MICHIGAN — Aerial images show thousands of acres of state forests have been damaged in Northern Michigan in the aftermath of March’s severe ice storm. Approximately 919,550 acres of state forest land are impacted by the ice storm, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Forest Resources Division. “I’ve worked for the state for 39 years and I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” said Jeff Stampfly, Chief of the Forest Resources Division. The DNR started drone flyover assessments of state forests on April 8. The damage was put into stark clarity for the public when the DNR shared aerial footage of Pigeon River Country State Forest, known as Michigan’s “Big Wild.” Footage showed a plantation of red pines reduced to stick-like figures after heavy ice snapped tree tops off of hundreds of trees.