Action Alert and Gull Harbor Update
(Posted on behalf of Erin McDonough)
Hello Beaver Island,
I wanted to make sure everyone was aware of recent conversations at the St. James Township Board around Gull Harbor Natural Area. For clarification, Gull Harbor is owned in part by the St. James Township and in part by the Little Traverse Conservancy. I'm going to give a brief summary of actions and conversations starting at the June 22, 2026 Special Meeting of St. James Township.
A) At the June 22, 2026 Special Meeting of the St.James Township, Trustees voted to place a person on a committee called the SNP/ GHNA Management Plan Committee. This committee is supposed to work with the Little Traverse Conservancy on a Joint Management Plan for the two properties. As a private organization, the Little Traverse Conservancy is under no obligation to discuss its management plans with the public. The Township, on the other hand as elected officials, should be sharing and engaging the public in its conversations and decisions. There are no formal bylaws that govern what the Township representative to this committee can do or how the information on the proposals for the management plan will come before the public for consideration. (Can the township board member communicate to EGLE, other state entities, the County Road Commission, etc on behalf of the Township)? Conflicts of interest are important to publicly disclose here if someone owns property adjacent to the Township property. There is strength to a committee which is more diverse than an adjacent property owner because then the full interests of the community can be taken into account.
At the regularly scheduled July 8, 2026 St. James Township Meeting I raised the need for this transparency and volunteered to draft bylaws for the Committee. A draft for consideration was sent to the Township Supervisory and Trustees on July 12, 2026. (See attached). At this meeting, the Township Supervisor was asked about the communications from EGLE on road closure and stated that the letter from EGLE had come to the Charlevoix County Road Commission that day (July .C) Your State Representative Parker Fairbairn had his office hours on Beaver Island the morning of July 13, 2026. He has been a huge help and supporter of the community keeping this historic road open. Senator DaMoose has as well. Rep. Fairbairn recommended that community members make sure decision-makers hear that the community wants the traditional motorized road kept open.
D) Another Special St. James Township Board Meeting was held for July 13, 2026. At this meeting many members from the community showed up and asked for an update on Gull Harbor. One specific question that was asked was whether the Township Board supported maintaining the EXISTING HISTORIC ROAD ACCESS or whether they considered access to be a parking lot and trails. Some individual Trustees spoke in favor of the existing motorized road access. A community member asked for the Township Board to draft and pass a formal resolution stating that they (the St. James Township Board of Trustees) support keeping the historic road open for motorized access as it has been for the last 87 years. No details of the EGLE letter were provided. The Township Supervisor said the letter was being reviewed by the Township attorney.
As Rep. Fairbairn said during his office hours, more communication needs to come from the local community that the goal is to keep the traditional motorized access to the road open. Everyone should act NOW and send emails to the County Road Commission, EGLE and cc your Township Trustees and local legislators.
ACTIONS to take TODAY:
1) Call on the St. James Township Board of Trustees to hold a special meeting before the end of July and pass a resolution supporting keeping the historic, motorized road around Gull Harbor open. If they say they can't do it, well, I'm seeing approximately 8 special meetings that took place since April so it CAN and SHOULD be done. They should also pass bylaws around the SNP/ GHNA Management Committee to ensure public transparency and engagement in ALL conversations taking place around Gull Harbor. Transparency is so important to this issue and all others impacting Beaver Island.
2) Don't wait for the Township to act. Send an email TODAY to the Charlevoix County Road Commission. Charlevoix County Road Commission meets on July 27 so you need to send your letter before then. Don't wait. CC EGLE, St. James Township Trustees, Parker Fairbairn's office and Senator DaMoose's office. All the emails are below so you can cut and paste. Just say "This road has been open for 87 years. Keep it open exactly the way it is. A trail system and parking lot are not what we want - we want the historic road access." If you have personal stories, share them! Make sure to include your Beaver Island address. If you don't have email or just need help sending your letter, just respond to this post and I can stop by and pick up your written letter. I'll scan it for you and submit it. It just needs to have your name and address on it.
Send your email to:
clerk@chxroads.org
district5@charlevoixcounty.org
EGLE-Assist@michigan.gov
supervisor.stjamestwp.bi@gmail.com
clerk.stjamestwp.bi@gmail.com
stjamestwp.treas.bi@hotmail.com,
cole.stjamestwp.bi@gmail.com
peiranoc.stjamestwp.bi@gmail.com
Senjdamoose@senate.michigan.gov
parkerfairbairn@house.mi.gov
3) Show up at every St. James Township Meeting and ask about this issue and demand transparency. Hopefully I'm looking in the wrong place, but I can't find any meeting minutes after March 25, 2026.
Sincerely,
Erin McDonough