An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | July 28, 2016

Michigan National Guard issues climate preparedness and resilience plans

By Michigan National Guard

LANSING, Mich.— The Michigan National Guard released unique climate preparedness and resilience plans Wednesday in Lansing. The plans encompass the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Grayling, the Fort Custer Training Center in Augusta, and Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Mount Clemens.

Funding for the comprehensive plans project was provided by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) following a 2013 presidential executive order that included a goal work with stakeholders at the state, local, private-sector and non-profit-sector levels in an effort to improve overall climate preparedness and resilience.

The collaborative planning effort,, and the corresponding action plans, are especially relevant as the Michigan National Guard prepares to host nearly 5,000 Soldiers, Airmen, and Marines from 10 states, and three countries at Camp Grayling for Exercise Northern Strike in August.

The action plan for Camp Grayling and the surrounding area, developed primarily from knowledge gained during a series of in-depth stakeholder interviews, public input meeting, and a two-day planning session focused on a vulnerability assessment.

The resulting plan documents wild fire threat levels in northern Lower Michigan and offers a series of recommendations aimed at mitigating the risk of wild fires in the region.

"It is a testament to the Environmental and Engineering teams of the Michigan National Guard that the National Guard Bureau asked Michigan to lead this first-of-its-kind U.S. Army pilot. Michigan National Guard teams have won numerous awards in recent years for Energy Security and Environmental Stewardship programs and they are a wise choice,” said Maj. Gen. Gregory Vadnais, the adjutant general of the Michigan National Guard and director of the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The project kicked off in 2015 and included: the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, Michigan Climate Coalition, Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State Police-Emergency Management Division, the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessment Program, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Michigan National Guard Assistant Adjutant General for Installations, Brig. Gen. Mike Stone said, "We were so happy that all of these entities came to the table to assist us; the depth and quality of work studying the effects of weather patterns across the Great Lakes was impressive and made our job much easier. Working together certainly created a better, more comprehensive end product.”

The Fort Custer and Selfridge public hearings and planning charrettes focused on the threat of future flooding and mitigation; not just for the installations themselves, but the necessary domestic response across the entire region.

The Michigan National Guard will now host three public events to introduce the adaptation plans for all three installation areas. The first event will occur in Grayling on Aug. 1 at the Camp Grayling Officers Club, starting at 2 p.m. Times, dates and locations for the Fort Custer and Selfridge events will be announced in August.

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...