The North Manitou Island deer hunt in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is held each year to manage the introduced/non-native deer population to allow for the recovery of the forests. This year, the National Park Service is only accepting 200 applications in 2024. The application period will open on Monday, June 3, and close Monday, Sept. 30, or when 200 applications are received.
The historic Sleeping Bear Inn, the oldest hotel in the National Park System, is now taking reservations for August and beyond. Click on the story to read more and to reserve a room. Originally built between 1865-1867, the inn located in Glen Haven across the street from the cannery building served as a frontier hotel for business travelers and local workers. It continued in operation throughout the next century, evolving into a tourist hotel. It has been closed since the mid-1970s. The nonprofit Balancing Environment and Rehabilitation (BEAR) signed a lease in 2022 to renovate the Sleeping Bear Inn and operate it as a bed and breakfast. “This year marks two years of active renovation at Sleeping Bear Inn for our BEAR team, and with the finish line in our sights, we are elated to start thinking about the hospitality aspect of our work,” said executive director Maggie Kato.
While our national parks are as popular as ever, many are in need of repairs. Because of aging facilities and unreliable funding, roughly $46 million worth of repairs have accumulated in our state alone. Here in Michigan, investments in our parks would support 452 jobs in planning, road building, construction and carpentry, among other positions.
For the third year, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is conducting an artwork contest to select an image for the front of the park’s Annual Park Entrance Pass. The focus of the contest centers around the Every Kid in a Park program, which has the central goal of connecting fourth graders with the great outdoors and inspiring them to become future environmental stewards, ready to preserve and protect national parks and other public lands for years to come. For this reason, the art contest is open to anyone 12 years of age or younger.
A new National Park Service report shows that 1,683,554 visitors to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 2016 spent $183 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 2,872 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $231 million.
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore will be hosting its popular annual pruning workshop on Friday, May 5, in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. The workshop will be held at the Miller farm, four miles north of Glen Arbor on M-22. Turn onto Port Oneida Road, go one mile and turn onto Miller Road, and follow the signs to the workshop site.
From staff reports Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is hosting an orientation meeting for anyone interested in volunteering to serve as a “Bark Ranger.” Bark Ranger volunteers and their canine companions serve as ambassadors on National Lakeshore beaches to provide visitors information about the park, highlight pet policies, and pet safety. Bark Rangers will also […]
From staff reports National Park Week, April 15-23, is America’s largest celebration of national heritage. It’s about making great connections, exploring amazing places, discovering open spaces, enjoying affordable vacations, and enhancing America’s best idea—the national parks! It’s all happening in your national parks. Celebrate 2017 National Park Week with Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Participate […]
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is recruiting one Teacher-Ranger-Teacher (TRT) to spend the summer in the park learning about the resource and developing education programs. The application deadline is May 1.
In celebration of the National Park Service’s (NPS) 100th anniversary, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is proud to announce the NPS Centennial Band will perform six shows here in Northern Michigan on their “Find Your Park” tour. On August 18, 19, and 20, the band will play two shows per day, at a variety of venues. The Centennial Band is made up of rangers from New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, and children’s musician, park ranger Jeff Wolin. The NPS has been called America’s Greatest Idea, and to help celebrate 100 years of providing art-inspiring places all over America, the Centennial Band will bring a little bit of the Big Easy here to the Great Lakes State. National Lakeshore superintendent Scott Tucker is enthusiastic about attending the shows himself, saying “My family and I are very excited for the chance to see these outstanding musicians play the music of America!”