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Advocacy LATEST NEWS:PUBLIC MEETING Tuesday, AUGUST 23rd. Park Visitor Center, Empire 5:30 presentation followed by Questions and Answers. Deadline for public comment is September 12, 2011 Review the Port Oneida Historic Landscape Management Plan/Environmental Assessment which offers alternative approaches to how to manage the cultural landscape in Port Oneida, at www.nps.gov/slbe Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear believes that preservation of natural resources does not preclude saving cultural resources,but rather, both goals can be achieved in balance. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is now fully committed to historic preservation in the Park, demonstrating their concurrence with this position. The road is not always a simple one however, in making management decisions that protect natural resources, cultural landscapes and recreational experiences in the Park. Priorities as to what is saved each year are set based on financial and human resources available. Occasionally, therefore, Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear may advocate for or against policies, or respond to alternatives, actions, or plans proposed by Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore that we believe could affect the preservation of the Park's historic resources. In this situation, Preserve submits comments to Sleeping Bear Dunes management. We may post our comments here on our website so members are aware of, and are given the opportunity to, support our stance. In some cases, we will engage our members by sending an email encouraging their voice and may provide an e-petition for easy response. The following are issues that Preserve has responded to: Port Oneida Cultural Landscape Plan/EA 2010 The Park has begun plans for the Port Oneida Rural Historic District. The park is looking for input on how the landscape should be preserved while offering possible educational and recreational uses. Here are our comments submitted to the park in December 2010.review our comments [Adobe PDF] Public meetings will be held and draft alternatives offered. Stay posted for updates on these exciting plans Comments from 2005 review our comments [Adobe PDF] and offer some of your own. General Management Plan The Park's General Management Plan is complete. The Park did a nice job of balancing protection of natural and cultural resources while providing access and visitor services in the plan. www.nps.gov/slbe and click on General Management Plan/Wilderness. Review our comments on the Preferred Alternative presented in June 2008 [Adobe PDF] Wilderness Issue In 2004-2005, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore met with groups interested in information on the meaning of "wilderness"and its related effect in managing Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The controversy stems from the inclusion of some county roads and cultural resources within proposed wilderness boundaries. Some people would like these roads and resources to be removed from any Wilderness proposal. The resolution of this controversy is necessary for other planning efforts such as the General Management Plan and the Historic Properties Management Plan to move forward. For a more thorough explanation of the history of this issue, visit www.nps.gov/slbe/ and click on General Management Plan/Wilderness. Review Preserve'sresponse to wilderness in the 2002 GMP. [Adobe PDF]Currently, Wilderness issues are being dealt with concurrently with the GMP process. Homestead Environmental Assessment The Homestead Resort has had difficulty with the sewage disposal system it operates within an easement it owns over Park lands. The Park evaluated alternative locations to remedy the situation. Several private in-holders in the Park strongly opposed both the current and alternate locations. Preserve Historic Sleeping Bear also commented [Adobe PDF] due to the potential impact of the alternatives on the historic Thoreson farm. *Three reports have been written about the historic properties in the Park to provide background for these decisions. A Garden Apart: An Agricultural and Settlement History of Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Region Farming at the Water's Edge: An Assessment of Agricultural and Cultural Landscape Resources in the Port Oneida Rural Historic District at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan; Coming Through With Rye: An Historic Agricultural Landscape Study of South Manitou Island at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan. These reports are available at the Visitor Center and at the The Cottage Book Shop in Glen Arbor, MI. Comments for Port Oneida Cultural Landscape Plan/EA (adobe pdf) PHSB Response to Park's GMP Preferred Alternative (adobe pdf) Go Back :: Home Page |