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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolutions - 1971.12.02 - 16022ar December 2, 1971 RESOLUTION NO. 587 8 RE: ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR NATURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES BY: MR. JOSEPH L. BARAKAT TO THE OAKLAND COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MR. CHAIRMAN, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I WHEREAS, the headwaters of the River Rouge lie in a 166-acre hardwood forested natural area northwest of the intersection of northbound 1-75 access road and Adams Road in Bloomfield Township, generally called The Adams Woods; and WHEREAS, public access to the headwater area can only be gained through public ownership of the surrounding natural area; and WHEREAS, the entire 166-acres woodland, wet meadow and river gorge comprise an excellent site for an environmental study laboratory and an inservice teacher training facility; and WHEREAS, an evaluation study of the site by Byron Ashbaugh, Chief of Outdoor Education Services, Genesee County Parks and Recreation Commission, indicates that The Adams Woods is ideally suited as an outdoor laboratory facility by virtue of its widely varying topography and natural features; and WHEREAS, Genesee County owns, staffs and maintains a 367-acre natural area, For-Mar Nature Preserve and Arboretum, includjng a portion of Kearsley Creek, East of Flint, which is utilized largely by teachers and school classes of Genesee County on weekdays, and by the public on Saturdays and Sundays; and WHEREAS, Bloomfield Township supervisor Homer Case in a signed statement dated January 12, 1971, advised favoring "A park in Section 1, North of 1-75, West of Adams Road in Bloom- field Township, such as For-Mar Nature Preserve in Genesee County"; and WHEREAS, such environmental learning facilities for student visitation, teaching training and public enlightenment are es- sential in achieving a cross-cultural approach to environmental awareness i and WHEREAS, no federal, state, metropolitan authority or county park land exists in the southeast quarter of Oakland County where the population density is greatest; and WHEREAS, residents and taxpayers of southeast Oakland County paid $790,931.05 in the 1/4 mill levy for Parks and Recreation In 1970, and this figure represents 66.76% of the total paid in the entire County; and WHEREAS, more than 5,000 Southeast Oakland County residents have signed petitions asking for preservation of The Adams Woods; and WHEREAS, Oakland County's ten most urbanized cities, South- field, Pontiac, Royal Oak, Troy, Oak Park, Birmingham, Madison Heights, Ferndale, Hazel Park and Berkley, are all in the Southeast quarter of the County; and WHEREAS, taxpayers of the ten most urbanized cities paid $628,408.82 or 53.04% of the 1/4 mill levy for Parks and Recreation in 070; and - 2 - WHEREAS, The Adams Woods is strategically located and ac- cessible to the ten named cities by main travel arteries, 1-75, U.S. 24 and U.S. 10; and WHEREAS, Parks and Recreation authorities recognize that nature preserves and environmental learning facilities cannot achieve a self-sustaining status on a fee system basis as can some purely recreational park facilities; and WHEREAS, a policy of providing only parks that can be self- sustaining on a fee system basis is tantamount to a policy of denying Southeast Oakland County of any natural areas since no sites exist in that area large enough to support active, fee- producing recreation in addition to a natural area; and WHEREAS, according to Kenneth L. VanNatta, Director of Oakland County Parks and Recreation Commission, as stated in a letter of February 9, 1971, to Marjorie M. Walker, "This commission is responsive to the need and heartily in accord with the statements contained in your proposal," that proposal being a request that the commission acquire The Adams Woods and maintain it as an educational center and natural area. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners requests the Oakland County Parks and Recreation Com- mission to acquire, in the name of the County, approximately 166 • acres of wooded area in Section 1, Bloomfield Township, located North of 1-75 and West of Adams Road, for the preservation of said area as a preserve, wild life area and to be used by the citizens • of Oakland County for nature and environmental studies. - 3 - JospWL. Barakt-- MR. CHAIRMAN, I move the adoptionl5Athe foregoing resolution. . /1 The resolution was referred to the Local and Regional Affairs Committee and Planning and Building Committee. There were no objections.