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September 27, 2003Park gets $1M for land buyBill also funds Eggle memorial at Organ PipeByRecord-Eagle staff writer EMPIRE - One million dollars earmarked for land acquisitions at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore could be used to help buy 105 acres owned by The Homestead resort, but it's not a done deal. "It could include the Crystal River property, but I'm just not sure at this point," park superintendent Dusty Shultz said. The U.S. Department of the Interior will provide $1 million for land acquisition at the park, U.S. Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow announced this week. The estimated cost of the Homestead property is $8.5 million. The appropriation would have to be signed into law before any decision is made on how to spend the money, Shultz said. If it were to go toward the purchase of the Crystal River property, park officials would have to find a way to work out the difference in the purchase price. "So it's anybody's guess as how that could work out," she said. The property, which includes 6,300 feet of frontage on the Crystal River, was part of a controversial golf course proposal introduced in 1986. The plan was shelved after staunch environmental opposition fueled a series of legal challenges. The land, along with some adjoining property, was most recently considered for more than 200 housing units, for which all the necessary permits were in place, according to the resort. Resort officials said in January they were interested in the deal if it would be completed by the end of this year. Other projects funded in the bill include a memorial at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona for Kris Eggle, a National Park Service ranger and Cadillac native shot and killed last year in the line of duty. The House of Representatives passed the Interior appropriations bill in July. The House and Senate will now meet in a conference committee to work out differences in the two bills.
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