Park begins Port Oneida Landscape Management Plan and Environmental Assessment
From staff reports
Superintendent Dusty Shultz has announced that the National Park Service (NPS) has begun the process of planning how to best manage the cultural landscape of the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. To do so, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will prepare a Cultural Landscape Management Plan and an associated Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Port Oneida Rural Historic District in the National Lakeshore. The purpose of the Plan/EA is to explore the various ways in which the NPS might preserve cultural landscapes in the District in order to protect cultural resources and provide for visitor interpretive and recreational opportunities.
The District is representative of the late 19th and early 20th century farms of the Midwest. The 18 farms, 113 structures, and 3,400 acres constitute one of the largest intact agricultural districts in the National Park System. Because of its size, integrity, and potential for preservation, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places at the state level of significance and has been suggested as potentially being of national significance by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office. The entire District is included within the “Experience History” zone in the 2009 National Lakeshore General Management Plan, which is managed primarily to preserve historic structures and landscapes.
The District provides an excellent opportunity to preserve a rapidly disappearing landscape associated with an important time period in the heartland of America. The potential exists for National Lakeshore visitors to continue to explore this American farm landscape for both educational and recreational activities.
The Plan/EA is needed to determine the best way to halt deterioration of the cultural landscape, and preserve it on into the future. Since the end of agricultural activity in Port Oneida, historic spatial patterns have deteriorated somewhat. The physical and visual connections between landscape features, agricultural buildings, and community landmarks have diminished, and much of the historic plant materials have been lost. Landscape features such as windbreaks, orchards, and garden areas are deteriorated and overgrown. Invasive vegetation, such as black locust and spotted knapweed, has encroached on the landscape and threatens native plant and animal communities. Although National Lakeshore staff and volunteers have accomplished much to halt and reverse this deterioration, there is a need to decide the desired future conditions for the District, and how best to achieve them.
The Plan/EA process is just beginning and they welcome your ideas on the future of the District. The National Lakeshore is especially interested in how you envision the landscape looking many years from now. Will some fields be allowed to return to mature forest? Will some fields be cultivated or planted with cover crops? They also need your ideas on what impacts and issues they should consider as they begin this planning effort. How might decisions about the fields impact the natural and cultural resources in and around the District? Please provide your ideas electronically through a link on the National Lakeshore’s website at www.nps.gov/slbe. Comments may also be mailed to the National Lakeshore (Superintendent, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 9922 Front Street, Empire, MI 49630).
The National Lakeshore requests that you provide your comments by December 10. The comments you submit during this “scoping” phase of planning will be incorporated into a range of alternatives and impact analyses in the Plan/EA. The Plan/EA will then be made available for further public review and comment, scheduled for release early next summer, when they will again solicit your input.
For more information, please call the National Lakeshore at (231) 326-5134 or visit www.nps.gov/slbe.
