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Smokey Bear tried to tell us: climate change and Northern Michigan’s July 2026 smokeout

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In 1944, the Smokey Bear public awareness campaign launched with the famous tagline, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” Poorly extinguished campfires, reckless use of fireworks, even smoldering cigarette butts carelessly discarded can ignite a woodland conflagration of immense and tragic proportions. And then there’s the CO2 emissions tinderbox we’ve created. According to the Canadian Climate Institute, “Accelerating climate change, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, makes wildfires bigger, hotter, and more destructive.” Now it’s all come home—to my home and yours.

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“Packed” beaches? A curmudgeon comes around

One Friday afternoon last July, Tim Mulherin’s wife, Janet, suggested they go down to Good Harbor Bay Beach CR 651 (Good Harbor Trail) for a few blissful hours of relaxation. That favorite Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore location is conveniently located about two miles from our home in Cedar. Janet had the right idea: It was a glorious northern Michigan summer day, the kind that makes you want to drop what you’re doing and report to the nearest Lake Michigan beach. “Sounds good,” Tim said, “with one exception: It’s July and the beach will be packed.” Mulherin, a self-described curmudgeon, writes here about accepting “packed beaches” at the height of summer.

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No billboards allowed in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

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Picnickers who chose Good Harbor Beach to eat dinner and watch the sunset on Friday, Sept. 9, were surprised to discover they shared the popular beach in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with a real estate company, based in Traverse City, which erected a pop-up tent, placed a sign at the parking lot, and flew a drone above the shoreline. “The gathering itself likely does not require a Special Use Permit, but we are concerned with the corporate advertising and drone use in the National Lakeshore by this group,” said Sleeping Bear Dunes superintendent Scott Tucker.

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Perusing Leelanau’s best picnic stores

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Sand in your sandwich is not a nuisance, but welcomed nostalgia. If you’re ready to pack your beach bags with too much food and drink, and slap down your territorial towel flags, here’s a breakdown of some of the best places to get stocked up for your next beach picnic in “the County.”

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