Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers play an outsize role in the most rural parts of our state, including areas of Northeast Michigan.

In rural areas, where police or emergency medical help may be far away, conservation officers are sometimes the first to arrive on a scene. They arrive with other help often.

Many are the news releases from the DNR telling the story of a conservation officer saving a life.

That’s why we were happy to see Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sign into law Senate Bill 59, sponsored by state Sen. John Cherry, D-Flint, which explicitly allows conservation officers to intervene in mental health situations.

“Unfortunately, people have gone to state parks or public lands to harm themselves, and, under current law, conservation officers have to call in another law enforcement agency to take a subject into protective custody,” Cherry said in an email to News staff writer Michael Gonzalez for a recent story. “This commonsense solution will allow our experienced conservation officers to intervene appropriately when they believe a person may be a harm to themselves or others.”

When someone’s having a mental health crisis, they need help and often need that help fast.

We agree with Cherry that this bill just makes common sense, allowing our highly trained and dedicated conservation officers to take the steps they need to take to keep people safe.

We say thanks to Cherry for sponsoring the legislation and to Whitmer for signing it.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)