Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/parks/page/3/)
State support for Wisconsin’s state parks has slid steadily. General purpose revenue covered 50 percent of their operations in the late 1990s, but only 21 percent today.
Two of Wisconsin’s most popular state parks – Devil’s Lake and Peninsula – are cash cows that help support dozens of money-losing parks and recreation areas, state figures show.
After the completion of a two-year project this month, 30 percent of campsites in Wisconsin state parks will be electrified. Electric sites are growing in popularity, according to park rangers.
Nearshore health is a reflection of positive land use.
The Dust Bowl poses important questions and National Parks provide important answers for the Great Lakes region.
If it’s a beauty pageant, then Lake Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes is certainly the crowd favorite. Good Morning America voters recently named it one of the most beautiful places in the country. And its 35 miles of sandy beaches and crystal waters earned it a top spot on a beach expert’s best Great Lakes beaches in July. Host Josh Elliott visited Lake Michigan’s best-kept secret and called the dunes “stunning monuments to the passage of time.” They formed when ice sheets melted and formed glacial lakes, pushing rock debris to the shoreline. Now covered in sand, the dunes have captured national attention for their beauty; they are even celebrity chef Mario Batali’s favorite vacation spot.
Michigan leads the country by a landslide in juice company Odwalla’s Plant a Tree campaign. This is the third year of the program that asks people to vote for a state. With each vote, Odwalla donates $1 to plant a tree in one of that state’s parks. For the past two years, Michigan has come out first. While Michigan only represents 14 percent of the land in the Great Lakes region, it has a whopping 60 percent of votes, with 13,036 as of Wednesday.
By Thea Hassan
Michigan residents renewing their car registration can now simply check “yes” for an annual unlimited pass for state parks and boat launches. Michigan is only the second state to develop this type of park payment plan. Montana is the other. Since the program began last October, almost 20 percent of renewing drivers chose to participate. The new program replaces the previous $24 annual passes sold at park offices.
Michigan will hire 1,200 workers for 98 state parks and recreation areas this summer. The summertime experience can turn into a career.
Competition for the slots is heating up because of the poor economy.
By Caitlin Costello
Nov. 27, 2009
LANSING, Mich. – The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Salvation Army’s Coats for Kids program are helping families bundle up and enjoy Michigan’s outdoors. Coats for Kids encourages the public to bring gently used coats to one of 16 state parks on Saturday, Dec. 5 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. In return, donors will receive free entrance to the park for the day.
(MI) Detroit Free Press – This park is the perfect way to honor the former governor, who was devoted to protecting Michigan’s natural resources and to ensuring public access to them — at the same time championing the state’s cities, especially Detroit; hence his “odd couple” relationship, as he called it, with Coleman Young. Milliken said he was far happier to have a park named after him than a building somewhere in Lansing. But he was at his best discussing how bad various kinds of divisiveness have been for Michigan and for metro Detroit. More