Changes coming at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

The article Changes coming to Sleeping Bear? in the Record-Eagle looks at some proposed plans for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore when the Sleeping Bear Dunes General Management Plan is adopted.

Federal officials want to add some trails and campgrounds to the park to improve recreational opportunities, as well as set aside 45 percent of the lakeshore as wilderness zones where no county roads exist. The new management plan is expected to be adopted by year’s end.

One planned trail is called the Bay-to-Bay Trail and would stretch along 35 miles of shoreline from Platte Bay to Good Harbor Bay, although no specific path is yet determined. It would include a simple hiking path with intermittent campgrounds so hikers could complete multi-day trips, said Tom Ulrich, deputy park superintendent.

The article also touches on a possible non-motorized bike trail would run parallel to M-22 and M-109 through the length of the lakeshore, near the highways but not along the shoulder. The trail would be made of crushed limestone and likely would be built in phases. Most of the concerns they quote in the article have to to with rights of existng property owners – I’m curious as to what your concerns and hopes are.

The photo is .follow your heart wherever it leads... by *ojoyous1*