Michigan Trout Unlimited
MICHIGAN Trout
The Proposed Expansion of Camp Grayling Raises Resource Concerns
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by Greg Walz, Michigan NLC Representative; Karen Harrison, President Mason-Griffith Founders Chapter
Summer 2022
For many anglers on the Au Sable and Upper Manistee Rivers and their tributaries and property owners and visitors in Crawford, Otsego, and Kalkaska Counties in the Northern Lower Peninsula, the sights and sounds of military training are common, if not daily, occurrences. The area echoes with bursts of automatic weapons firing; glimpses of lowflying helicopters, fighter jets, and A-10 ground attack aircraft swooping low in bombing and strafing runs; artillery pieces and tanks firing shells into designated impact areas; and convoys of Humvees, tanks, and other vehicles are commonly moving both on and off-road. These activities are centered on the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center (CGJMTC), the nation’s largest National Guard training facility, which extends over approximately 148,000 acres and hosts numerous training exercises throughout the year for National Guard units and multi-national allies. Camp Graying developed following a gift of 14,067 acres to the Michigan Department of Military Affairs in 1913 by Rasmus Hanson, a wealthy lumberman, for military training use. Hanson also constructed the Grayling Fish Hatchery, which began operations in 1919 on the East Branch Au Sable River. The current extent of the CGJMTC includes just over 50,000 acres, wholly owned by the Department of Defense, as well as 56,769 acres in Crawford and Otsego Counties under a long-term lease and over 42,000 acres under shortterm (20-year) leases in Crawford and Kalkaska Counties from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Collectively, the lands (and 337 square kilometers of restricted airspace) comprising the CGJMTC provide training to as many as 250,000 troops per year in a variety of exercises integrating ground, aviation, and other assets in realistic combat scenarios. While providing economic benefits to the surrounding communities and the State of Michigan in the form of payments in lieu of taxes, the training activities undertaken within the CGJTMC are responsible for a variety of environmental and quality of life impacts ranging from noise emanating from both day and nighttime helicopter and fixedwing aircraft training flights; noise and traffic disruptions from military vehicle traffic within and outside the CGJMTC; habitat fragmentation within training areas affecting wildlife behavior; wildfire management issues (about 100 fires annually as a result of training activities); and, most notably contamination of surface waters, subsurface aquifers, and some residential water wells with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs and PFCs), components in fire-fighting foams, which have emanated from the Grayling Army Air Field. These “forever chemicals” are not
readily degraded once present in the environment and bioaccumulate in animal and human tissues. PFAs and PFCs have been linked to growth and development issues in children, reproductive problems in women, and an increased risk of cancers in those exposed. In May 2022, Michigan TU became aware of a proposed expansion of the CGJMTC through a report published online on May 18 by Bridge Magazine, indicating that the Department of Defense was proposing the addition of over 160,000 acres to the CGJMTC to facilitate “low impact” cyber warfare training exercises. As depicted on a map accompanying the article, the proposed expansion would more than double the CGJMTC footprint. The proposed expansion extends north from the area west of Houghton and Higgins Lakes on the south; it encompasses a wide swath along the Upper Manistee, including the North Branch of the Manistee and Cannon Creeks, as well as the Upper Au Sable north and west of Grayling. To the east, the proposed area includes the East and Middle Branches of Big Creek and an area adjacent to the headwaters of the North Branch Au Sable. According to the article, no new tank or vehicle trails, structures, facilities, or fences would be constructed on the leased DNR lands. However, new weapons firing points were included in the expansion plan where weapons (tanks, artillery, etc.) could fire into existing impact ranges. During training exercises, temporary road closures and access limitations to some areas would occur within the expansion acreage. On May 31, 2022, Michigan DNR representatives and military personnel met with river stakeholders to present the CGJMTC request, answer questions, and listen to comments and concerns. DNR Natural Resources Deputy Shannon Lott participated in the meeting, as did Tom Barnes, Manager, Grayling Forest Management Unit. Colonel Scott Meyers represented the CGJMTC. There were approximately 40 people in attendance, including members of the Au Sable North Branch Area Foundation, Upper Manistee Restoration Association, Au Sable River Property Owners Association, Anglers of the Au Sable, and Mason-Griffith Founders Chapter. The information presented indicates the vast acreage of the proposed expansion results from a new defense strategy referred to as Multi-Domain Operations (MDO), which ”…enables the convergence of effects of U.S. weapons systems in all five warfare domains: land, air, sea, space, and cyberspace.” The vast area of the proposed expansion reflects the need for spatial distancing to minimize signal interference or jamming between troops training in electronic cyber warfare activities. The information further
