Sept. 23 KORC Meeting

Below are my planned and edited answers for KORC community event on Tuesday Sep 23, 2026 held at Horizons School. I want to thank KORC and the Heartlands CAC for helping to organize the event and the other candidates, KORC staff (Gina, Buddy, Molly, and Bryce) for their support. In speaking I generally only provide rough notes so what is here is not what I said but a rough plan for how I might reply to an email. Take that as you will and as always my email (jeremybos@bos4keweenaw.org) is always open. 

Question 1 – each candidate will have 3 minutes to answer. Please introduce yourself, talk about your background, education and experience and why voters in Keweenaw County should select you to serve on the Authority Board.

My prepared response:

My name is Jeremy Bos. My connection to this area started 30 years ago when I went to Michigan Tech, which is where I met my wife. We live here year-round today, and years ago, we were married on Brockway Mountain. I am running for the Authority Board as a concerned neighbor with a single goal: ensuring the Heartlands remain an asset for this community for the next 50 to 100 years.

When I look at this historic opportunity, I see that the eyes of Michigan and the country are on us. If we fall down on this, we set a dangerous precedent. We would send a message to the state and the nation that local communities are not capable of managing their own resources. We cannot let that happen. To succeed, we need governance that is objective, nonpersonal, and effective, taking actions that are best for the county long-term.

You will hear a lot tonight about family history. That history is important. It establishes a sense of place, defines our character, and makes the Keweenaw what it is. But family history is not a qualification for government. The key qualifications for this board are bureaucratic competence, accountability, and a willingness to listen and compromise. Ultimately, managing this new Authority is a complex project management problem.

While I am a professor I am also a licensed professional engineer in Michigan. Before my current role, I spent 10 years working in the automotive and defense industries, where I managed people, large budgets, and complex programs. Today, my daily work revolves around bureaucratic management and writing the exact kinds of competitive grants that will be absolutely necessary for the Heartlands to be financially successful.

I have chaired standing committees for professional societies representing over 20,000 constituents. I know Robert’s Rules of Order, I know how to facilitate a meeting, and I know who needs to be at the table. I know how to come to a meeting prepared, stick to the plan, and not chase shiny objects.

I am at a point in my life where I want to give back to the place I love. I have the professional and practical experience to execute this job effectively, and I ask for your vote to ensure we get this right.

 Question 2 – each candidate will have 2 minutes to answer. The Keweenaw Heartlands Recreational and Natural Resources Authority Board has been organized to advise and manage recreational, forestry and other natural resources pursuits for the public on approximately 20,000 acres in Keweenaw County. Please discuss your perspectives on forestry and outdoor recreation.   

My prepared response: 

My perspective on forestry and recreation is, first of all, the two are not necessarily competing interests. Second, our community has already done the hard work of deciding what we want. The community advisory commission, together with The Nature Conservancy, has established a long-term plan to sustainably support the Heartlands. That plan already calls for protecting our traditional uses. As a candidate, my stance is simple: I will ensure that all current recreational access is permanently maintained.

It is important to understand that the Authority Board itself will not be out there managing or grooming trails. We have organizations like the Keweenaw Trails Club that already do an incredible job managing and grooming our ORV and snowmobile routes. Many of those members are here tonight, and it is important to recognize their massive contribution to this county. This is true for most of the lands the community and visitors currently use in the county: the work that makes that access possible is done by volunteers. My candidacy is built on the clear promise that this Authority has absolutely no intention of getting in their way. In the long run, I hope we can augment or support them. 

In managing this land, we will be relying on the hard work of those volunteers, along with staff and other unelected officials. The job of this new elected board is not to reinvent the wheel. Our job in these first 5 to 10 years is to set the groundwork that allows a 50-to-100-year plan to be realized.

To achieve that, we need strict accountability. We have to be able to inventory our successes and our failures, compare them against our goals, and reassess. While we empower and rely on our paid and volunteer partners, the buck ultimately has to stop with the elected board. My goal is to manage these resources objectively, honoring the blueprint the community already built, to ensure our working forests stay productive and our access remains guaranteed for everyone.

Question 3 – each candidate will have 2 minutes to answer. With the Keweenaw Tip, Ft. Wilkins and the recently acquired 10,000 acres, the DNR will own approximately 20,000 acres adjacent to the land managed by the Authority Board.  In addition, Keweenaw County, Grant Township, Eagle Harbor Township, the Keweenaw County Road Commission and the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District, and several conservancies own adjacent properties. Motorized and nonmotorized trail clubs also manage trails across ownerships.  Please discuss how you envision working with the DNR and local units of government, as well as other partners to best manage the land under Authority stewardship. 

My prepared response:

Many of the challenges our county faces are the result of a lack of imagination, or personal grievances getting in the way of progress. We cannot let that happen with the Heartlands. To partner effectively with diverse organizations across 20,000 acres, we need a board that is free of outside influence and focused entirely on the needs of the electorate.

I have firsthand experience building exactly these kinds of local partnerships. For example, I led a collaborative project with the forestry department at Michigan Tech, where we used autonomous vehicle technologies to study bat populations and aid in conservation efforts at the Delaware Mine. That project succeeded because we brought different stakeholders to the table with a shared goal and a willingness to collaborate.

Partnering with the DNR, the Road Commission, or adjacent landowners requires that exact same approach. It means coming to the table with a willingness to listen and compromise. It means understanding our shared goals, sticking to the plan, and not getting distracted by personal politics.

As someone who routinely manages complex projects and diverse stakeholders in my professional life, I know how to facilitate those conversations. I am running to represent the community objectively. If we maintain that focus, we can build strong, accountable partnerships with the state and local municipalities that protect the Keweenaw Heartlands for generations to come.

My closing remarks:

Thank you to KORC and everyone here tonight.

We are facing a historic opportunity, and the eyes of Michigan and the country are on us. The outcome of this election will tell the state and the nation whether local communities are capable of managing their own resources.

To prove that we are, we need objective, nonpersonal, and effective governance. The groundwork we lay in these first five to ten years must sustainably support the Heartlands for the next century.

That requires project management experience, bureaucratic competence, and true accountability. While we will rely on incredible staff and volunteers, the buck ultimately has to stop with the elected board.

I am running simply as a concerned neighbor to ensure this land remains an asset for our community. My name is Jeremy Bos, and I ask for your vote.