State Rep. Cam Cavitt, R-Cheboygan, released the following statement Tuesday after a recent commitment by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to spend $750,000 from its 2024 dam appropriation budget to help fund repairs to the Cornwall Flooding dam. The DNR made the announcement at a Pigeon River Country Association Planning Commission meeting earlier this month. The dam is adjacent to the Cornwall Creek Flooding, a remote lake in the Pigeon River Country State Forest in Cheboygan County.

“While I’m grateful the DNR is embracing a newfound desire to save Cornwall Flooding, we wouldn’t be here without the thousands of community advocates that stood up and rejected original plans to scrap the dam entirely,” Cavitt said. “Cornwall Flooding is unlike any other body of water in Michigan. Where else can you see a remote, beautiful lake combined with the wide range of unique wildlife that frequents the area? Cornwall Flooding attracts people from all over to fish, hike, see the moose, and enjoy the great outdoors.”

State officials estimate that anglers and other visitors to the remote lake contribute over $100,000 annually to the local economy.

Nearly a year ago, the DNR announced plans to draw down the Cornwall Creek Flooding and remove the adjacent dam due to safety concerns after it was classified as in “poor condition.” At that point, DNR officials said the dam repair cost was too high. They have since reversed course and sided with a public effort to repair the dam.

Organizers of the Save Cornwall initiative said, based on 2020 repair bids, roughly $1.6 million is needed to fully fund the repair project. Additional funding has already been secured, including a $350,000 pledge from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission in July 2023, a $210,000 legislative supplemental line item in 2019, and $50,000 from a 2019 DNR Aquatic Habitat grant.

“What the Cornwall Flooding community has been able to accomplish over the last year is nothing short of remarkable,” Cavitt said. “They took on a state agency that was ready to sign the Cornwall Flooding death certificate. This community advocated so successfully that the DNR didn’t just stall or drag their feet; they reversed course altogether. More so, they got the DNR to pay a large portion of the repair expense.”

Nearly $200,000 is still needed before the project can get underway. The Save Cornwall group has set a June deadline to complete fundraising for the project.

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