The former Cooks Run fish hatchery in Stambaugh Township, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, has gone more than two decades without regular use. The Iron County Board is now seeking proposals for managing the site. (Contributed photo, file)

CRYSTAL FALLS — Iron County is seeking multiple proposals for managing its Cooks Run property in Stambaugh Township.

“They don’t have to meet everything in the proposal,” Iron County Board Chair Mark Stauber said in calling for submissions.

“This was designed to seek out multiple providers,” Civil Counsel Steve Tinti explained. “This is not a single issue. You may have anything from people who are concerned about water quality, steams and fishing, to people who like to use the outdoors, to trails, recreation. We’re kind of soliciting –who’s out there who wants to be part of whatever can be done there. Let them submit. We want to come up with ideas.”

They are seeking non-profits or governmental units to operate a non-discriminatory public use program of activities on a year-round basis. The proposal should include a detailed plan for programs, methods of funding those programs and a potential first-year budget. It should also have ways to finance maintenance and improvement of Cooks Run and list any fees to be charged.

Proposals should be done without the assumption of county funding — but that’s doesn’t necessarily mean the county can’t provide funds, officials said.

“Once we get the proposals and we get something we would like to go with, before we can even approve it, it has to be submitted to the state. It’s going to be a long process,” Stauber said.

The 122-acre Cooks Run site includes fish rearing ponds, a small coffer dam, several outbuildings and a log caretaker cabin that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Iron County took ownership of the property in 1961.

A 2025 study done by the Iron County Watershed Coalition found Cooks Run remains a high-quality and productive coldwater stream, with no long-term effects from the decades of use as a fish hatchery. It last operated as a fish hatchery in 2013.

The issue of logging on the property has raised concerns. Tinti indicated the proposal is required to say that timber management has to remain.

“We have a contract out there that requires our forester to manage our timber lands so we have to deal with that issue. I believe our forester has spoken in the past about areas he didn’t think was prudent to log. But there are other areas that can.”

According to the deed, the property must be used solely for public purpose.

Proposals should list local, regional or national organizations that will be involved and the amount of support they would provide. There should also be a telephone number or internet address for information about enrollment for any programs offered.

Those proposals should describe how those organizations would benefit the county if selected, plus information on the organization’s size, history, number of staff and growth over the past five years.

Proposals must be submitted at the Iron County Courthouse by 2 p.m. Central time June 3 and will be considered binding for 90 days after selection. They can be addressed to Lynette Lorenz, Iron County Courthouse, 2 South Sixth St., Suite 7, Crystal Falls, MI 49920. For more information, call 906-875-0116 or email her at llorenz@ironmi.org.

The county will have the right to reject all or portions of any proposal submitted.