May 31 2008
News Digest: Parks Edition
Ann Arbor’s Huron River Drive construction project begins this Monday. This temporarily closes one of the most popular on-road recreational routes in the region. Ann Arbor News excerpt and link:
Monday, at some yet unspecified time, the last motorist or bicyclist will traverse the scenic but pothole-riddled Huron River Drive between North Main Street and Bird Road in Ann Arbor.
Barricades and detour signs will be pulled across the road at either end, and construction workers will begin the task of ripping up the 1.3-mile stretch of asphalt roadway that winds among the trees and hills next to the Huron River in the city’s northwest corner.
A 2005 count showed 2,313 vehicles a day using the section of road that will be improved. That number doesn’t include the hundreds of bicyclists who pedal the roadway daily.
The plan, to rebuild the road within its existing boundaries, followed a series of public meetings to solicit opinion about what form the improvement should take. One possibility, that the segment of road be closed altogether to motor vehicle traffic and made into a pedestrian and bicycle path was rejected after many residents who live close to the road objected.
Proposals to widen the road, possibly adding bicycle and pedestrian paths, also were rejected, largely because of possible damage to the steep slopes, trees, wetlands, animals and some endangered plants on either side of the road, Rolla said.
The new road will not have marked bicycle lanes.
Four nature areas, the Barton Nature Area, the Keubler-Langford Nature Area, Camp Hilltop and the Bird Hills Nature Area extend along either side of the road as it winds along the Huron River northwest from Ann Arbor.
The Grand Rapids Press has the following tidbit about the city’s Blandford Nature Center:
The Blandford site contains a diverse mixture of trails through rolling hardwood forest, streams, ponds, wetlands and old farm fields. The center, off Leonard Street NW at 1715 Hillburn Ave., is owned by the city, but was operated by the Public Museum of Grand Rapids.
The city, the museum and the school district all say they can’t afford to operate it.
Concerns about fiscal difficulties surfaced when some employee hours were cut in January, six months after Mixed Greens took over management of the city-owned 143-acre preserve from the school district.
Bleke said the organization has trimmed costs, but added Blandford Mixed Greens has raised enough money to operate for the next year.
The Traverse City Record Eagle reports that four state forest campgrounds remain closed despite state plans to open all closed forest campgrounds:
Four other Michigan state forest campgrounds remain closed because of inoperable wells, including two in this area: Pigeon Bridge in Otsego County and Garey Lake Trail Camp in Benzie County. Two state forest campgrounds in the Upper Peninsula also are affected, North Gemini and South Gemini in Schoolcraft County.
“We don’t want to impact the campers. We know there are users who have favorite campgrounds and we may be affecting that by closing them,” said Brenda Curtis, forest recreation planner for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
The campground well in Otsego County will be repaired and the site re-opened within days, but the Benzie County site may take a bit longer, Curtis said.
The state forest campgrounds in Benzie and Otsego counties need well repairs, while the sites in the U.P. require new wells to be drilled, all paid for through grants and state campground operational funds.
http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_151100822.html
The Grand Haven Tribune reports that Grand Haven State Park now has “green” toilets and showers:
“This is a new day for the system,” said Ron Olsen, chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation Division. “Being ‘green’ goes beyond the flora and the fauna. This is one of the first examples of a prototype we’d like to build on.”
To make the showers and toilets more “green,” several economic improvements were made. Water heaters are now on-demand, showers are time controlled and lighting is provided by the sun. Solar power provides electricity when needed, and toilets and urinals are “ultra low-flow.”
The new showers are making happy campers as well. Because lighting is triggered by motion, the facility will not shine lights into tents and campers in the middle of the night.
http://www.grandhaventribune.com/paid/301089532818250.bsp
MSU’s student paper, the State News, has a more extensive article on the same subject:
WLUC TV in the UP reports that the Seney National Wildlife Refuge has cut staff and other programs to meet budget:
“What the refuge system has had to do,” said Seney Refuge Manager Tracy Casselman, ”since the costs have gone up and funding has stayed the same or gone down is we’ve had to reduce positions in this region. Region 3 has decided to reduce positions based on attrition. So when someone retires, they don’t refill the position. That’s how they save the money.”
Casselman says staffing at Seney is down 20 percent–meaning cuts have to be made. A water control structure has been up for repairs since 2003, but non-essential maintenance at the facility is backlogged. Another area being cut is public education. Casselman says in the last three years, all environmental classroom programs offered by the refuge have been cut.
Despite these limitations, officials say maintaining wildlife habitat is still their top priority.
“National Wildlife Refuges,” Casselman said, “are managed for wildlife first, and that’s always our priority. That’s the last thing we’d ever cut back; at least here in Seney, we haven’t been cut bare bones enough to where it’s had much of an impact on wildlife.”
A national non-profit organization is currently lobbying Congress for an increase in wildlife funding.
http://wluctv6.com/news//news_story.aspx?id=140021
The Traverse City Record Eagle has a review of new attractions at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore:
New this summer at Sleeping Bear are ranger-led bike tours where you can take the family around Port Oneida or the Platte River Campground.
“The Port Oneida trip will include cultural landscape features, while the Platte River tour will emphasize the natural history of the area,” explained Bill Herd, park interpreter.
There are also miles of photographic hiking trials throughout the park, and although you may have hiked them before, this year take them with a guide, suggested Herd.
“One of the things that people often overlook is attending ranger-led hikes. For people who live here it’s a way to see something differently that they may have seen before,” he said.
These summer-themed hikes will be held on Saturday afternoons, leaving from the Phillip A. Hart Visitor Center on M-72 in Empire. Although the schedule is still being firmed up, you can look forward to hikes that include butterflies, dune wildflowers and history.
Spending time at the beach is a favorite summer pastime, but until the water is warm enough to swim in there are plenty of other activities close to or even on the water. This season, take the family on a relaxing float down the Crystal River in a canoe or kayak. Matt Wiesen, owner of Crystal River Outfitters in Glen Arbor, noted that a typical family trip is two to three hours.
While you wait for the water to warm be sure to visit Grass River Natural Area in Antrim County. There are more than 1,000 acres to explore that include lakes, a river, streams and creeks and a host of animal and plant life that call it home. There are several trails to walk on your own and the kids will especially enjoy the boardwalk trails.
Just minutes from Traverse City you will find one of the Conservancy’s latest acquisitions, The Louis DeYoung farm. The TART trail runs through this 145-acre property and there is a quarter-mile trail that winds down to Cedar Lake where you will find a fishing and observation pier.
Just three miles from Traverse City you will find the Grand Traverse Educational Reserve along the Boardman River. There is plenty to see within this 420-acre tract from bog, marsh and swamp to upland and pine forests as you hike the seven miles of trails. There is also a recently built education center.
http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_147094627.html
Waterloo State Recreation Area is hosting a special Go-Get Outdoors Day on June 7th. Details and link:
Archery will be taught by the Michigan Traditional Bow Hunters, or you can join a rendezvous encampment to learn pre-1840 survival skills, such as how to throw a tomahawk. The Jackson Area Bass Busters will be sponsoring a fishing clinic down by the fishing pier, geared toward children and people who have never fished before. June 7 and 8 is Michigan’s Free Fishing Weekend, so no fishing license is required; however, all other fishing regulations apply.
Xriders will be at the beach area to introduce visitors to kayaking or, if you own a boat, the U S. Coast Guard will be on hand to do courtesy safety inspections. Aberdeen Bikes will be on hand with the latest bike models and talk about bike safety, maintenance, and different types of bicycles.
Classroom Critters will do two programs with live snakes and the Michigan Mushroom Hunters Club will do a presentation on mushroom hunting with color displays. An interpreter from the Eddy Discovery Center will be conducting a program on astronomy Saturday evening, followed by stargazing with the Amateur Astronomers of Jackson.
http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,1607,7-192–192879–RSS,00.html
The Detroit Free Press has a story about a Clinton Township developer who dedicated 30 acres to a nature area:
One of the prominent features of the $1-million-plus George George Memorial Park — named after builder Jim George’s late father — is an interconnected rain garden that leads to 10 acres of wetlands.
And it’s designed to please the masses. New green and brown playscapes and a water-spraying granite fountain are intended for kids’ enjoyment. A winding trail for cyclists, walkers and even leashed dogs meanders up to three newly built wooden bridges with scenic views of flowers and trees of various kinds and colors.