The National Park Service plans to conduct four prescribed fires in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore before May 15. Prescribed fire is used as a tool to assist in restoring forest habitat while also reducing the threat of wildland fires. In the Platte Plains area of the National Lakeshore, two prescribed fires will be on 1,490 acres. One burn unit includes and surrounds the Lasso Loop of the Platte Plains Trail. The second burn unit falls between Peterson and Lasso Roads.
On July 9, the Benzie Area Symphony Orchestra (BASO), under the direction of Tom Riccobono, will perform the world premiere of Ransom Lake and Platte Plains as part of their concert program featuring Manitou Winds. The concert will be held at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church (8190 Lincoln Rd, Beulah). The Manitou Winds ensemble includes Jason McKinney, a composer and arranger of orchestral and chamber music who lives in Maple City; horn player and guitarist Laura Hood who lives in Cedar, as well as bassoonist Lauren Murphy, piccolo and flutist Sam Clark, clarinetist Anne Bara, and reader and narrator Jan Ross.