Press Release: Federal Court Decision Protects Michigan’s Sylvania Wilderness Area in the State’s Upper Peninsula

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2016

Contact: Judith Nemes (312) [email protected]

Federal Court Decision Protects Michigan’s Sylvania Wilderness Area in the State’s Upper Peninsula
Key decision for protecting lakeshores and other wilderness places

Marquette, Mich. – A Federal District Court judge this week ruled in favor of the Environmental Law & Policy Center, its clients and the U.S. Forest Service to allow restrictions on the use of noisy gas-powered motorboats in the tranquil Sylvania Wilderness Area in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The decision by Federal Judge R. Allan Edgar enables the U.S. Forest Service to continue enforcing a section of the Michigan Wilderness Act (MWA), which provides that the Sylvania Wilderness should be administered and protected as a pristine area in accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964. ELPC represented Sylvania Wilderness Cabins, Friends of Sylvania, and the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition in the suit.

“Judge Edgar’s commonsense decision makes clear that the pristine Sylvania Wilderness should be protected from the noise and disruption of motorboats,” says Jennifer Tarr, ELPC Staff Attorney.

The court concluded: “Based on the plain language of the relevant sections of the Wilderness Act and the MWA, it is clear that Congress intended that the U.S. Forest Service would regulate motorboat usage to the extent necessary to preserve the nature and character of Sylvania.”

In addition, the ruling stated: “the Plaintiffs in this case had no pre-existing right to use motorboats on the lake. They purchased the property in 2010 – 23 years after Congress enacted the MWA, and 14 years after Amendment Five had been in effect.”

A homeowner on Crooked Lake in the Sylvania Wilderness of Michigan challenged the U.S. Forest Service’s amendment to the Michigan Wilderness Act of 1987 that enabled the government to protect that area in accordance with the Wilderness Act of 1964.

“This is an important victory in the court that sets a precedent for protecting the Sylvania Wilderness Area and the other wild and special places around the Great Lakes and Midwest,” says Howard Learner, ELPC’s Executive Director.

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