Sleeping Bear slumbers under federal government shutdown
The Sleeping Bear Dune Climb, closed due to the government shutdown.
Sun editor Norm Wheeler found the DH Day Campground eerily silent when he biked through it on the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail this afternoon. October 1 was a windy, warm Indian summer afternoon with fall colors beginning to blaze through the forest, but the only thing moving were the leaves and branches.
The federal government shutdown early this morning — forced by the Republican-led House of Representatives who oppose the Affordable Care Act — prompted the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and National Parks across the nation, to lock their gates. The timing here in Glen Arbor is highly unfortunate, as it threatens to stunt our growing shoulder tourism season.
Meanwhile, school groups around Michigan who had looked forward to field trips in National Lakeshore destinations such as the Dune Climb and Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive will have to stay in the classroom. One Frankfort second grader came home from school in tears today because her class field trip down the Platte River had been cancelled — thanks to political gripes in Washington, D.C.
The Glen Haven Cannery, closed.
The DH Day campground, closed.
The Maritime Station, closed.
National Park headquarters in Empire, closed.
