MARQUETTE COUNTY – Officials in Marquette County passed a resolution on Tuesday to further explore the possibility of bringing a U.S. Air Force Base back to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
The Marquette County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of the resolution to begin initial talks with defense personnel about utilizing the county’s now defunct K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base — decommissioned in 1995 — as a military base again.
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Board Chair Joe Derocha says the former base, established in 1955 to prevent a potential Soviet invasion from the north during the Cold War, brought Marquette County a lot of economic wealth prior to its closure, and impacted the region significantly when it closed.
More than a dozen residents spoke out against the resolution at Tuesday’s meeting, many of them expressing concerns that housing within the community could be affected. However, Derocha and other commissioners insisted that wouldn’t be the case, noting that the resolution is simply a starting point to gauge interest from local stakeholders and defense officials.
Several state lawmakers in the U.P. put out statements on Wednesday in support of the resolution, including Reps. Karl Bohnak (R-Deerton), Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River) and Greg Markkanen (R-Hancock).
“The Upper Peninsula hasn’t had an active military base in decades, but defense experts in our state and nationally are realizing the strategic importance of the Superior region,” Prestin said in response to the resolution. “I applaud the Marquette County Commission for recognizing this and pursuing the restoration of a military mission to the region.”
A portion of the former Air Force Base houses the Marquette Sawyer Regional Airport (SAW), a county-owned commercial and general aviation airport located near Gwinn, Michigan just south of Marquette. While the K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base remains closed, the Air Force continues to utilize the airport for training exercises.
In a statement, Bohnak noted that if the project were to move forward, the new base wouldn’t be “K.I. Sawyer 2.0,” but rather, a “unique facility that will have to be fully worked through with local and federal partners.”
“Marquette Sawyer is more than equipped to bring this sort of large-scale investment to the U.P.,” he said. “Our community still remembers the economic boon that came with a fully functional Air Force Base, and I’m proud to stand with Marquette County as we begin to explore restoring long-term local Air Force operations.”