Federal sequestration wrecking ball hits Sleeping Bear
Will Park closings hurt Leelanau tourism during “shoulder” seasons?
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
Visitors to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore this month encountered strange and unwelcome scenes at the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive and the Dune Climb — both popular destinations and crowned jewels of the National Lakeshore. Pierce Stocking has been closed until Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, with a gate barring automobiles from entering. At the Dune Climb, flush toilets are closed, and trash containers are bolted shut. Garbage has piled up on several occasions at the foot of the majestic sand hill — an unsightly spectacle.
That access and services will re-open on May 25 but close again after Labor Day weekend, when northern Michigan’s summer tourism season traditionally ends. The reason: sequestration — across-the-board spending cuts triggered by the federal government and the inability of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and President Barack Obama to agree on a budget. The effect: National Parks across the country are forced to cut their budgets — in Sleeping Bear’s case, by 5 percent. That amounts to a $234,000 reduction from an annual operating budget of nearly $4.7 million. The Lakeshore also cut five seasonal positions and shortened the length of employment for 22 seasonal workers.
Partisan gridlock is nothing new in Washington, D.C. We’ve been through government shutdowns and faced austerity pushes, but never before has Sleeping Bear been forced to close Pierce Stocking, a 7.4-mile road with scenic vistas and gentle curves that offers mesmerizing overlooks of the Lake Michigan shoreline. Pierce Stocking is particularly valuable for the elderly or disabled tourists who are unable to get out and enjoy the Lakeshore on foot.
Trash on the ground next to the closed bin marred a view of the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb on May 7. The next day the trash was removed — either by a National Lakeshore employee or by a good samaritan.
ABC’s Good Morning America show featured video from Pierce Stocking overlooks when it bestowed Sleeping Bear with the “most beautiful place in America” honor in August 2011. That international attention significantly boosted tourism to Leelanau County that fall and gave us a “summer on steroids” in 2012. Tourism is expected to drop a bit this summer as the media attention wears off, but local business owners now worry that the Lakeshore closings in the spring and fall will hurt the economy during the “shoulder” seasons.
So why did the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore opt to fold an asset as visible as Pierce Stocking instead of, say, cutting hours at the Visitor Center in Empire? The answer is that the Park was given no other choice. Faced with an automatic 5-percent cut, local Lakeshore managers attempted to avoid closings and institute an across-the-board furlough that would reduce hours for part-time and full-time staff, but National Park executives in Washington wouldn’t allow the compromise. Instead, part-time workers and seasonal destinations will have to bear the brunt.
“Employees in the Park are upset about this,” said Deputy Superintendent Tom Ulrich. “Everyone’s proud of the work we do, the ability to create a welcoming environment for visitors, and we feel like our ability to do our job has been compromised.”
Curtailing seasonal employment means cutting the services those workers provide. They include collecting fees at Pierce Stocking, cleaning bathrooms and removing trash at the Dune Climb and facilitating environmental education programs. The Lakeshore couldn’t close more remote areas of the Park, such as the Manitou Islands, because it is locked into a contract with the Grosvenor family in Leland, which runs the Manitou Island Transit ferry. Other projects, such as the development of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail leg between the Dune Climb and Empire (expected to be complete in 2014), are privately funded and not susceptible to sequestration.
In addition to the Dune Climb, the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive is one of the few places in the Lakeshore that secure revenue, since each vehicle drives by a ticket window. But Park employees confirmed that, while Pierce Stocking makes a handsome profit during the summer months, it typically struggles to cover the cost of staffing and daily maintenance during the quieter spring and fall months. So keeping it open before Memorial Day or after Labor Day probably wouldn’t help offset the Lakeshore’s 5-percent budget reduction.
Local business owners worry the closings will dissuade tourists from visiting and spending money in the area during the “shoulder” seasons. Downstate schools that send buses of students to visit the National Lakeshore during the spring may cancel their trips, and that means less money in the tills of local restaurants, gas stations and shops.
During a Glen Lake Chamber of Commerce meeting at the Western Avenue Grill on April 9, several jaws dropped when business owners learned that Pierce Stocking Drive would be closed until Memorial Day and after Labor Day.
“Pierce Stocking Drive not having full access could affect people’s perceptions of the area, and that’s tough news, economically, for restaurants and retailers,” said Chamber president Rob Serbin, who also owns Serbin Real Estate in Glen Arbor. “There’s no question that the experiences (of tourists) could be somewhat limited, and we don’t want to shortchange them.”
The Chamber has no immediate damage control plans, such as informing tourists that much of the National Lakeshore is still open, and that services and access will return to normal during the summer months.
“Rather than expect that the sky is falling, lets wait and see if it actually does,” said Serbin.
Matt Wiesen, owner of Crystal River Outfitters and the Cyclery, found the news about Pierce Stocking particularly jarring because his business depends on, and promotes, tourism in Glen Arbor not just during the summer but during the “shoulder” seasons.
“As a town with a historically short tourist season (Memorial Day to Labor Day), we have been given a great opportunity to extend our summer tourism season due to the recent designation of Sleeping Bear as ‘America’s Most Beautiful Place’,” Wiesen wrote in a letter to Serbin. “This award has put Glen Arbor and the surrounding area in the national spotlight and provided a great economic boost to the local economy. It is the National Lakeshore specifically, and the natural beauty found within the Lakeshore and its attractions, that won this award.”
“Yet, with the impending budget cuts, we risk visitors leaving with a feeling of disappointment after not being able to experience the area’s top tourist attractions. As the owner of multiple tourist-based businesses within Glen Arbor, and an employer of 30+ seasonal employees, the limited access to (the Lakeshore) brings great concern.”
“Our local economy is on the cusp of achieving an expanded tourist season and perhaps our greatest marketing tool ever, achieved by winning ‘America’s Most Beautiful Place’, may be sold short as visitors will be cheated of seeing the very attractions that convinced them to visit northern Michigan. Finding a way to continue operating these attractions for an extended season allows the fringe seasons to continue to grow and employers like myself to continue employing workers an additional 4-5 months, ultimately putting money back into our local economy and the state of Michigan.”
It’s unclear whether employers such as Wiesen will cut workers once Labor Day arrives and Pierce Stocking shuts down again, but the National Lakeshore is already reducing its payroll. Sequestration has forced the Park to cut five seasonal positions and shorten 22 more employment stints. That means less money in the pockets of local residents, and less money spent in the local economy. Longtime Park employee, and Frankfort resident, Penny Herd, for example, will work three months this year instead of five. She typically makes $107.28 per day as a fee collector at Pierce Stocking and the Dune Climb, which measured out over a summer, means a cut of nearly $4,300 from her bank account.
Rick Desrochers, who manages Maple Lane Resort on Little Glen Lake, worries about the potential for lost business and also laments that Pierce Stocking won’t be open during the beautiful fall colors season.
“Remember how much pride we had and how many people came to the area to enjoy that beauty we all call home?” said Desrochers. “Remember going for drives on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive during the fall and watching all the colors before our eyes? Now all this might come to an end because of sequestration.”
“This is going to have a domino effect going forward. By reducing the tourism season and reducing the number of visitors, many problems will surface due to our full dependence on seasonal business. All I ask is that the government take into consideration how many businesses, their employees, the visitors as well as anybody who lives here will truly hurt.”
Wildflowers owner Donna Burgan echoed the concern that a “Closed” sign at Pierce Stocking could have a detrimental effect on local tourism far beyond 2013.
“When people discover that one of our biggest attractions is closed, they’ll be disappointed. When they discover it’s due to sequestration, they’ll be disgusted. Some people who are about to experience (Leelanau County) for the first time, or telling their friends to visit, might decide to just wait until it’s open. The irritation factor is going to be big.”
Burgan overheard one Glen Arbor friend joke that Sleeping Bear might be voted next ‘the nastiest, most unwelcome place in America’.
National Lakeshore Depurty Superintendent Tom Ulrich estimates the lost revenues from Pierce Stocking during the spring and fall will cost the Lakeshore approximately $71,000. September and October may prove crueler months than April or May, because the fall color season typically sends families, tourism buses and school buses to the Park in droves. Tourism during the spring depends on the weather, and spring weather this year arrived late.
How has the public reacted to the impending news?
“People are saying this is terrible,” said Ulrich. “Money for our Nationals Parks is sacrosanct and it is money well spent.”
“Most people react like many of our school teachers react. They call and they can’t get a ranger program scheduled because we can’t offer interpretive ranger programs. They’re sad and upset. But I think most of the anger is directed at legislators and not at the Park.”
National politicians, alone, have the power to end sequestration and, ultimately, to re-fund Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore during the “shoulder” seasons. Contact them here: President Barack Obama (The White House), 202-456-1111; House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, 202-225-6205; House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, 202-225-2815.
