MichMash: What is your favorite state park?
In a special 4th of July weekend MichMash, hosts Cheyna Roth and Zach Gorchow discuss state parks with the chief of the Parks and Rec division of MDNR.
It’s the 4th of July weekend and many Michiganders are celebrating by going to their favorite parks to go swimming, hiking, camping and fishing. This week on MichMash, WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Zach Gorchow discuss the recent investments put into parks. They are joined by Kristen Kosick. She is the chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation division.
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In this episode
- How did the American Rescue Plan Act affect Michigan state parks?
- Which parks are getting massive renovations?
- Michigan’s state park infrastructure over the years.
Kosick share that Governor Whitmer helped them with the Building Michigan Together Plan. This plan is a $250 million dollar federal relief program to help tackle the backlog of critical infrastructure needs in our state parks system.
Kosick shared this plan helped in multiple ways. “There was a lot of utility upgrades, water improvements upgrades, electrical upgrades at our campgrounds. These are things that visitors may not be able to physically see, but are so foundational to the work we do in our parks and to all the visitor services that we provide.”
According to Kosick, these backlog projects were a huge focus to the improvement plans. The plan also helped address aging historic structures, camping facilities, parking lots, and more.
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