# Big land deal; UPPCO sells U.P. properties



## Hamilton Reef

Big land deal; UPPCO sells U.P. properties 

MARQUETTE - The Upper Peninsula Power Co. is divesting itself of thousands of acres of land surrounding reservoirs in the Upper Peninsula.

Late last week the company announced the sale to Naterra Land of about 9,200 acres of property surrounding the Bond Falls, Boney Falls and Cataract Basin reservoirs. The sale price was not disclosed.

"We contacted the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service and others on more than one occasion about buying the land," Trudeau said. "No serious interest was expressed or offers made."

http://www.miningjournal.net/news/story/018202006_new01-n0108.asp


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## snakebit67

get in now on the bottom floor:evil:


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## shametamer

progress? sheesh! there goes the neighborhood....fishing and camping will never be the same in the '6' areas mentioned in the article....a lot of us have great memories of camping at Bond falls! too bad........


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## drwink

gonna suck for sure. Its to bad someone didn't step up to the plate here.
So they backed off a 7% rate increase, sold the land & came in for an 8% increase a year later ???


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## kumma

Well considering the lack of industry, services and harsh winters, its not going to be a land rush. You pretty much have to be retired or rich to live in the area. Id like to see what some of the land around Victoria will fetch as thats much nicer than the area around Bond Falls. It would be a tragedy if any of the waterfront was developed. :sad:


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## Gilbey

Yes, and let me tell you how our camps feel that we hunt within a couple of miles on state land away from where they are already planning to put in many multi unit condo complexes in.

Can't wait.


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## WILDCATWICK

There goes my secluded holes downstream of Bond falls! UPPCO stinks to high heck. They mismanage and lie out of the side of their mouth repeatedly. I wonder what offer the state presented and I wonder what kind of deal the state gave to UPPCO years ago. I'm sure UPPCO was thrilled at the prospect of taking an offer that is less than full value even thou they have taken advantage of the state in these matters in the past and also do not always abide by the state rules and regulations when it comes to dam agreements.


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## Hamilton Reef

Land sale has some concerned 

TRAVERSE CITY - An electric utility is selling for residential development 7,300 acres of land near hydropower dams on several Upper Peninsula rivers, raising concerns about the environment and public access for fishing and other recreation.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service sent memos to FERC last week, saying the company seemed to be planning "extensive shoreline development" that would conflict with license requirements. Among them: providing walk-in public access for hunting, fishing and sightseeing; retaining the shorelines' natural appearance; and protecting wildlife habitat and old growth forests.

"Part of the problem is that UPPCO hasn't completed their development plans, so it's hard to assess the cumulative impact," said Jessica Mistak, a DNR fisheries biologist who wrote her agency's memo.

http://www.record-eagle.com/2006/jan/13land.htm


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## WILDCATWICK

> Hydropower licenses issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission require UPPCO to retain a buffer strip of waterfront land around each of the dam projects. The land being sold is outside the buffer strips.
> But in documents submitted to state and federal agencies, UPPCO said it planned some development within the buffer areas themselves, including construction of docks, piers and footpaths; installation of electrical lines; and land clearing to give homeowners a water view.


Need we continue to trust them?

Thanks for the updates.


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## shametamer

this Naterra outfit(folks who bought the land) have holdings all over the united states and canada, but from what i can find they cater to the 'upscale' community..........


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## Rusher

You know some people at the state level and above are getting their pockets filled.:sad:


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## shametamer

Rusher! that would be my fear..and my suspicion 'why' no goverment(federal,state or local ) made an offer on any of the land....


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## Hamilton Reef

UPPCO sells more land to developer 

http://www.miningjournal.net/news/story/0123202006_new01-n0123.asp

January 23, 2006 By PETE MACKIN, Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE - The Upper Peninsula Power Company has reached an agreement to sell land surrounding three more Upper Peninsula basins to a Minnesota development company. Although terms of the contract still need to be worked out, property surrounding the Victoria, Pricket and AuTrain hydroelectric projects will be sold to Minneapolis, Minn.-based Naterra Land, UPPCO real estate director Roger Trudeau said.

"We are still in the planning stage and haven't yet set a date for when that transaction will close." he said. "However, that land is now closed for bid. We received formal proposals from three developers. Of those final proposals, we selected Naterra."

UPPCO officials are planning a public meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Trout Creek School Gymnasium in Ewen to discuss the land sale. Officials said at the meeting UPPCO and Naterra officials will share information regarding the sale, the land transfer process, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission restrictions and plans for development. 

Late last year, UPPCO sold Naterra land around the reservoirs of Bond Falls, Boney Falls and the Cataract Basin. 

"We have officially sold 960 acres at Bond Falls, 250 acres at the Cataract Basin and 150 acres at Boney Falls," Trudeau said. "The balance of 6,000 acres at those sites we plan on selling to Naterra. We have agreed to basic terms and are working out the finer points." 

Several Wisconsin residents who own property near the property being sold have expressed opposition to the deal. 

"Since none of this development was known or revealed in the 2003 (relicensing of the Bond Falls dam), we demand a FERC sponsored public comment period and an environmental impact statement, not a charade that takes place outside of FERC guidelines," Nancy Warren of Ewen, Wis., an Upper Peninsula Public Access Coalition spokeswoman, stated in a press release. 

The coalition describes itself as a group of citizens living in and recreating in the U.P. Most of the groups members are Wisconsin residents, according to a Haight Township official. According to UPPCO, no local governing boards have formally opposed the land sale. 

"I continue to get positive feedback from the surrounding communities. This is apparently something that the local units of governments want to see," Trudeau said. 

He added that the roughly 7,300 acres involved in the sale to Naterra is a relatively small amount of land compared to tracts open to the public, including about 30,000 U.P. acres UPPCO recently sold to the Public Land Trust that is now managed by the U.S. Forest Service. 

"Sixty-three percent of the land in the U.P. is open to the public through state, federal or managed forests," Trudeau said. "We're talking about an infinitesimal portion of the land with this sale."


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## Hamilton Reef

Advisory group for Bond Falls land sale kicks off
The area around Bond Falls is being debated by a variety of groups.

TROUT CREEK  Stakeholders in the Bond Falls Flowage land sale are taking initial steps to help create a shoreline management plan for 960 acres of perimeter lands recently sold for private development by the Upper Peninsula Power Co. to Naterra Land Inc.

Community members and officials from Ontonagon, Houghton, Baraga and surrounding townships met for the first time at the Trout Creek American Legion on May 25, as part of a citizens group designed to serve as a conduit back to the public and to give recommendations on how land is to be developed for residential use at Victoria and Bond Falls flowages in the western Upper Peninsula. 

The group will meet once a month over a six-month period. Topics to be discussed at the next meeting include docks, water structures, road access, invasive species, campground consolidation and a presentation by Naterra.

A list of members and meeting summaries can be found on the UPPAC website at www.uppac.com. Tentative dates for the next sessions are June 22 or June 29.

A second focus group will advise similar developments in the east central U.P. at AuTrain, Cataract and Boney Falls flowages.

http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=2239


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## Hamilton Reef

UPPCO, Naterra talk about Au Train basin Land sale concerns

LIMESTONE  Access to hunting and fishing areas, reservoir water levels and infrastructure improvements were among the top concerns of locals interested in the proposed sale of Upper Peninsula Power Company lands situated around the AuTrain Basin.

The dam  while safe under normal conditions  currently does not meet that standard, prompting a FERC order to drop the water level by two feet. Additional outflow requirements are in place to protect a coldwater trout fishery downstream of the north dam.

http://www.miningjournal.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=4482


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## BFTrout

It pretty much sucks. Autrain is my backyard, but know all of the projects that they are selling. 
One good thing that is going on is that the developer has to leave a "buffer zone" from the shoreline back 100' (I think, if not more). That way nobody can mow to their shore line. 
Bring on the yuppies. . . . after all it is tourist season.


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## bownutty

Don't have to tell me how this sucks. Our camp property has been leased from CCI, then UPPCO for about 35years on the Autrain Basin. I was told, though unofficailly from UPPCO, we will "have the option to buy the lot" to the tune of an estimated $125.000. 

I just can't afford that at this point in life. I can't tell you how this ripps at my very sole when I think about all the memories there and how my five year old will not be able to make any more there. He loves the place! I was also told the sale will be complete in 2008. 

The thing about this basin is it is not good for anything except fishing. There is no swimming beach with nothing but mucky bottom, can't jet ski safely, too many dead heads and stumps. Hopefully this will scare them off, but I doubt it. Sorry for the rant, but I have some pretty strong feelings about this issue. I know progress is going to happen, but why does it have to happen to us?


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## Tecumseh

bownutty said:


> There is no swimming beach with nothing but mucky bottom, can't jet ski safely, too many dead heads and stumps. Hopefully this will scare them off, but I doubt it.
> 
> 
> 
> Yet. I am sure they will get approval somehow to remove all the debris and dump a million yards of sand to make it happen for them
Click to expand...


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## tdejong302

Watch out for the granola crunchers. The tree huggers will soon be our neighbors. If you used a gas motor on Forest lake before you won't be able to now.(Beaver lake is a prime example). They aren't worried about dead heads or swimming or fishing or hunting. They want seclusion at our expense. There goes the neighborhood. We have property about 1 mile from the lake. So I am already planning on more people in the woods. 

On the flip side our property values may go up some. And if we want less neighbors we should buy the property, granted we can't afford to. They bought it now its up to them to use it as they see fit. As we all know we will continue to see growth in our favorite hunting/fishing areas. :sad:


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## Hamilton Reef

State eyeing UPPCO land?

FOREST LAKE  Upper Peninsula Power Company officials are discussing the possibility of selling an important AuTrain Basin wildlife refuge in Alger County to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Were willing to pursue this option, said Roger Trudeau, director of real estate for UPPCO. Weve been waiting for the DNR to begin the appraisal process.

The refuge, located at the south end of the AuTrain Basin, has been in operation since the 1970s with the DNR leasing the land from UPPCO to conserve habitat for waterfowl and other species.

http://www.miningjournal.net/stories/articles.asp?articleID=8023


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## bownutty

I turkey hunt on the south end of the basin and have seen the granola crunchers in the area walking with the cameras. Got some dirty looks like they already own the place because I was in camo and had a bow. I did run into a DNR forrestry guy there in early April while scouting down by the Trout Lake Road. He said they may do another burn in the presurve area for the sharptails. The habitat is gettinig over grown. Hopefully that will be a good sign for the DNR taking ownership of that end of the lake. As of right now, you can't really call it a lake. It was drained so low it looks like a river surrounded by mud flats. We had about 150 yards of beach/mud and there is usually no beach. Our well even dried up. They are in the process of refilling it though. Expected to be filled by spring run off to previous levels. I have heard they have run into some snags in the selling process, so I still have some hope.


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## Hamilton Reef

UPPCO releases shoreline plans

HOUGHTON  Upper Peninsula Power Company has released its shoreline management plans for six hydroelectric project impoundments in the Upper Peninsula and scheduled a series of public meetings to review the hefty documents.

Released March 19, the shoreline management plans (SMPs) outline UPPCOs intentions for the land that is part of the Bond Falls, the Victoria, Prickett Dam, Au Train and Boney Falls/Cataract Falls hydroelectric projects.

http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=6333


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## Hamilton Reef

UPPCO releases final requests for hydro lands

HOUGHTON  The destiny of hundreds of acres of property surrounding six Upper Peninsula Power Co. hydroelectric impoundments in the western and central U.P. is now in the hands of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

UPPCO today forwarded to the FERC the final drafts of its proposed Shoreline Management Plans for project lands surrounding the six impoundments. Wisconsin-based developer Naterra Land has plans to build residential developments on land adjacent to the project lands, project lands being defined as land subject to the terms of UPPCOs FERC licenses for the hydro projects.

Copies of the final shoreline management plans will be made available online today at the UPPCO Web site, www.uppco.com. Choose the Land Sale link.

http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=9624


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## Hamilton Reef

[Federal Register: April 29, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 83)]
[Notices] 
[Page 23221]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr29ap08-53] 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
[Project No. 1864-079-MI & WI]

Upper Peninsula Power Company; Notice of Availability of
Environmental Assessment

April 22, 2008.
In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's regulations, 18 CFR Part 380 (Order No. 486, 52 FR 47879), the Office of Energy Projects has reviewed the proposed lake level amendment for the bond Falls Project, located in the Ontonagon River Basin in Ontonagon and Gogebic Counties, Michigan and Vilas County, Wisconsin, and has prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA).

A copy of the Draft EA is on file with the Commission and is available for public inspection. The Draft EA may also be viewed on the Commission's Web site at http://www.ferc.gov using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number (P-1864) excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC Online Support at [email protected] or toll-free at 1-866-208-3676, or for TTY, (202) 502-8659.

Any comments should be filed by May 27, 2008, and should be addressed to the Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Room 1-A, Washington, DC 20426. Please reference the project name and project number (P-1864) on all comments. Comments may be filed electronically via Internet in lieu of paper. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filings. See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's Web site under the ``eFiling'' link. For further information, contact Monica Maynard at (202) 502-6013.

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-9298 Filed 4-28-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


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## 8nchuck

Too bad but it is theirs to with what they want. Don't like, it buy it. As far as leases, well I don't know what the lease fee was but it probably was a pretty good deal considering the hunting/fishing rights that went with it. Problem with a lease is that it could be taken away. 

I learned a long time ago that if you want something of your own you need to own it - out right. No ones going to give you anything.

My family had 160 acres and the estate taxes pretty much took it away. No one came to my rescue. My family had that for 45 years and I grew up on it. I paid nothing for the pleasure of using it. Sad that see it go but there was not other way. I could not come up with 50,000.00+ for taxes. Maybe if people would wake up and see just how much our liberal politician's ( D & R) take away with taxes we would stop voting them in. Maybe we could all have a nice piece of the pie.


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