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August 23, 2002Many still oppose NPS plan- Some worry that parts of proposal that have been removed will be added back in laterBy STACEY SMITHRecord-Eagle staff writer BENZONIA - More than 200 people concerned about the fate of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore attended a meeting here Thursday, many voicing opposition to a controversial 20-year management plan for the park. The meeting, scheduled earlier this month, is part of a National Park Service effort to gather more public comment on the plan, which has drawn criticism since being introduced in June. The plan was chosen as the preferred alternative of four possible plans. Even after changes to the proposal, a deadline delay for public comment and Thursday's meeting, many still are against the proposal. Beulah resident Trevor Danford said Thursday he is opposed to many aspects of the proposal, but is undecided about a portion of the proposal that would trade 168 acres of park land near The Homestead Resort for land on the Crystal River owned by the resort. Danford said stopping development on the Crystal River by swapping land with the resort makes sense. The swap may not be good, though, Danford said, because the people who sold their property near the resort so the park could be created 30 years ago likely never intended for that land to later be traded to a developer. "I'm unable to make up my mind about The Homestead," Danford said. Others, like Terry Money, an Honor businessman, said the trade with The Homestead is a good exchange. People cannot expect to keep the resort from developing the property it owns, Money said. That means either the 130 acres near the river can be protected from development by the land exchange and the former park area will be developed, or the resort will develop the riverfront property it owns, Money said. Many said they were concerned with aspects of the 20-year plan that would limit access to areas of the 71,000-acre park by designating it as a wilderness area, restricting access in many cases and potentially closing roads. Possible elimination of the coho salmon planting in the Platte River and eliminating the deer herd from North Manitou Island also were listed as concerns. The Park Service has said they will back off plans to stop coho planting and will no longer seek to close roads since the public has been vocally opposed to those aspects of the plan. Still, some worry if those items will be put back in the plan at a later date. Ed McIntosh, president of the Benzie Fishery Coalition, has said he believes the Park Service will continue trying to garner support for eliminating the coho and closing the roads. McIntosh also has said he believes the Park Service will continue trying to limit access to areas of the park. Limiting access was a major concern among those who spoke Thursday. David Boekeloo of Beulah, a board member of the newly-formed Citizens for Access to the Lakeshore, said he is concerned that limiting access violates the spirit in which many people sold their property to create the park in the 1970s. The Citizens group is working to get the Park Service to change its proposed plan. Boekeloo said his grandfather was one of many who sold property to the Park Service. The property, at the end of Boekeloo Road in Honor, had been in the family since the 1940s when it was sold "on the premise it would be used and managed, not closed and managed," Boekeloo said. Carolyn Roth, owner of the Honor Motel, said Sleeping Bear Dunes is different from other national parks around the country in that many people use Sleeping Bear. National parks managed as wilderness, as many are due to a Park Service push to maintain most of the National Parks as wilderness areas, are not used by the general public, but rather a few hikers, Roth said. "We really need a place for people and families to go," Roth said. Thursday's meeting was scheduled to gather more public comment on the proposed plan. Open houses were held in July, but due to the large crowds that showed up at those meetings, the Park Service scheduled an extra meeting and extended the period for written public comment from July to Sept. 2. Park Service officials have said it will be at least February 2004 before a final management plan is completed due to the volume of public comment received. A draft of the plan, which will include changes based on the public comment received this summer, is expected by late next summer. Stacey Smith is the reporter for Leelanau, Manistee and Benzie counties. She can be reached at (231) 933-1408, or at ssmith@record-eagle.com |
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