Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Superintendent Dusty Shultz announced that the National Park Service proposes to develop a trail system (“Kettles Trail”) on federal lands in the Bow Lakes area of the National Lakeshore. To do so, the National Lakeshore will prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) which will describe and analyze alternatives for the Kettles Trail.
To mark its 25th anniversary, the Leelanau Conservancy will hold a speaker series over the next two years that features national environmental and conservation leaders. The series is part of an effort to engage members and the public on topics important to Leelanau County.
Glen Arbor residents might recognize John Farah. The dentist from Ann Arbor owns a condominium at the Homestead Resort and likes to jog a 15-mile route around Big Glen Lake during his summer visits up north. On Monday in Boston, Farah was maintaining a solid pace, despite nagging small injuries that had interrupted his training cycle of late. He was hoping to finish the marathon at 4 hours and 15 minutes, and then greet his wife Jackie and her daughter Erin at the finish line. The plan was to take a train to Erin’s apartment so Farah could shower and change, and then head to Logan Airport for a flight back to Detroit.
In the hospital now, phone recharged, and finally have a laptop. I might as well post a longer update while everything is still fresh in my head. Though I doubt I’ll ever forget much of it. The funny thing is, the race was going really well up until everything happened. My mom and I waited to cheer my dad on at the 18-mile marker. He passed through right on schedule, ahead of most of the people with similar qualifying numbers. We handed him a protein shake, took some clothes he didn’t need, and then hurried over to the train to try and catch him at the finish line. The train was of course packed with people trying to do the same thing, and we had to let at least 3 go by until we could find one with enough space.
There is trash on our beaches, the climate is changing, and Glen Lake High School’s Students for World Awareness (SWA) want our community to do something about it. With Earth Day approaching, the students of the club have planned an event to increase environmental consciousness within their Leelanau County community.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is teaming up with the Clean Energy Coalition to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet by 15 percent and to share information about alternative fuels and fuel-efficient driving habits with the 1.3 million visitors who visit the National Lakeshore each year.
A new National Park Service report for 2011 shows that the 1,348,304 visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore spent $132,774,000 in communities surrounding the park. This spending supported 2,347 jobs in the local area. “Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a wonderful place to learn about America’s story,” said Park Superintendent Dusty Shultz. “We attract visitors from across the U.S. and around the world who come here to experience the park and then spend time and money enjoying the services provided by our neighboring communities.”
The Detroit Free Press and other media outlets report that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded $100,000 to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to extend the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Heritage Trail an additional 4.75 miles.
The Ticker and other media outlets reported earlier this month that the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will receive the highest level of federal conservation protection for nearly 50 percent of our branch of the National Park Service.
It wasn’t quite a “road to Damascus” epiphany, but Rob Serbin did find the road to Little Traverse Inn last year. The Glen Arbor realtor finally sold the restaurant on M-22 for the second time in seven years, this time to Scotsman Graeme Leask, after it sat idle on the market for 18 months. The sale was emblematic of Serbin’s monster year, which saw his company’s net sales surge by 250 percent. Numerous realtors in the Glen Arbor area shared that good fortune.