Why Does Singapore Own Over Half a Million Acres of Michigan Land?
Michigan's sprawling forests hide a political storm brewing over foreign land ownership, and it’s making waves across the U.P.
The state of Michigan is beautiful and massive. There are over 19 million acres of forest in this 36.5-acre state. 10.5 acres of Michigan sit in the state's Upper Peninsula (U.P.). 84% of the U.P. is covered in forest according to Northern Michigan Land Brokers.
Many politicians on both sides of the aisle are asking one question: "Should there be a limit to foreign land ownership in Michigan?" This question was likely triggered by a story that Bridge Michigan recently broke about the massive amount of land Singapore's government owns in Michigan's U.P.
The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, a state-owned sovereign wealth fund known as GIC, is listed in federal disclosures as the sole owner of more than 540,000 acres of Upper Peninsula forestland.
Why does this Southeast Asian country own 5% of all of the land in Michigan's Upper Peninsula? The short answer, "lumber." This information wasn't easy to come by, as many different pieces of property are owned by different companies in a complicated web that all trace back to Singapore, according to the investigative reporting of Bridge Michigan.
Most of the property owned by Singapore in the Michigan Upper Peninsula is forest used for timber harvesting.
Singapore is the biggest but not the only foreign landowner in Michigan.
Top Foreign Landowners in Michigan
- Singapore - 540,000 acres
- The Netherlands - 458,000 acres
- Canada - 372,000 acres
- Italy - 70,000 acres
- Germany - 28,870 acres
- The United Kingdom - 21,500 acres
READ MORE: What Michigan Law Says About Flag Burning And Free Speech
To make matters even more strange, there was once a booming Michigan town named Singapore. It's now a ghost town.
Ghost Town of Singapore
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Gallery Credit: Janna