“Read your local paper. It introduces you to opinion and can be terrifically provocative and perhaps a great motivating force for you to get involved in your community, regardless of your political ideology.” - Sarah Jessica Parker
CLEVELAND BOARD ENDORSES LAKE ASSOCIATION ON ALTERNATIVE TRAIL ROUTE
“The Cleveland Township Board last week gave its unqualified support to a plan put forward by the Little Traverse Lake Property Owners Association that would route the proposed Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail along the Lake Michigan shoreline rather than along Traverse Lake Road as planned.
“At its regular monthly meeting on July 10, the board voted 5-0 to send a letter of support for the [Little Traverse Lake] property owners association’s alternative plan for the trail to the National Park Service, as well as a letter ‘acknowledging the environmental challenges’ of constructing the route along Traverse Lake Road.”
Leelanau Enterprise July 19, 2012
LAKESHORE’S OPPOSITION TO NATURAL ROAD DESIGNATION DISAPPOINTING
“…. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore took an official position in writing (April 13, 2012 letter to LCRC) of ‘strong opposition’ to efforts by local residents to designate Traverse Lake Road as a ‘Natural Beauty Road.’
….“submitted over 150 letters of support to the Leelanau County Road Commission, representing over 60 percent of the homeowners along Traverse Lake Road.
As a public entity supported by taxpayers, it is entirely frustrating that the Lakeshore has taken a position contrary to its mission, contrary to the residents who live on the road, and has decided to strongly oppose efforts to designate the scenic beauty and natural character of the area for the benefit, inspiration, recreation and enjoyment of the public and the residents who live along Traverse Lake Road.”
Leelanau Enterprise, April 26, 2012
7,300 TREES FACE REMOVAL FOR TRAIL, Extension near Sleeping Bear Dunes draws outcry
“Some 7,300 trees would need to be removed to construct a planned 4.25 mile extension of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail through vulnerable and protected ecosystems near Lake Michigan and the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Leelanau County, an independent analysis found.
An independent botanical survey found that in addition to requiring the removal of the trees, the trail extension would potentially impact sensitive wilderness areas including wetlands, state-threatened pine drops, a reddish purple root parasite plant, vulnerable wooded dune and swale complexes, and state protected critical dune areas…. the survey was commissioned by Little Traverse Lake Association, the neighborhood group near the proposed trail segment.”
Detroit Free Press, February 6, 2024
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pjopR9GqaiR2uXGN/?mibextid=WC7FNe
7,000+ TREES ON CHOPPING BLOCK FOR TRAIL EXPANSION IN SLEEPING BEAR DUNES
“Susan Wheadon, has lived in Cedar for more than 20 years. … A planned trail expansion could allow Wheadon to see more of the scenic Sleeping Bear Dunes; she is willing to sacrifice her walks and bike rides to avoid altering the environment.
“We want to protect our sand dunes and we want to protect our wildlife,” she said. “We could bike the trail all the way through, but we are so willing to give that up to save the environment.”
“The park service has done a tremendous job of providing us with bike trails and walking trails,” she said. “The last segment is concerning, because the initial plan was proposed more than fifteen years ago and so much has changed since then,” Wheadon added.
“Now we have concerns about climate change, of course, and how trees are helpful in mitigating climate change,” she said.
“Nobody wants to see trees cut, they provide wildlife habitat, they're sucking carbon out of the atmosphere so they clean the air,” said Daniel Kashian, professor in the Department of Biological Science at Wayne State University.
Traverse City Record Eagle February 22, 2024
Glen Arbor Sun, February 15, 2024
https://glenarborsun.com/sleeping-bear-heritage-trail-hits-roadblock-on-northeast-expansion/
SLEEPING BEAR HERITAGE TRAIL HITS ROADBLOCK ON NORTHEAST EXPANSION
“MDOT operations engineer Krista Phillips also estimated that 18% of the total trail surface of Segment 9 will be boardwalk built over wetland areas. The need for more boardwalk, combined with post-pandemic inflation, accounts for the relatively high cost compared to previous sections of the trail.
Doug Verellen,, a former member of the Little Traverse Lake board, ….called the 4.25-mile stretch a “trail to nowhere” with “little demand” based on his perception of low ridership between Port Oneida and Bohemian Road, the last portion of the trail completed in 2016.
Though Verellen calls himself “a big trail user and supporter of TART,” he questions whether the National Lakeshore is acting as an environmental steward. “When you carve a vector through an area and remove trees, you heat things up, invite invasive species, and spoil an ecosystem. Twenty years ago, we were talking about climate change. Now we’re seeing evidence of it all over the planet.”
Verellen sees a National Park that favors “creating recreation” while failing its “mission to preserve and conserve.” “Does this make the Park and TART the biggest developers in Leelanau County?” he asks.
TREE REMOVAL “REPREHENSIBLE”
“Arguing that because something will die naturally, it is justifiable to destroy it now. This is both alarming and reprehensible…. the short-sighted reasoning that since trees are plentiful, to destroy an individual - even nearly 7,000 individuals - does no harm. For him, each tree has a marginal value. The one-fish-at-a-time decline in world fisheries illustrates the eventual fallacy of degrading the value of an individual example of a plentiful resource.
…”with up-to-date biological understanding, it is clear that healthy forests are biotic communities where each plant, animal, fungi, and mineral communicates its part to the whole. To think of an individual of a species as an expendable basic unit shows a need for understanding that the entire community of species is the basic unit of a forest or any biome.”
Leelanau Enterprise, February 8, 2024
7,300 TREES FACE REMOVAL FOR TRAIL
“More than 85% of the Segment 9 route is designated as a protected Critical Dune Area by the state of Michigan,” said Marilyn Miller, founder of Sleeping Bear Naturally, a nonprofit organization of local residents and national lakeshore enthusiasts opposed to the trail segment.
"Those sand dunes come down right on the road, practically, and it’s a forested dune complex," she said. "They are going to have to put a wall in there. To think you can build a wall and hold back sand dunes is kind of crazy."
Critics of the plan say Good Harbor Trail, a relatively undeveloped road-ending access point to Lake Michigan, will require considerably more development than where the trail segment ends now, Bohemian Road, which could provide parking, picnic areas and access to extensive shoreline of Good Harbor Point.
"We have followed, and will follow, all applicable federal and state laws," Scott Tucker, Superintendent Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, said. "We are pretty meticulous on that, and on ensuring we are preserving, protecting and providing access to recreation."
Lansing State Journal February 10, 2024
https://lansingjournal-mi.newsmemory.com/?publink=0ea01b6fb_134d176
TART, NPS MUST RETHINK EXTENSION
Trees matter, particularly mature ones that absorb CO2 while producing oxygen, provide insects, songbirds and furry friends habitat and shelter. Ecosystems have balance; you disturb one and the rest will be affected. Invasive species follow.
Do the financial and ecological costs warrant this questionable addition? I strongly believe they do not. Especially when there are reasonable alternatives.
In no way does this design comply with their [NPS and TART] missions. These efforts take the “wild” of wilderness. …. More isn’t always better - and knowing when to say indicates visionary wisdom.
The small percentage of folks that will use this segment once or twice in their lifetimes are not attracted to our region for the lure of more asphalt.
And if those are community decisions, we can have a greater impact remediating climate change than as individuals. Do we really want to continue unnecessarily to adverse climate conditions? If not now, when?
Traverse City Record Eagle, August 6, 2023
TRAIL PLANS SPARK DEBATE, AGAIN
Segment 9’s projected cost is 14.2 million, while the previous 22 miles of trail cost roughly $10 million.
The Heritage Trail project is privately and grant funded through Tart Trails as the fundraising partner. MDOT is drawing up the construction plans
TART Trails director Julie Clark said they’ve raised nearly $5 million in public funding through grants and private funding for the Heritage Trail Segment 9.
The last section of the Heritage Trail Port Oneida section was completed in 2016. Segment 9’s design is scheduled to be finalized this spring with bidding for construction and tree contracts in the fall with completion by fall of 2025.
Little Traverse Lake residents suggest …. that the Heritage Trail can change its route by simply extending the trail north along Bohemian Road, which they have claimed would avoid the sensitive ecological area, keep thousands of trees, save millions of dollars, avoid private property and utilize an existing parking area with beach picnic and restroom facilities.
Leelanau Enterprise, February 8, 2024
https://www.leelanaunews.com/news/trail-plans-spark-debate-again
PAUSE TRAIL EXTENSION
We need to stop and consider the end cost of this goal. Climate change has detrimental effects on all of us and this extension defies our battle against it. Let’s not make regrettable decisions with the ruthless destruction of our best defenses again environmental pollution: forestry.
Leelanau Enterprise, February 15, 2024
WISDOM, REASON, AND NEW TRAILS
When you hear that a new trail is coming, most of us think that’s wonderful and are very supportive. I do. After all, another trail sounds good, right?
Hardly a thought is given to what goes into trail creation by the layperson. Will it solve a transportation problem? Will it enhance the neighborhood character? Does it more easily get us our goods and services>? Does the landscape associated with the trail building provide a nice, natural flow? Is it a high demand location? Is it convenient to a population center?
Looking at the proposed Segment 9 design of the Heritage Trail, the answer is a big “NO” for every question. It solves no problem and creates many. It detracts significantly from the National Park character and surrounding wilderness. No commerce or commuter use is involved.
When parameters change, perspectives should change. It’s okay to rethink, revise, or withdraw past decisions made at a different time. Lets put a halt to the urbanization of our wilderness.
Northern Express, October 16, 2023
TRAIL AT SLEEPING BEAR DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE CLOSED DUE TO INVASIVE SPECIES
“A trail at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has been closed due to concerns over an invasive species. An area around the Old Indian Trail has been closed due to an infestation of hemlock woolly adelgid. According to the National Park Service, the invasive species can kill hemlock trees within as little as four years by accessing the trees' nutrients at the base of the needles, starving the tree.”
(Side note: The Borealis botanical survey identified trails as one of the main contributors to spreading invasive species with increased human traffic. The Good Harbor area is home to some of the oldest old growth hemlock stands including close to the proposed Segment 9 route. 8% of the 7,300 trees (584 trees) to be removed are eastern hemlock.)
OLD DEBATES RESURFACE AROUND SLEEPING BEAR DUNES HERITAGE TRAIL CONSTRUCTION
“Three and half miles (85%) of the trail is within protected Critical Dune Area, including barrier dune and wooded dune and swale complex, vulnerable communities in the State of Michigan,” the Borealis report reads. “The trail also crosses regulated wetlands near rare, threatened, or endangered species habitat. Because of this, it is recommended that an Environmental Assessment (EA) is done on the impact of the route that this trail takes and in comparison to other potential routes.” The botanical survey determined that the construction of Segment 9 will require the removal of nearly 7,300 trees, among other impacts to vulnerable ecosystems. Based on those findings, the LTLA is urging Heritage Trail partners to conduct a new full-scale EA of the route – and to consider other routes with less environmental impact.
“It hasn't changed the conversation,” Tucker [NPS Lakeshore Superintendent] tells the Leelanau Ticker. “There were no surprises in the study. Back in 2009, we followed a very prescriptive process for an EA, as outlined by the NEPA. That process was followed to a T….The EA did not say there would be no impacts; it said there would be impacts, but the NPS ultimately found that they were not significant impacts,”
Leelanau Ticker, March 6, 2024
SBDNL TO RECEIVE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT FUNDING TO RESTORE ECOSYSTEMS
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SBDNL) will receive funding through the Inflation Reduction Act … [which] focuses on climate resilience of ecosystems and improve forest health ... National Parks will use this funding to prepare for the impacts of climate change, protect species, restore ecosystems, and invest in conservation jobs.”
Ironically, while SBDNL receives money to improve forest conditions, restore ecosystems and protect species, it plans to remove 7,300 trees, build massive retaining walls in State-protected Critical Dune area and pave an asphalt path and build boardwalks through globally rare and State concern wooded dune and swale complex to construct Segment 9 Heritage Trail through the wilderness.
Leelanau Enterprise, March 14, 2024
https://www.leelanaunews.com/index.php/news/sbdnl-receive-inflation-reduction-act-funding
NPS ARBOR DAY FACEBOOK POST ON TREES
“The National Park Service Arborist Training Program increases park capacity to manage living resources by developing professional tree care specialists. Through a combination of virtual learning and hands-on field training, NPS employees from parks across the country are preserving important park trees. Image: NPS ranger and arborist trainee plants a hemlock sapling as part of a restoration program.”
Have to think of the irony of NPS emphasizing the need to plant and preserve trees in regards to the planned trail extension removing 7,300 trees in mature dune forests. NPS could start by not paving an asphalt path and fragmenting the vulnerable ecosystems that exist now, including those in State protected Critical Dune Area and globally rare wooded and dune swale complexes. It’s an easier first step then planting baby trees elsewhere.
Maybe NPS should have engaged an arborist in the early trail planning. Thankfully an independent botanist, commissioned by Little Traverse Lake Association, documented the trail’s impact to trees. Of the trees to be removed in the State Concern wooded dune and swale complexes, 19% are Eastern hemlock.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/TBFpM5EWiLkpzNog/?mibextid=oFDknk April 26, 2024
SLEEPING BEAR HERITAGE TRAIL GETS MORE PUSHBACK FROM LOCAL GROUP
“A new report shows the final segment of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail would likely require 25-foot retaining walls to cut into dunes and boardwalk over wetlands through the woods.”
“It's a very emotional conversation. It's emotional for me, it's emotional for our staff," [Park Superintendent Scott] Tucker said. "But the big picture is, the decisions the National Park Service makes, we do not make them on an emotional line, we make them based on federal policy, federal regulation and federal law." He says the design and construction of the trail will have to abide by state law protecting critical dunes and federal laws like the Wilderness Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.”
NEPA requires scientific studies to be the basis of an Environmental Assessment. No botanical survey was done. No preliminary engineering analysis was done. The 2009 EA for an off-road trail along Traverse Lake Road is identical in wording with same design and cost descriptions as the 2008 EA for on-road trail using Traverse Lake Road. No identification or mention of massive retaining walls,, Critical Dune Area or globally rare wooded dune and swale complexes.
So is NPS going to abide by NEPA and federal law to do an accurate EA that also looks at all the alternatives in the Good Harbor Region?
Interlochen Public Radio News, May 5, 2024