Sleeping Bear Dunes management plan meetings this week!

The Glen Arbor Sun reminds us that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will hold three public meetings this week to solicit public input regarding a new General Management Plan for the Lakeshore. The public meetings will be held on Tuesday, May 1 from 6-8:30 p.m. at Platte River Elementary School (11434 Main St.) in Honor; Wednesday, May 2 from 6-8:30 at the Glen Arbor Township Hall; and Thursday, May 3 from 5:30-8 at the Traverse Area District Library (610 Woodmere Ave.) in Traverse City.

The public is being asked to consider three Preferred Alternatives for management of the Lakeshore:

Alternative A calls for approximately 3,000 extra acres of the Park to be classified as wilderness, mostly in the Sleeping Bear Plateau west of the Dune Climb and Glen Haven; Alternative B calls for eliminating the wilderness designation everywhere except North Manitou Island, and highlights recreational opportunities; and Alternative C calls for “concentrating visitor use in selected areas” while promoting “more natural, primitive conditions” elsewhere in the Park.

Read Park considers public input on eve of new Management Plan from the Glen Arbor Sun and also Park releases new planning documents, seeks more input from the Leelanau Enterprise. You can view the proposed Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore General Management Plan in detail at the Park web site and also submit your comments.
Photo credit: Sleeping Bear Dunes, National Park by Kathy