The Board of Directors of the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes recently voted to fund a loon and trumpeter swan nesting platform project within the National Lakeshore.

The project was selected from the national park’s 2008 “wish list” for projects which are needed but are not funded by the federal government.

A check for $350 was sent to the park to allow park staff to build five loon and three swan nesting platforms on several lakes which a 2007 survey revealed have good feeding habitat but lack good nesting habitat due to historic logging and human activity. Common Loons have been severely hit by the effects of Type E botulism in the area, and nesting success will become more critical in future years, according to a news release from the Friends group.

The Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes is a non-profit organization which since 1994 has sought to help preserve and restore the natural, cultural, historical and recreational resources of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Its website is located at friendsofsleepingbear.org.