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10,000 acres in Michigan's UP up for sale

Areas in question for the land deal in Michigan's UP.
rexton.graymontmicrosite.com
Areas in question for the land deal in Michigan's UP.

Areas in question for the land deal in Michigan's UP.
Credit rexton.graymontmicrosite.com
Areas in question for the land deal in Michigan's UP.

Picture this: You live in a corner of the Upper Peninsula that is full of natural beauty. But the population in your town is shrinking and aging, even to the point where it's hard to find police officers and firefighters because everyone's just getting older.

And there's little in the way of economic opportunity.

Now here comes a huge Canadian company that wants to buy 10,000 acres of state-managed forest land to build a massive limestone mining operation. There's the prospect of massive amounts of money and the hope of jobs.

And there's the fear of losing the natural beauty of your corner of the UP.

What to do?

That's the real-life dilemma happening in the Rexton area of the Upper Peninsula.

Keith Matheny is a writer with the Detroit Free Press and he's been following this story. Keith joined us today.

*Listen to the interview above.

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