May 12 2008
News Digest: Parks Update
The Battle Creek Enquirer reports on Woodland Park. Like Monroe’s Petersburg State Game Area, Woodland is slated to become a haven for the Karner Blue Butterfly. Excerpts and link:
Looking over the hills, there are a few early morning walkers getting exercise in the 146-acre park just off Helmer Road. But when Luke Lindsley looks at the serene meadows, he sees much more.
“I see the children out here, excited and carrying their plants, digging little holes in the ground,” he said. “First I see the children, then I see the release of the butterflies.”
A Karner blue butterfly population was last found naturally occuring in 1986 in Monroe, said Todd Hogrefe, an Michigan Department of Natural Resources endangered species coordinator. The population has greatly decreased because of forest fire suppression. Karners that hatch in the spring can only eat blue lupine, which cannot grow under tree canopies.
“We’re looking forward to partnering as time progresses, but it’s important to remember in a project like this, when talking about federally endangered species, it takes time,” said Todd Hogrefe, an Michigan Department of Natural Resources endangered species coordinator.
A Karner blue butterfly conservation project is taking place at the Petersburg State Game/Wildlife Area in Monroe, where butterflies harvested at the Detroit Zoo will be released this summer.
The Toledo Blade has a report on funding for a land purchase between the Maumee River and Fort Meigs:
Perrysburg will get a $200,000 state grant to help pay for six acres below Fort Meigs along the Maumee River, according to two state legislators.
The city bought the property on Rapids Road last week to settle a lawsuit with a developer and ensure that the view of the fort from the river would be preserved.
State Rep. Randy Gardner (R., Bowling Green) and state Sen. Mark Wagoner (R., Ottawa Hills) announced the funding yesterday during a news conference on the site, which has a sweeping view across the river and looks straight up Conant Street in Maumee.
Dr. Richard Ruppert, president of the Ohio Historical Society, which owns Fort Meigs, noted that the Rapids Road parcel was the last piece of private property around the fort.
“It’s a very important piece of property,” he said.
Perrysburg Administrator John Alexander said the state funding would be “a significant component of the financial package for the acquisition of this historic site.”
Steve Pollick of the Toledo Blade has a story about Beaver Creek, an impoundment near Clyde, OH:
The Beaver Creek under discussion, by the way, is no creek but rather the 102-acre upground water-supply reservoir for Clyde. It lies along Seneca County Road 34, just east of State Rt. 101, southeast of the village of Green Springs. In any case, many of northwest Ohio’s fine upground reservoirs will do what Beaver Creek does, which is provide some fine spring inland fishing action.
The Kalamazoo Gazette has information about two miles of new trail in Kalamazoo County. Kalamazoo County is important because of its route along the Airline railbed that will eventually connect Lake Erie to Lake Michigan:
LANSING — A $1 million grant to build a nonmotorized trail along two miles of Riverview Drive in Kalamazoo was announced Friday by the Michigan Department of Transportation.
The trail segment from Riverview at Mosel Avenue south to Veteran’s Memorial Park near downtown is being built by the Kalamazoo County Road Commission, in conjunction with the city of Kalamazoo. It is part of a larger plan for a 14.2-mile nonmotorized system in the county, according to a MDOT news release.
Here are excerpts from a State of Michigan press release covering other state transportation enhancement grants:
The village of Milford, in partnership with the Charter Township of Milford, the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority, and the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, will construct 2.9 miles of non-motorized trail. The trail will go from north of General Motors Road at the Milford Dam, then south across General Motors Road into Kensington Metropark, and continue south toward the intersection of Milford Road and Huron River Parkway. It will be an integral part of a much larger planned system within the county and region. A portion of the non-motorized network has been constructed, including the Kensington Metropark loop, a connection under I-96 and into Island Lake State Recreation Area, and the Huron Valley Trail that leads southwest into South Lyon and east toward Wixom. The project cost is $2,538,980, including $609,355 in federal funds, $1,854,625 from the Charter Township of Milford, and $75,000 from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan. In addition, the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan GreenWays Initiative provided $50,000 to complete construction drawings and the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority provided $27,000 in-kind services to complete a topographic survey.
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9620-191697–,00.html
The State of Michigan is offering campers the chance to park their RVs at state parks for up to 15 days this summer in an attempt to head off gas-related tourism slowdowns:
The Detroit News reports on a survey that noted significant opposition to a safety path system in the city of Bloomfield Hills:
A survey taken by Bloomfield Hills residents revealed that nearly 60 percent oppose development of a citywide safety path system. The city is exploring building extra-wide pathways along major thoroughfares such as Woodward and east-west roads such as Lone Pine and Long Lake. City Manager Jay Cravens said the original proposal to build 14 miles of pathways for $8 million is being studied in smaller sections. Of the 1,621 surveys mailed, 430 — or 27 percent — were returned. Results of the survey, which focused on land use and development, natural features, transportation, library services and historic districts, will be part of the city’s Master Plan discussions at public meetings.
The Detroit News reports on a preserve dedication that happened this past Saturday in Livingston County:
The Livingston Land Conservancy invites the public to the free dedication for the Unadilla Nature Preserve at 10 a.m. Saturday. The 13-acre preserve is on Williamsville Road, west of Unadilla Road, behind the Unadilla Presbyterian Church in Gregory. Free parking will be provided at the church. The dedication will include a tour of the property hosted by Conservancy naturalists. Refreshments will be served following a walk along the Unadilla Mill Pond. For information, call (810) 229-3290, e-mail at info@livingstonlandconservancy.org, or go to www.livingstonlandconservancy.org.
The Leelanau Enterprise reports on controversy related to new “no pet” designations in sections of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore:
Prior to the change in April, there were nine areas where pets were prohibited: the Manitou islands; the County Road 651 beach (1/4-mile south from road end); Cannery Beach at Glen Haven, (1/4-mile northwest of Maritime Museum); Little Glen Lake beach; N. Bar Lake, including a quarter-mile north of outlet into Lake Michigan; Esch Road Beach (1/4-mile south of road access); Peterson Beach (1/14-mile south and west of road access); and Platte Point Beach (1/4-mile on both sides of Lake Michigan Road).
Under the new rules the following areas are closed to pets: from the south Lakeshore boundary line in Benzie County to the trail from Platte River Campground; from Peterson Beach parking lot north to Esch Road; from the north end of N. Bar Lake north around Sleeping Bear Point to Cannery Beach at Glen Haven; and from the County Road 669 road end north to the Count Road 651 road end.
The Leelanau Enterprise has information related to a tribal rail corridor in NW lower Michigan:
The Leelanau Enterprise also has this interesting information about the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore:
In addition to recognition of local authority over county road rights-of-way, Road Commissioners were pleased with proposed changes to allow motor vehicle access to the Valley of the Giant Cedar on S. Manitou Island. As part of the preferred alternative, the concessionaire offering motor vehicle tours of the island, Manitou Island Transit, will be able to take visitors nearly the entire length of Shefler Road to the popular destination. Currently, people wanting to see the large cedar trees at the end of Shefler Road have to walk a entire seven-mile round trip to reach the area from the main dock area on the island.
Member Glen M. Noonan said he was happy that Park Service officials recognized the need for getting people, especially the elderly and those with special needs, close to the Valley of the Giants. “There are a lot of older residents here in the county who would enjoy visiting the site, but it was just too far for most to walk,” he said.
Ulrich said while the concessionaire will be able to bring people much closer, visitors will still have about a half-mile walk to reach the site.
Other possible developments for trails in the Lakeshore that the Road Commission supported include transforming a railroad grade that runs from the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb to Glen Lake and a Bay-to-Bay footpath that would run from the southern border of the Lakeshore in Benzie County up to Good Harbor Bay. Ulrich said the Bay-to-Bay trail would be similar to the Appalachian Trail with small, primitive campsites along the way.