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Sleeping Bear applies brakes on controversial Heritage Trail extension along Little Traverse Lake

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is putting the brakes on its planned 4.5-mile extension of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, which was to run near Little Traverse Lake and conclude at Good Harbor Trail. National Lakeshore superintendent Scott Tucker announced the news today during a press conference at Park headquarters in Empire. (Click here to watch a livestream of the news conference.) The National Lakeshore is pausing the design of Segment 9 following months of conversations with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, which opposes the route of the extension and which sent a letter of concern on Aug. 26 to Secretary of the Interior Debra Haaland and U.S. Senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow.

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Opposes Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail Little Traverse Lake extension

This op-ed by Doug Verellen, former vice president of the Little Traverse Lake Association, addresses previous op-eds published in the Sun last month that express support for the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail’s northeast extension along Little Traverse Lake. The National Park System was founded based on this purpose: “To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” It’s on the back of their business card. This Heritage Trail Segment 9 initiative is the opposite of that directive, opines Verellen.

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Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail hits roadblock on northeast expansion

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A simmering feud between Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and TART Trails, and residents of Little Traverse Lake who oppose the northeast expansion of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail is once again heating up. The popular, multi-use bicycle trail, which stretches 22 miles from Empire through the National Lakeshore to Bohemian Road, is set to expand by 4.25 miles northeast to Good Harbor Trail. Tree clearing and construction are slated to begin this fall, and the extension will open in late 2025 or 2026. But early this month the Little Traverse Lake Association released an environmental impact study the group had commissioned from Borealis Consulting, which found that Segment 9 of the Heritage Trail would require the removal of nearly 7,300 trees and trespass through sensitive wilderness, wetlands and dunes. Of the nearly 7,300 trees identified in the Borealis study, 82% are saplings or small trees with diameters of 10 inches or less. The Park has directed trail designers with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to “meander around the largest trees.” The Lake Association unsuccessfully sued the federal government in 2015 over the adequacy of the National Park’s 2009 environmental assessment.

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Native son Neal Kokowicz opens Market 22

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By Jacob Wheeler Sun editor Next time you have the munchies while driving between Glen Arbor and Leland, or find yourself in need of provisions for the cottage on Little Traverse or Lime Lake, there’s no need to scavenge for mushrooms in the woods. In early October, Neal Kokowicz plans to open Market 22, in […]

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