Opposition grows to new trail carved into wilderness, dunes at Sleeping Bear Dunes
The National Park Service and a trail-promoting nonprofit organization are moving forward with plans for a controversial trail segment at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, despite a local township board and Native American tribe expressing opposition to the plan.
At issue is "Segment 9," a more-than $15 million extension proposed at the national lakeshore by the Park Service and Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation Trails Inc., known as TART. It would extend by 4.25 miles the existing 22 miles of Heritage Trail along Lake Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes from Bohemian Road to Good Harbor Trail, a nonmotorized trail connection providing access to the bay at the northern boundary of the national lakeshore.
Supporters tout the proposed segment's expansion of nonmotorized access to some of the lakeshore's lesser-explored areas. But opponents say the project will require boardwalks through sensitive wetlands and significant retaining walls through critical dune areas. An independent analysis conducted by Borealis Consulting of Traverse City and commissioned by the Little Traverse Lake Association, a neighborhood group near the proposed trail segment, found that the trail as envisioned would require the removal of more than 7,300 trees.
Leelanau County's Cleveland Township Board of Trustees on Sept. 10 voted unanimously to rescind their 2019 approval of Segment 9, and passed a resolution in opposition to the plan as it stands. Nearly 40% of the township's land area is in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Cleveland Township Supervisor Tim Stein said the action was prompted by more information coming to light in the years since their resolution of support and "environmental concerns with the critical dunes area that could be impacted." He also cited the segment's price tag.
"The cost has spiraled to more than $15 million for over 4 miles of trail," he said. "We are just trying to show as elected officials some type of fiscal responsibility in light of what's happening in the world today, and questioning the real need of 4.2 miles of trail at that cost, at the least-used end of the trail."
Tribe says trail may infringe on treaty rights
National Park Service officials earlier said the cost for Heritage Trail development would be half-funded through federal and state grants, with the remaining half through philanthropic donations.
More: Study: Trail extension near Sleeping Bear Dunes would require removal of 7,300 trees
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians also expressed opposition to Segment 9 in an Aug. 26 letter to Michigan's U.S. senators, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Department of the Interior Director Debra Haaland and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park Superintendent Scott Tucker.
"The proposed section threatens to disrupt delicate wetland ecosystems which are vital to the environmental health of the region," Tribal Chairwoman Sandra L. Witherspoon stated.
She added that the trail extension potentially infringes on the tribe's treaty rights in the area, and that the tribe calls for "revocation, amendment and reconsideration of any current or proposed federal appropriations for the trail Segment 9 extension."
The tribe also called for an extension of public comments under the federal Natural Environmental Policy Act, so it can register its opposition and "provide detailed input on the project's potential impact."
Opponents question 2009 environmental study
Attempts to reach Tucker for comment were unsuccessful Friday. He told the Free Press in February that the first segment of the 22-mile Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail was completed in 2011, and Segment 9 is the last segment of the proposal. A 2009 study examined the cumulative environmental impacts of the entire trail when completed, including Segment 9, and found no significant environmental impact.
But some Little Traverse Lake Association members question how robust that environmental assessment was, noting its environmental impact findings for an off-road trail in 2009 were identical to an assessment the year before for an on-road trail along Traverse Lake Road. The Park Service's 2009 evaluation made no reference to wetlands, a required crossing of Shalda Creek, dune forest tree removal, state-protected critical dune areas, or protected wooded dune and swale complexes.
Julie Clark, CEO of TART Trails Inc., acknowledged Segment 9's cost has risen.
"It's also been 10 years since any trail has been constructed," she said. "Everything is considerably more expensive than it was 10 years ago. These prices that we are seeing at Sleeping Bear are absolutely in line with the costs we are seeing for all of our infrastructure projects — trails, roads, all of it."
Many of the concerns raised by Cleveland Township and Grand Traverse Band officials will likely be addressed in the engineering of Segment 9, which is still in the works by the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Park Service, Clark said.
"A lot of these concerns are certainly understandable, because there hasn't been a finished design that the National Park Service has provided," she said. "All of the environmental impact questions and where the trail will go and its specifics aren't yet answered.
"The reason this is taking so long is because the Park Service works very slowly through these types of areas and is making sure that all of those environmental concerns are addressed. It's complicated, and I think the complexity is showing itself in the time it is taking to get this project in a design that they can share."
More: The marking of Michigan: Earliest surveyors laid it all on the line in untamed wilderness
Though construction on Segment 9 was once envisioned to commence this fall, delays in engineering have pushed the proposed work out to at least next summer, Clark said.
"We think it's a fantastic combination of improved safety for nonmotorized travel along the entire lakeshore, connecting both residents and national lakeshore visitors to trailheads and communities along the length of a linear park," Clark said.
"We think this is an investment that's one for the generations."
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