NPS buys Miller Hill parcels

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is busting at its seams following its latest acquisition, two Miller Hill parcels that would have been seen for miles had they been developed.

The Lakeshore purchased the properties, which total 8.66 acres and required what is termed a “minor boundary adjustment,” for $685,000 from the Leelanau Conservancy.

That was a bargain for the federal government only made possible by the longgame approach taken by the Conservancy, which played a vital role in ensuring the parcels weren’t purchased by a third party with the intent on building up to four homes that would have been visible throughout the Glen Lake watershed.