Rep. Gillard offered the following concurrent resolution:

            House Concurrent Resolution No. 48.

            A concurrent resolution to memorialize the Congress of the United States, the United States Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management to work with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to align mineral rights with surface rights on publicly owned lands.

            Whereas, Michigan’s rich natural resources sustain our economy and our spirit and are at the core of our shared heritage; and

            Whereas, Michigan’s vast public lands provide outstanding recreational opportunities for Michigan residents and visitors and critical protections for a variety of ecosystems across the state; and

            Whereas, It is in the best interest of the citizens of Michigan that natural resources in the state are vigorously protected and, as needed, developed in an orderly, transparent, and economically and ecologically sustainable manner; and

            Whereas, The federal government owns significant subsurface mineral holdings on state lands.  This makes it difficult to manage effectively the natural resources of the state in the most sustainable and beneficial manner; and

            Whereas, The United States Bureau of Land Management has yet to develop a coherent and transparent inventory of the federal government’s subsurface mineral holdings in the state; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That we memorialize the Congress of the United States to provide the necessary funding for the United States Bureau of Land Management to complete its efforts to inventory the federal government’s subsurface mineral holdings in Michigan.  We urge the United States Bureau of Land Management and the United States Forest Service to work with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and take all practical steps to facilitate potential exchanges of severed mineral rights on publicly owned lands in Michigan; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the members of the Michigan congressional delegation, the United States Bureau of Land Management, and the United States Forest Service.