|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
08/24/2007
Cast Away!Fishing pier installed at DeYoung Natural Area
Workers from the U.P.-based Flotation Docking Systems installed a new fishing pier on the west side of Elmwood Township's Cedar Lake Thursday in the DeYoung Natural Area. GREILICKVILLE — Matt Heiman believes a recently installed fishing pier at Cedar Lake's DeYoung Natural Area will offer anglers of all abilities a quiet place to drop a line. And Heiman, who's a land-protection specialist with the Leelanau Conservancy, watched his son, Casimir, 3, fling the first cast off the T-shaped, 24-by-40 dock Thursday afternoon. "My son took the first cast and probably within five minutes took the first bass off the platform,” Heiman said. "It's great for small children.” A short, winding walk through dense woods along Cedar Lake Trail will take visitors to the wooden dock that's surrounded by rails and equipped with built-in benches and fishing rod holders. Three workers with Flotation Docking Systems spent about eight hours preparing and installing the $19,380 dock at the northwest end of the lake in Leelanau County's Elmwood Township. The dock is part of a series of improvements to the 145-acre natural area. "The most recent improvements other than the fishing pier is the completion of the Cedar Lake Loop Trail by spreading wood chips along most of the trail and marking the route. The water pump and bike rack for hikers to be able to bike there was simultaneous with that,” Heiman said. "We hope to have secured funds for a universally accessible trail to the dock by next summer.” The recent improvements were funded almost entirely by the Oleson Foundation. Penny Ort lives along the TART Leelanau Trail that bisects the DeYoung Natural Area. "I use that trail in there at least every other week,” Ort said, adding she's glad the conservancy plans to make the dock wheelchair-accessible. "There are not a lot of places you can get to the lake.” Matthew Schwartz grew up in Leelanau County and on Thursday was visiting his parents with his wife Daniela and son Erik, 1. The site symbolizes the conservancy's skillful juggling of preservation and recreation, he said. "It is a nice balance, because you can still use it,” he said. The nonprofit Leelanau Conservancy acquired the Louis DeYoung farmstead in May 2006 and continues to raise funds to finalize the $2 million property purchase. "We have raised about $700,000 in cash and pledges and our goal is to raise about $1 million in private funds,” said the conservancy's Anne Shoup. To make a donation, contact Shoup at (231) 256-9665.
|
|
