3/02/2026

GOGEBIC COUNTY - The U.S. Forest Service is proposing a large, decades-long plan in Michigan’s Ottawa National Forest that mixes logging, road work, and habitat projects. The agency says its review finds no significant environmental impact from the project. Critics say that claim makes no sense. Environmental groups warn logging and gravel work could spread invasive species and increase runoff. They also worry about damage to habitat for gray wolves and northern long-eared bats. They also oppose cutting some trees older than 100 years. The Forest Service says it uses buffers and best practices. A Michigan State forestry professor calls the plan routine. What’s being called the Silver Branch Vegetation Management Project would span about 40 miles from north to south on the eastern edge of the Ottawa National Forest. The project involves a mix of logging: about 1,500 acres of clear-cutting and around 24,000 acres of a kind of clear-cutting that leaves certain trees. There would also be around 57,000 acres of other kinds of more-targeted logging. The project is expected to last around 30 years, with periodic reviews.