Vote the Outdoors: How the 2026 Michigan Midterm Elections Will Impact Outdoor Recreation

Elections fundamentally shape the future of outdoor recreation within the Detroit region and across the United States. As we head to the polls on November 3rd for the Michigan Midterm Elections, we encourage everyone to "Vote the Outdoors" - especially in light of the candidates and proposals that are up for the vote this year.

Elections Matter. If you've opened your social media feed any time over the few months - or have a cell phone capable of receiving unwanted texts - then you're all too familiar with this message.

But here's the truth: the reason that mantra keeps popping up on your feed is because it's absolutely true. Especially when election results will have both an immediate and often irrevocable impact on the protection and expansion of outdoor recreation opportunities in your township, state, and country.

We at Expedition Detroit are not in the candidate-endorsement business. We are in the outdoor recreation business, and both sides of the political aisle have consistently proposed landmark legislation aimed towards furthering the best interests of our natural resources.

Stated differently, we support or attack interests and policies, not parties or people.

Spoiler alert: the most constructive, protective, and beneficial interests, policies, and actions have resulted from bipartisan collaboration. Unfortunately - or should we say shamefully - elections often result in a primetime showcase for divisive politics, which produce formidable stumbling blocks for meaningful action down the road.

Here we dive into how informed voting serves as one of the best mechanisms for protecting our outdoors, as well as the recreational ballot items that we at Expedition Detroit fully endorse.

How Politics Protect - or Destroy - the Outdoors

Despite the divisiveness that we've grown numb to, recent history has proven that the adoption of effective, collaborative, and bipartisan action can and should be an expectation that us as voters maintain - especially when it comes to our great outdoors.

On the federal level, Congresses presiding under both the Trump and Biden Administrations have delivered several impactful, bipartisan bills aimed towards providing lasting protection for our natural environment. Dating back to 2019, both sides of the aisle effectively sponsored and passed the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, which designated more than 1,300,000 acres of wilderness area, expanded several national parks and other areas of the National Park System, and established four new national monuments while re-designating others.

Similarly, the bipartisan and monumental Great American Outdoors Act of 2020 fully and permanently funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and as well as provides $1.9 billion annually to remedy maintenance backlog at American national parks.

More recently, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2022 provided a textbook example of impactful, bipartisan collaboration on a landmark bill. This bill demonstrated the very best of political action: it will not only rebuild crumbling roads, bridges, and airports, but also improve the infrastructure behind our beloved natural resources and their corresponding outdoor recreation experiences. The bill's material investments in mitigating climate change and reinforcing America's natural infrastructure are primed to connect more recreationists to the outdoors and strengthen the estimated $887 billion outdoor recreation economy.

In our state, the 2018 Michigan midterm elections ushered in a new era of political and fiscal investment in our outdoor ecosystem. In 2019, the Whitmer Administration led Michigan to become one of what's now 20 states that are members of the bipartisan Outdoor Recreation Industry Confluence Accords. The Confluence Accords consists of multi-state collaboration focused on promoting conservation, ensuring environmental quality, and restoring sustainable access to the outdoors.

The Whitmer Administration concurrently created Michigan's first Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry, which works in tandem with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Outdoor Recreation Advisory Council to expand Michigan’s $15.1 billion outdoor recreation economy.

On a darker note, the Trump Administration has quietly advanced land exchanges that transfer public lands into private hands over the past year. After bipartisan backlash forced President Trump’s congressional allies to remove public land sell-off provisions from the final version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, lower-profile land swaps may be emerging as a tool for selling off public lands to well-connected corporate interests. As of September 18, 2026, the Trump Administration was considering at least 12 proposals to site data center-related infrastructure on public lands across Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, which would total at least 17,600 acres—an area larger than Manhattan Island.

The Power of Your Vote

So where does your vote fit into this equation? We strongly encourage you to #VoteTheOutdoors by completing the following simple tasks before going to the polls:

1. Research each candidate's position on the outdoors and natural environment. Vote411.org provides a fantastic online resource that compares each candidate's policies and priorities, including line items specifically on the environment and social justice.

2. Encourage friends and family to vote - regardless of their political leanings. If you remember anything from this article, I sincerely hope that it's that bipartisan collaboration has the greatest likelihood of enacting impactful legislation. America's fundamental political problems are not grounded in a single party; they derive from the extremes of both parties, spurred on by polarizing candidates typically elected during midterm elections. The tyranny of the extremes has produced the agonizing gridlock that has killed countless opportunities for impactful action.

3. Vote in Favor of Recreation Ballot Proposals. We've gone ahead and reviewed all of the ballot proposals up for vote in Michigan tomorrow. Of those proposals, here is a shortlist of recreation-related proposals that we support:

Jurisdiction	Proposal Name	Proposal Summary
Novi	Capital Improvements Millage	Amendment of Section 9.1 of the Novi City Charter to authorize a millage for capital improvements and capital projects, including, but not limited to, parks and facilities, land acquisition, pathways, and apparatus (such as fire trucks, heavy equipment), with such funds not to be used for operations or payroll, in the amount of 1.0 mills (being $1 per $1,000 of taxable value) for a period of 10 years, starting with the July 2027 levy and resulting in the authorization to collect an estimated $5,412,997 in the first year if approved and levied, to replace an expiring capital improvements millage.
Royal Oak	Charter Amendment for Renewal of Parks, Forestry, Recreation, Playgrounds and Animal Shelter Millage	Amendment of the City Charter of the City of Royal Oak to renew the levy of Seven Tenths (0.70) of a mill per year for five (5) years, for the purpose of providing funds for parks, recreation and playgrounds, including animal shelter purposes, beginning in 2027. If approved, it is estimated that 0.70 mill would raise approximately $2,925,250 when first levied in 2027.
Commerce Township and Wolverine Lake	Commerce Township Pathway Bond & Millage	Acquisition and construction of one or more paved non-motorized pathways within the Charter Township of Commerce and the Village of Wolverine Lake as described in the Township’s and Village’s Parks and Recreation Master Plans, including their design and other related improvements, financed by the Charter Township of Commerce, Oakland County, Michigan borrowing a principal amount not to exceed $18.6 Million dollars and issue Unlimited Tax General Obligation bonds for all or a portion of that amount in one or more series payable over not to exceed 10 years from the date of issue.
Oakland Township	Oakland Township Parks and Recreation Millage Renewal	Authorization for the Charter Township of Oakland to renew the current Headlee reduced levy of up to 0.6809 of one mill for a period of ten (10) years beginning with the December 2027 levy for the purpose of providing funds to be used for the support of parks and recreation within the Oakland Township; including for the management, maintenance, acquisition, operation and improvement of Oakland Township parks, recreation areas, park trails, facilities, programs, recreation, and services; and to acquire new park land for Oakland Township.
Grosse Pointe Park	Parks and Recreation Millage Proposal	This millage proposal would allow the City of Grosse Pointe Park to levy 0.65 Mill for the purpose of, maintaining, preserving, repairing, replacing, and extending the useful life of the parks and recreation facilities located within the City of Grosse Pointe Park.
Grosse Ile Township	Millage Renewal for Bike Path Maintenance	Renewal of millage for a period of ten (10) years from 2026 through 2035 to provide funds for the maintenance of bike paths in the Township.
Grosse Ile Township	New Millage for Greenways / Open Space	An increase of up to 0.10 mill ($0.10 per $1,000 of taxable value) in the total tax limitation for a period of 3 years (2026 through 2028) to provide funds for the purpose of maintenance and repair of public property and trails designated as greenways/open space properties.
Dexter	A Proposal to Amend the Dexter City Charter Section 13.05 to Insert Language to Designate Specified Property as Public Park	Amendment of the Dexter City Charter Section 13.05 to designate the real property described as vacated Main Street and Central Street rights-of-way, as public park, and to maintain the property as such in perpetuity.

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The "Outdoor State" comprises of republicans, democrats, independents, libertarians, and every one else across the political spectrum. The best outcome from tomorrow that we can all collectively hope for is that we elect leaders that are willing to collaborate with their colleagues towards producing and effectuating meaningful action for our outdoors. That outcome can only be realized if we make our voices heard and our votes count.

While the results of the 2026 Michigan Midterm Elections will have sweeping consequences for the future of Detroit's outdoor ecosystem, we can guarantee you that Expedition Detroit will continue to operate in line with our core values. Our content, advocacy, and fundamental operations will always seek to facilitate the expansion, inclusion, and protection of outdoor recreation opportunities in the Detroit region.

We'll see you at the polls - and then the trailhead.

#VoteTheOutdoors