As a child, the Sleeping Bear Dunes was always a special place to visit.  I recall my parents taking my sister and I there a number of times on family camping trips and it was always a thrill.  Miles upon miles of sand bordered by the beautiful, deep-blue water of Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is one of Michigan's most popular destinations for both tourists and state residents alike.  Climbing these majestic hills of sand is always a challenge and watching the sun set on Lake Michigan is always a perfect way to end the day.  Just off shore lies North Manitou and South Manitou Islands.  I've backpacked North Manitou every year for the past decade and it's truly one of my favorite places to spend a long weekend.  Fairly easy hiking combined with solitude and that incredible lake makes for a wonderful trip.  Just last week, officials with the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore approved a new management plan for the park.  The following article is from the January 15th edition of the Traverse City Record Eagle.....

EMPIRE -- A new park plan recommends designating nearly half of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as protected wilderness.

The proposal is part of the park's general management plan, wilderness study and environmental impact statement. Park Superintendent Dusty Shultz signed the document this month.

"We have a great plan that's going to provide for the recreation, but still preserve and protect those very special values and the natural and cultural resources that we're charged with protecting here," Shultz said.

The park last approved a management plan in 1979. Officials attempted to create another one in 2002, but it was met with strong public resistance. That document recommended removing salmon from the Platte River and closing expanses of county roads inside the park.

Park officials spent nearly three years crafting the latest plan and held almost 100 public meetings.

The plan's preferred alternative lays out 32,100 acres, about 45 percent of the park, as wilderness. No developed county roads are included in the proposed wilderness area.

It's about 1,200 acres larger than what park officials had already been managing as wilderness since 1981, Shultz said.

Congress must approve the wilderness proposal, a designation that prevents future development and provides permanent protection of the land in its natural condition.

Edward McIntosh has fought the park's new management plan for years, and is concerned with restrictions that come with the wilderness label.

McIntosh, president of the Benzie Fishery Coalition, contends too much of Benzie County's portion of the park is set aside as wilderness.

"This amount of wilderness management in our county will discourage visitors and they'll go to Leelanau County instead," he said. "I believe it will have a negative impact on tourism and businesses that thrive on the million visitors coming to our area each year."

Roland Drayson helps maintain trails throughout the park as a board member of Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes. He views the wilderness recommendation as protection for the park's natural features.

"Wilderness doesn't mean you can't have access at all," Drayson said. "Some people initially had a misconception of what it was. It is open to the public."

Park changes

The new general management plan for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore specifies several possible changes, including:

-- New multiuse trail from the Leelanau and Benzie County line north toward Good Harbor Beach

-- No motorized boats on North Bar Lake

-- Permission for electric motors on Bass, Tucker and Otter lakes

-- Removal of Valley View campground off M-22

-- Upgrade to the Glen Lake picnic area

-- Upgrade or relocation of the Crystal River

-- New designated campgrounds on North Manitou Island

-- Permission for occasional ferry service for day trips to North Manitou Island