AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF

SAND DUNE MINING IN SOUTHWEST

MICHIGAN'S SHORELAND AREAS

1. Inland sand is available for industry and commercial uses and is used in Michigan for manufacturing and other commercial uses.
2. Shoreland dune sand is not essential for use by manufacturing companies. The largest industrial employer in the State of Michigan is the auto industry. Ford Motor Co. has obtained all of its sand for foundries and glass manufacturing from non-shoreland sources for many years.
3. Residential property owners can be expected to pay increasing property taxes in perpetuity whereas sand dune mining is a depleting asset business. Shoreland sand dune mining is a relatively small business in the State of Michigan. Units of government already collect much greater tax and fee revenues from individual shoreline tax paying property owners than from sand dune mining.
4. Sand dune mining operators are not reinvesting the profits from their activities in desirable long term assets for the State of Michigan and its residents. Available financial information suggests that sand dune mining is not a business that adds special value to the State of Michigan or provides long term growth of jobs with stable employment potential available financial information suggests that some sand dune mining operations are not owned by State of Michigan enterprises and some are even controlled by foreign corporations.
5. Sand dune mining is not adding value for Michigan, its residents or its taxpayers. The primary attraction for shoreline sand dune mining is the ease with which the sand can be taken from the sand dunes, loaded into trucks and taken away.
6. The Lake Michigan shorelands have greater long term value for the State of Michigan as a recreational, resort, tourism or protected natural resource than as a source of sand for industry or commercial uses.

 

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