The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is busy preparing 126 properties for sale via online auctions later this summer. River frontage, lake frontage and forested acreage surrounded by private ownership – these characteristics describe some of the parcels that will be available in August and early September.
It may seem counter-intuitive that the DNR should make any land available for sale, but it’s important to note that the public benefit of some properties is severely limited due to factors such as lack of legal public access, size limitations that prevent appropriate public use, and development on adjacent privately owned land that impacts public use such as hunting. Further, the proceeds from surplus-land sales are deposited into the Land Exchange Facilitation Fund and specifically used to acquire replacement properties that are usable by the public, protect important natural resources and provide accessible, quality recreation opportunities.
For all of those reasons, the DNR determines some properties to be more suitable for private ownership.
These surplus land sales are a regular part of the DNR’s public land strategy (one supported and further defined by the Michigan Legislature with the passage of Public Act 240 in 2018). And since such parcels were determined to be better suited for private ownership, they could prove to be the perfect fit for the right owners.
Scott Whitcomb, director of the DNR’s Office of Public Lands, said that parcels selected for public auction don’t make it there without first having gone through an extensive review process.
“State forests, state parks, wildlife areas, trails and more, the DNR manages approximately 4.6 million acres of public land on behalf of the people of Michigan,” Whitcomb said. “These lands are used for a variety of recreation activities and also support the state’s economy through tourism, the timber industry and job creation.”
Whitcomb stressed how critical it is for the department to be strategic in that effort.
“More than half of the land the DNR manages came to the state due to owners’ nonpayment of taxes, so those parcels were not ones we purposefully sought out and purchased,” he said. “Our land review process is effective in pointing out parcels that don’t fit the department mission to balance conservation, recreation and economic development.
“Before parcels ever get to public auction – a management tool the department has used for several decades – we’ve already evaluated all other options, whether it’s a land exchange for land that’s a better fit, or perhaps a situation where it makes more sense for another governmental agency or conservation group to hold the property.”
Such land exchanges yield meaningful additions to the DNR’s public land portfolio, which results in better outdoor recreation and conservation outcomes. Since January 2020, more than 80 parcels totaling over 6,500 acres were purchased (through the Land Exchange Facilitation Fund or an LEFF subfund) for public benefit.
See examples of some of these transactions on the DNR’s Recent Land Acquisitions and Exchanges webpage. For a deeper dive into the nearly-four-year land review completed in February 2024 – an effort that included almost 9,800 individual parcels and evaluation of more than 167,000 acres – check out this Showcasing the DNR story.
This year, land is available throughout Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula in the following counties: Alger, Allegan, Barry, Genesee, Gogebic, Grand Traverse, Kent, Lake, Lapeer, Luce, Manistee, Marquette, Mecosta, Midland, Missaukee, Montmorency, Newaygo, Oceana, Ogemaw, Schoolcraft, Washtenaw and Wexford.
Eleven online auctions are scheduled and will feature land parcels by county, starting Aug. 1 and concluding Sept. 5:
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Friday, Aug. 1 – Kent and Oceana counties.
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Monday, Aug. 4 – Grand Traverse, Lake, Manistee and Wexford counties.
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Thursday, Aug. 7 – Lapeer County.
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Monday, Aug. 18 – Alger, Luce and Schoolcraft counties.
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Tuesday, Aug. 19 – Gogebic and Marquette counties.
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Thursday, Aug. 21 – Washtenaw County.
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Friday, Aug. 22 – Mecosta, Midland and Newaygo counties.
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Tuesday, Aug. 26 – Barry County.
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Wednesday, Aug. 27 – Allegan County.
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Thursday, Aug. 28 – Ogemaw, Missaukee and Montmorency counties.
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Friday, Sept. 5 – Genesee County.
Interested bidders may preregister and get more information about the online auction schedule at https://www.tax-sale.info/. Anyone who plans to bid on a property must register before the property’s auction date. Absentee bids can be made up to 30 days before an auction.
The “interactive” bidding portion of an auction will open at 10 a.m. on that auction date. At that time, bidders will be able to see current high bids for each property. Bidders can continue to place bids on a property until 7 p.m. when bidding closes and the winning bidder is determined.
Get a detailed property list including minimum bid, acreage, maps and location information at Michigan.gov/LandForSale. Interested bidders are encouraged to review the DNR Land Sales: Terms and Conditions.
Properties for sale range in size from under an acre to 200 acres. Many of the surplus properties highlighted in the auction are in Allegan, Lake, Newaygo, Schoolcraft and Wexford counties. There are over 15 properties available that are 40 acres or larger, mostly throughout the Upper Peninsula and the northern Lower Peninsula.
Other details:
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Notable waterfront properties that are accessible in the Lower Peninsula include a Barry County property with frontage on Long Lake (Lot #10048), an island in Genesee County in Lake Ponemah (Lot #10049), a Montmorency County property with frontage on the Thunder Bay River (Lot #10076) and two properties in Wexford County on Lake Mitchell (Lot #10124) and Pleasant Lake (Lot #10127).
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Notable waterfront properties in the Upper Peninsula include a property in Gogebic County on Duck Lake (Lot #10050) and Schoolcraft County properties with frontage on the West Branch Manistique River (Lot #10114) and the North Branch of Stutts Creek (Lot #10115).
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Some large-acreage properties that are accessible include an 80-acre property in Oceana County along West Jefferson Road (Lot #10099), a 43-acre-plus Grand Traverse County property along Hoosier Valley Road (Lot #10051), a 20-acre parcel in Allegan County on 105th Avenue (Lot #10046), a 94-acre-plus property in Montmorency County along M-32 (Lot #10077) and several properties in Schoolcraft County between 18 acres and 124 acres in size (Lot #s 10107, 10108, 10114 and 10115).
Many of the sale parcels are forested and/or have road or river frontage but are better suited for private ownership. Much of the land offered in these auctions is isolated from other DNR-managed property, which creates some management challenges, while other parcels are included because they offer limited public recreation benefits.
Most of the properties included in the auction were designated as surplus properties during the DNR’s state land review. In fact, 98% of the parcels offered at auction this year were part of that review process, which aims to examine isolated state-managed parcels that are 200 acres or smaller with a substantial private-public boundary.
Certain properties, such as boating access sites and designated trails, were removed from the review because they have been confirmed to contribute to the department’s mission. The review process was conducted on a county-by-county basis throughout the entire state. Learn more about the state land review.
Separate from the online auctions, the DNR is offering additional properties (listed for sale at their former minimum bid prices) that were not sold in previous auctions. These properties are available for immediate purchase only via the BuyNow list.
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