Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the creation of a special commission on population last month. The 16 appointments were announced Friday, June 30, and no one appointed to it is from the Upper Peninsula. The lack of regional inclusion is bringing criticism from all sides.

“This is not the first time the governor has neglected to have U.P. representation,” said Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township. “A few months ago, she failed to maintain an appointment on the Agriculture Commission for a U.P. citizen for the first time in any history I could find.”

The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has had a substantial decline in population for decades, especially with the loss or reduction of various natural resource industries.

“The state of Michigan continues to make it harder and harder to live here, then they choose to ignore us on items like this,” said Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock. “They hinder mining opportunities, buy up our land, restrict what we can do on our land, make it harder to get affordable energy, and then fail to give us a voice on the issues behind our population loss — that is simply unfair.”

This is not the first time that Michigan has created a new commission and not included Upper Peninsula representation. The redistricting commission that was voted on as a citizen initiative in 2018 also does not have any U.P. residents on the board. That commission split numerous cultural areas like school districts, national forests and tribal population centers between the 108, 109 and 110 House of Representative districts, but there are no comparable disruptions below the bridge.

Local officials say that improper representation is going to lead to the wrong results in such a way it will hurt the region financially, culturally and emotionally.

“No area of the state has a longer history and deeper understanding of the crushing blow of population loss,” McBroom said. “We know it well and have already produced data and reviewed research. Numerous nonpartisan experts offered to serve on this panel, and none were appointed. It is hard to see this and not take it as a personal affront to the U.P.”

Panned as a worthless patch of wilderness that no one would ever want, the U.P. became a powerhouse of natural resource wealth and hard-working, Native American and immigrant labor that pulled the state through many very hard and destitute times for its first 150 years. Even as it has declined in population over the last 50 years, it has the nation’s only operating nickel mine — vital to many industries, including batteries and its forests and iron mines continue to play an oversized role in the forest products industry and steel and auto-production respectively.

“While deeply disappointed in the oversight, we represent resilient, passionate people that motivate us to stand at the ready to work with the governor and this council to offer solutions that address the foundational challenges that underlie the loss and aging of our population in the U.P.”

Whitmer and Lansing are getting no support from the U.P.’s lone Democratic member of state Congress in Jenn Hill (D-Marquette, 109). Hill also said that the lack of inclusion leaves the region without a voice.

“The U.P. has so much to offer Michigan, and I am deeply disappointed that the co-chairs of the council did not choose to include our voices in these critical discussions. Our northern communities have been working to overcome significant hardships in the post-pandemic era, and population stagnation has taken a toll on us,” Hill said in a statement. “I strongly urge the council co-chairs to expand their vision and implement a more inclusive strategy for tackling this statewide problem.”