"Federal agencies say opening these lands will reduce wildfire risks and make timber more accessible. Experts, however, say the government is contradicting itself."
"Michigan’s Norwich Plains is a stretch of unbroken wilderness in the state’s Upper Peninsula dominated by northern hardwood forest, with sugar maples and old-growth aspens that provide habitat for endangered species like the eastern gray wolf and the American martin.
There are beaver ponds, meadows and miles of trout streams that can all be seen from the Norwich Bluff trail, which rises around 500 feet above the surrounding wilderness. The conservation of this area isn’t an accident—limited logging and nearly 30 years of federal protection have helped preserve it.
However, the Norwich Plains and pristine areas like it could soon lose their federal protections and face logging and roadbuilding."
Sarah Mattalian reports for Inside Climate News September 12, 2026.
