ATTORNEY GENERAL Ex Rel DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES v. CHEBOYGAN COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY ROAD COMMISSIONERS

Plaintiff appeals as of right a declaratory judgment entered after a bench-trial finding that defendant had acquired jurisdiction over certain two-track dirt trails used for vehicular travel in the Pigeon River Country State Forest. We previously stayed the lower court’s judgment pending resolution of this appeal. We now reverse the trial court’s judgment in its entirety and remand.

As explained in Michigan Oil Co v Natural Resources Comm, 406 Mich 1, 16-17; 276 NW2d 141 (1979), the Pigeon River Country State Forest

consists of 92,872 acres of rolling hills, deep swamps, high forests, lakes and…