just west of the Lofts at Rivertown.

The Gleaners Food Bank is also located along this abandoned rail line. There is very preliminary talk of developing a rail-to-trail greenway from the food bank to the RiverWalk.

It’s interesting that after more than 100 years, this area will once again be a benefit to bicyclists.