Federal sequestration wrecking ball hits Sleeping Bear

,

National Park week, which begins April 20, is typically an opportunity for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore to strut its stuff and demonstrate its value to the local community a month before the summer tourism season opens with Memorial Day weekend. During this year’s National Park week, the Lakeshore will hold a water testing demonstration on Esch Road Beach, a swearing-in ceremony for junior rangers, a showing of the film Chasing Ice at the Empire Visitor Center and a star gazing party on Platte Point Beach.

Read more
/by

Where has all the water gone?

,

When the US Army Corps of Engineers measured Lake Michigan and Lake Huron water levels at the end of December, they discovered that the depth had receded to 576.15 feet above sea level — breaking the record for the previous all-time-low of 576.2 feet set in 1964. That’s not a record to celebrate. Numbers are complex and difficult to comprehend. But beaches along Sleeping Bear Bay offered more clarity, and sobering clarity at that. The shoreline has receded substantially from previous years, leaving behind a hard, rocky surface in places, and prompting widespread alarm.

Read more
/by

Rescue found, but reasons for sinking remain a mystery

, ,

Local diver, filmmaker and author Ross Richardson has solved one local mystery — the location of the steamship Rescue, which owner Ralph Dorsey intentionally sank in Big Glen Lake 98 years ago. But the reason why Dorsey destroyed his boat is known only by the lake, and Dorsey’s ghost, leaving folklore to play a guessing game.

Read more
/by

Leelanau Conservancy, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy win awards

Two Northern Michigan land trusts received Land Trust Excellence Awards for collaborative leadership in land conservation and promoting the work of land trusts in Congress. Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy and Leelanau Conservancy were selected by the Land Trust Alliance of Washington, D.C. from more than 1,700 land trusts across the country to receive its National Land Trust Excellence Award, which was presented at Rally 2012: The National Land Conservation Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sept. 30.

Read more
/by

Busiest … summer … ever

,

Sometime this month, the 1,364,835th visitor to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 2012 will arrive at the Dune Climb, hike to Pyramid Point, or perhaps bike the Heritage Trail and enjoy its stunning autumnal beauty. In doing so, that visitor will officially make this the busiest year ever for the Glen Arbor region, the most profitable for local businesses, and perhaps the most hectic one too.

Read more
/by

Century Inc. owner wins Chevy Volt in support of Heritage Trail

Bill Janis, CEO of Traverse City-based Century Inc., won the Chevy Volt raffle on Saturday at Cherry Republic. The raffle was held in support of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, a multi-use and bike trail which connects the Dune Climb with Glen Arbor and will one day stretch 27 miles, from the Leelanau-Benzie County Line to Good Harbor. 1,200 tickets were sold, each costing $100, which generated $120,000 for the next portion of the Heritage Trail — the Dune Climb to Empire leg — which advocates hope will be complete by next summer.

Read more
/by

Port Oneida Fair features Civil War encampment, music and arts

,

The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will host the 11th annual Port Oneida Rural Arts and Culture Fair on Aug. 10-11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors to the event may take a shuttle, drive, hike, or bike between six unique historic sites to enjoy a variety of activities. Each week leading up to the fair, details will be made available about one of the following sites: Burfiend Barn, Kelderhouse Farm, Olsen Farm, Thoreson Farm, Dechow Farm, and Port Oneida Schoolhouse.

Read more
/by

The Volt sizzles

,

The Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail fundraising committee is conducting a raffle of a lovely Crystal Red Chevy Volt that can be seen at various ticket vendors around Glen Arbor. Ticket sales are limited to 1,200 of the $100 tickets, and should net $100,000. This, in turn, will be used to help pay a $400,000 fee due in September. With the fee paid, the Heritage Trail will be able to commence with the next segment of construction, a path leading south from the Dune Climb along M-109, which will connect Empire to the Dunes. The Heritage Trail will one day stretch 27 miles, from the Leelanau-Benzie County Line, north to Good Harbor.

Read more
/by

Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail receives $1.62 million

The Leelanau Scenic Heritage Route Committee, Michigan Department of Transportation, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation (TART) Trails, and Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes are proud to announce that the Federal Department of Transportation 2012 Public Lands Highway Discretionary (PLHD) program has awarded $1.62 million for the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail (SBHT). The PLHD funds will be used to construct 3.17 miles of the trail starting at Port Oneida Road and ending at Leelanau County Road 669/Bohemian Road.

Read more
/by

Dreaming of Empire

Empire attorney Lea Ann Sterling grew tired of driving her children, Amelie and Daniel, back and forth to basketball practice at Glen Lake Schools when a perfectly good gymnasium in the Empire Schoolhouse sat vacant at the corner of M-22 and M-72, in the heart of Empire. So she began to dream.

Read more
/by