Segment 9: Finding Another Way

Guest Opinion

By Barbara Stamiris | Oct. 26, 2024

As a daily biker, TART Trails enrich my life, as they do for many. A year ago, I could not have imagined opposing the extension of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. I love TART Trails, but when I learned that thousands of trees had to be cut for 4 more miles of biking, I realized that I love trees more.

The need to cut thousands of mature trees and the possibility of erecting retaining walls for dunes and building boardwalks over wetlands for the Segment 9 extension was not made public until 2024. Had this information been shared by the National Park in 2009 when it approved the route, concerns would have been raised then. The Borealis Survey counted 7,268 trees to be cut (3,010 being saplings). The Mansfield Engineering Report explains how the 2009 Environmental Analysis was erroneous. These scientific studies were funded privately.

The key question is, why choose the most sensitive route through the steepest dunes and rare wetlands when harmless routes are available? We need to go back 20 years to understand why. TART Trails wanted a trail through the National Park which could later be extended beyond the park into an M-22 loop. A committee of stakeholders was formed (which should have included the Tribes), and the Heritage Trail was initiated. TART became the National Park’s fundraising partner to cover costs beyond the 70 percent from federal funds. The first 22 miles, from Empire to Bohemian Road were completed in 2019 and have been enjoyed by many.

It’s the last 4 miles that are controversial. This final segment could cost more than the first 22 miles combined due to its greater sensitivity and difficulty—almost $4 million per mile. In August the Cleveland Township Board discussed concerns about its cost and why Bohemian Road (where the trail currently ends) wasn’t chosen. At the end of the meeting, a biker from Los Angeles described the day he turned down Bohemian Road and was stunned at the vista of Lake Michigan ahead. He went barefoot in the sand and returned to his unlocked bike—still there! He reminded us how lucky we are to have this and thanked the board for their generational wisdom in seeking to preserve it.

Bohemian Road is one of several easy routes overlooked in choosing to reach the park‘s northern boundary at Good Harbor Trail and M-22 for TART. The shorter Bohemian Road route would spare a pristine ecosystem, save money, and offer a spectacular biking experience, but it doesn’t meet TART’s goal of connectivity. The Good Harbor Trail destination, 4 miles further north, has an already overcrowded parking lot that will become a trailhead for bikers, creating problems for the park.

TART asks a lot for its dream of a M-22 trail network. The National Park is asked to place recreation ahead of preservation and to sacrifice an ecosystem. Yet lacking permission or funding to extend its trails beyond the park, TART’s dream may never happen. The park is asked to destroy an ecosystem before there is a reason.

The National Park was formed in 1970 to preserve these rare dunes. Its mission to protect nature is at odds with TART’s mission to connect trails. Since both missions have merit, a difficult choice must be made. TART can find safer ways to connect its trails, but the park’s mission is lost when trees, dunes, and wetlands are destroyed.

TART defends the Segment 9 choice saying this route will make nature accessible and that the trees to be cut are mostly saplings, which need thinning anyway. TART Trails has done much good in northern Michigan, but these 4 miles do more harm than good, as many now realize.

Over 1,600 petitioners on Sleepingbearnaturally.com/petition seek to halt Segment 9. The National Park Conservation Association opposed the extension in April. The Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council sought a new Environmental Analysis in June. In August, the Grand Traverse Band opposed the trail “based on environmental concerns and treaty rights.” Then in September, Cleveland Township voted unanimously to rescind its prior approval. Reporters took note and statewide headlines declared “Opposition grows to Sleeping Bear trail expansion” (The Detroit News).

The climate crisis has revealed the value of nature, which the Tribes have always understood. Humans are a part of, not above, nature, so protecting nature will protect us all. Hopefully the ongoing consultation between the park and the Tribes will save the ecosystem at stake to honor tribal rights and the stewardship role of the National Park.

The costs of Segment 9 outweigh the benefits to the Tribes, the National Park, and the public, not to mention the rights of nature. Only TART stands to benefit, and even that’s uncertain. Irreversible harm should not occur today when TART can find another way tomorrow. And I believe they will.

Barbara Stamiris is an environmental activist living in Traverse City.