Borrowing Sleeping Bear from our children
From staff reports
On Friday, May 30, dignitaries including U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow and Congressman Dan Benishek gathered at the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive #3 Dune Overlook to commemorate President Obama’s signing this spring of the Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness Act, which will preserve our National Lakeshore while guaranteeing public access to its roads, beaches and forests.
Here are a few highlights from their speeches:
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Dusty Shultz:
“This wilderness designation strikes an important balance between preserving the access and ensuring outstanding opportunities for naturalness, solitude and those primitive recreational experiences that we so love.”
National Park Service Midwest Regional Director Patty Trap:
“Today, on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Wilderness Act, we stand here to dedicate one of the most beautiful, wild landscapes that will be protected forever, not just for us but for future generations. It took decades, and it took a village to pass the Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness Act.”
Jeannette Feeheley, president of Citizens for Access to the Lakeshore:
“Park personnel at every level—local, regional and national—grew willing to give the people most impacted a fresh listen, and embarked on a civic engagement campaign unprecedented in National Park Service history. They constructed a whole new public input process, including a user-friendly website to keep the public informed and to take input. Between 2005 and 2008, Superintendent Schulz and Deputy Superintendent Tom Ulrich held a total of 133 meetings with nearly 3,400 people during a new wilderness study process. These weren’t just one or two open houses to meet legal requirements. These were genuine solicitations for input.”
U.S. Congressman Dan Benishek:
“Wilderness is the land that rare wild places where one can retreat from civilization, reconnect with the earth, and find healing, meaning and significance. As you look upon the dunes and the clear blue waters of Lake Michigan, I believe we can all agree that these lands are inherently special. The land we stand on is at the same time as old as the glacial ice sheets that formed this special place, and as young as the legislation that was put in place to preserve it for future generations.”
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow:
“There’s an old Native American proverb that says ‘we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children’. We are borrowing this beautiful place for our children and grandchildren. What an awesome responsibility that is for all of us. … Sleeping Bear, the Great Lakes, our forests throughout the state. These are truly precious treasures for us. We have been given the responsibility to make sure that we send them on to our children even better than we received in terms of our beauty, and cleanliness and health. By preserving the parks, we’re preserving our way of life.”
U.S. Senator Carl Levin:
“This bill is proof that if you want to get something done in Congress, it’s gotta be done on a bipartisan and a bicameral basis. So when you think about this legislation, think about that, not just about these fabulous Dunes that will be protected but also about the way things get done in government can only be if there’s cooperation and collaboration. … I deeply believe that while only the good Lord can create wilderness, only mankind can either damage it or ultimately protect it.”
