by U.S. Representative Dave Camp

While I may have come of age during the 1960s and 1970s (yes, I have the old photos with long hair to prove it), I was never one for protests. But that was, in a way, exactly what Rep. Pete Hoekstra, then-Lt. Governor Dick Posthumus, some 200 local residents and I did nearly four years ago on the banks of the Platte River.

At that time, the General Management Plan for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore was way off track. Access to the beaches was going to be limited, Coho salmon removed from the Platte and deer would be eliminated from North Manitou Island. Amazingly, this was recommended with little public input. No wonder a mob fit for a Frankenstein movie was forming.

That is when lawmakers like me stepped in, talked with the Department of the Interior and decided to cool off the situation. As much as a management plan was (and is) needed, we were not about to rush into a policy that would take an act of Congress to alter. The park and our access to it are far too important.

We all needed to step back, re-evaluate the situation and begin anew. That is what we did for nearly three years. Over the last year the process for determining a general management plan for the park has restarted and progressed with a fair amount of consensus and little public outrage – an amazing feat.

That is due in large part to the steady, consistent and transparent leadership of Superintendent Dusty Schultz. I would like to take this moment to thank her publicly for all of her hard work and dedication to Sleeping Bear and to those of us who treasure our access to this unique track of America’s great outdoors. Dusty was thrown into the middle of this fiasco the last time around, and courageously thought it was salvageable. It was – I think it just took a little longer than she expected.

With much patience and repetition she has explained the true meaning of designating certain areas as “wilderness” (though it still needs explaining from time to time), and with equal calm she has come to understand and appreciate the public’s demand for park access – by motorized and non-motorized means - as well as the need to preserve and promote our vast outdoor recreation activities.

To paraphrase President Theodore Roosevelt, it is my sincere belief that the park system he founded is there to be used, but not abused; it is not to be cordoned off. The options for our park laid out in Newsletter #4 are reasonable and straightforward, and for the most part meet the Roosevelt test.

I continue to have concerns over placing too much of the park in the most restrictive “wilderness” category. However, I am confident the options before us can ensure both the long term health and vitality of Sleeping Bear as well as the ability for those living in the areas and the hundreds of thousands of visitors we host every year to experience the park and its splendor.

The old adage of “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” is fitting for the General Management Plan process. Where we failed in our last attempt, I think this time, so far, we have in large part succeeded.

Here’s hoping for a good ending.

By U.S. Rep. Dave Camp
4th Congressional District