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The issue of shoreline access on our region’s waterways is a neverending source of conflict and confusion.  In areas with much private ownership, landowners try to protect their private property rights while fishermen and other outdoorspeople attempt to utilize areas held within the public trust.  In areas with public or land preserve ownership, some properties are managed for limited public access.  Other areas are fragmented across different jurisdictions or organizations.  In some places, private landowners allow informal access.  In some places, public areas are kept “hush-hush” by longtime local users.

It all adds up to a less-than-inviting experience for a potential visitor and for many local residents.  And every once in a while, the issue of access breaks into controversy.  That appears to be the case currently at Grosse Ile’s Airport Bay.  The bay is at the extreme southern tip of Grosse Ile and takes its name from the old military airfield that has become a popular point of departure for the island’s many executives.

For years, ice fishermen have used several formal and informal access points to reach the bay for ice fishing.  That access now seems to have ended.  A thread at the Michigan Sportsman forums has an interesting discussion of the area and the complicated issue of public access:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=268005

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