LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — State lawmakers plan to gift Michigan’s veterans and active-duty service members with free lifetime access to a state park, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist said in a statement Saturday.
“In next year’s budget proposal, we plan to give every one of Michigan’s 530,000 veterans free lifetime access to a state park. Our state parks are full of incredible natural resources and offer mental and physical benefits to visitors,” Gilchrist said.
The partnership between the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the Department of Natural Resources will make Michigan the third U.S. state to offer the state parks benefit to veterans, after Oklahoma and Maine. Current active-duty service members will be included.
As of now, free entry into facilities requiring a state recreation passport is available to 100% disabled veterans and ex-prisoners of war, according to the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.
