STATE: Michigan GRANT TITLE: Bete Grise Coastal Wetlands Acquisition FEDERAL IDENTIFIER: C-2-L SEGMENT: 1 Amendment 3 REPORT TYPE: Performance Report and Land Summary Statement REPORTING PERIOD: 6/1/2005 – 9/30/2009 Summary: This Performance Report covers a 51-month period beginning in federal fiscal year 2005 and extending through federal fiscal year 2009. The overall goal of this grant was to protect a significant amount of coastal wetlands in Bete Grise Bay of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. This goal was addressed through objectives detailed in the grant proposal. The amount of each objective to be achieved during this reporting period was established in this grant segment. A summary of the accomplishments completed by objective is given below. Accomplishments: The accomplishments by each project statement objective are summarized in the following table. Reporting units given are those established in the grant proposal. Explanations of any slippages greater than +/- 10% are provided following the table if necessary. Planned Reporting Actual Project Statement and Objectives Accomplishments Units Accomplishments Bete Grise coastal wetland acquisition, a cooperative effort between the Michigan Chapter of the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) with additional governmental agency and non-profit organization partners. 1. Bete Grise South acquisition 1040 Acres 1102 2. Bete Grise North acquisition 767 Acres 767 Reported Expenses: The expenses reported below are the total reported for activities reimbursable under this grant agreement, but were not necessarily charged to these federal assistance funds1. Labor and expenses were queried using activity codes rather than the funding and appropriation codes as are typically used to verify federal aid expenses. No travel or Motor Transport Division (MTD) costs were charged to this grant. STATE OF MICHIGAN – C-2-L Bete Grise Coastal Wetland Acquisition – Performance Report and Land Summary Statement Segment 1, A3: 6/1/2005-9/30/2009 Page 1 of 4 Planned Actual Project Statement and Objectives Expenditures Expenditures1 Bete Grise coastal wetland acquisition, a cooperative effort between the Michigan Chapter of the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) with additional governmental agency and non-profit organization partners. 1. Bete Grise South acquisition $813,420 $786,988 2. Bete Grise North acquisition $666,023 $710,806 Project Totals $1,479,443 $1,497,794 1The expenses provided are for grant evaluation purposes only and may include expenses that were eligible for reimbursement but were not actually charged to the grant. These values are not necessarily included in Financial Status Reports nor are they subject to financial audits. Actual grant expenditure tracking with supporting documentation necessary for audit purposes is not maintained by MDNR at the objective level. All financial tracking and reporting for the purposes of audits is at the grant level only. Slippages/Discussion of Accomplishments and Expenditures: Objective 1: Bete Grise South acquisition The original plan for acquisition of Bete Grise South was to buy the land as one large tract from Lake Superior Land Company, the property management company owned by International Paper. The funds from this grant were to be combined with funds secured by the partners through a separate National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant administered by the Michigan Department of Environmental Protection. To reduce confusion and potential match issues, the tract was split into two with the NOAA grant being used to purchase one and funds from this grant being used to purchase the other. Only the tract acquired with funds from this grant is reported in detail here, however, both tracts are being jointly managed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the subrecipient of this grant that acquired the lands, along with the Houghton-Keweenaw Conservation District, a conservation partner in this grant. As the purposes of both federal grant awards are to protect and enhance coastal wetlands, the entire area will be managed for a consistent purpose allowable under both the NOAA grant and this NCWC grant. Map 1 shows the two tracts acquired as Bete Grise South as the Houghton-Keweenaw Conservation District tract in solid light purple and the TNC Preserve stippled in dark purple. It is the TNC Preserve that was acquired with funds from this grant. The Bete Grise South tracts had to be acquired earlier than was anticipated as International Paper was ceasing their Michigan operations and liquidating all of their land holdings. Consequently, TNC acquired the tract to be supported with funds from this grant once it STATE OF MICHIGAN – C-2-L Bete Grise Coastal Wetland Acquisition – Performance Report and Land Summary Statement Segment 1, A3: 6/1/2005-9/30/2009 Page 2 of 4 was known this grant had been competitively awarded. They closed on the property with their own funds and then requested reimbursement from this grant. Unfortunately, the appraisal they used to establish fair market value and what they based the purchase price on could not be certified to federal “yellow book” standards. Consequently, a retrospective appraisal had to be done later that was subsequently certified. The value in this appraisal, however, was less than the original. Consequently, the amounts paid by TNC in excess of the approved value were not reimbursed with grant funds and are not counted as matching funds for this grant. The following documents for the Bete Grise South acquisition are included in or attached to this report as detailed in the following table with hyperlinks to the appropriate documents: Bete Grise coastal wetland acquisition – Objective 1: Bete Grise South acquisition Document Type Document Name and Link Comments 1. Location Map Map 1: Project Area Location Map This acquisition is for the portion listed as TNC Preserve (Bete Grise Preserve) on map. 2. Plat Map Map 2: Project Area Plat Map 3. Dimensions/Survey Map Map 3: Parcel Dimensions Map 4. Appraisal Certification DNRE Appraisal Review 5. Subrecipient Agreement Subrecipient Agreement between TNC and DNRE (formerly MDNR) 6. Statement of Just Certified letter of fair market value Value offered in original Compensation and offer from TNC to Walt Arnold purchase was based on an appraisal that could not be certified to “yellow book” standards. A later appraisal was completed and certified at a lower value. Consequently, only the lower value was allowed for reimbursement under this grant. 7. Public Notification Newspaper ad and affidavit of Solicitation of public comments publication for both Bete Grise South and North acquisitions supported by this grant including the 62 acres acquired through this grant. 8. Deed Recorded Deed Recorded covenant deed. 9. Recorded US FWS interest Recorded Notice of Property Notice of property restriction and intended purpose of Restriction attached to deed of record parcel stipulating to all conditions and interests from grant proposal. 10. Title Insurance Policy Title Insurance Policy Serves as title vesting certificate. 11. Land Summary Statement Land Summary Statement with Documents purchase amounts Signed Closing Statement and and closing costs and includes Expenditure Verifications invoices and proof of payment for allowable costs related to acquisition. STATE OF MICHIGAN – C-2-L Bete Grise Coastal Wetland Acquisition – Performance Report and Land Summary Statement Segment 1, A3: 6/1/2005-9/30/2009 Page 3 of 4 Objective 2: Bete Grise North acquisition The Lake Superior Land Company liquidated this parcel as part of its entire land holdings in Michigan. TNC had to then negotiate with the new owners, GMO Threshold Timber Michigan II to acquire the lands. Fortunately, TNC was able to negotiate successfully to acquire the parcel, although the acquisition was delayed nearly two years. The following documents for the Bete Grise North acquisition are included in or attached to this report as detailed in the following table with hyperlinks to the appropriate documents: Bete Grise coastal wetland acquisition – Objective 2: Bete Grise North acquisition Document Type Document Name and Link Comments 1. Location Map Map 1: Project Area Location Map This acquisition is for the portion listed as GMO Threshold Timber MI II on map. 2. Plat Map Map 2: Project Area Plat Map 3. Dimensions/Survey Map Map 4: Parcel Dimensions Map 4. Appraisal Certification DNRE Appraisal Review 5. Subrecipient Agreement Subrecipient Agreement between Same as agreement listed TNC and DNRE (formerly MDNR) above. 6. Statement of Just Certified letter of fair market value Serves as statement of just Compensation and offer from TNC to Robert Saul compensation, letter notifies at GMO owner of fair market value based on reviewed appraisal value. 7. Public Notification Newspaper ad and affidavit of Solicitation of public comments publication for both Bete Grise South and North acquisitions supported by this grant including the 767 acres acquired through this grant. 8. Deed Recorded Deed Recorded covenant deed 9. Recorded US FWS interest Recorded Notice of Property Notice of property restriction and intended purpose of Restriction attached to deed of record parcel stipulating to all conditions and interests from grant proposal. 10. Title Insurance Policy Title Insurance Policy Serves as title vesting certificate. 11. Land Summary Statement Land Summary Statement with Documents purchase amounts Signed Closing Statement and and closing costs and includes Expenditure Verifications invoices and proof of payment for allowable costs related to acquisition. STATE OF MICHIGAN – C-2-L Bete Grise Coastal Wetland Acquisition – Performance Report and Land Summary Statement Segment 1, A3: 6/1/2005-9/30/2009 Page 4 of 4 Map 1: Location map of Bete Grise South and North acquistions supported by this grant. The TNC Preserve Parcel was acquired as Bete Grise South, the GMO Threshold Timber MI II was acquired as Bete Grise North. Map 2: Plat map of parcels acquired as part of this project. South Parcel 1 was acquired throuth a separate grant with TNC and Houghton-Keweenaw Conservation District.