Beaver Island Michigan

November 18, 2011

Dear Beaver Island residents and visitors,

Little Traverse Conservancy (LTC) recently received a grant from the Charlevoix County Community Foundation to help fund improvements to the Barney's Lake and Little Sand Bay Nature Preserves. Included in the project are: a parking area, new and improved trails, trail signage, improved boat storage and shoreline access, and a natural history interpretative sign for the Barneyâ??s Lake Preserve; and an interpretative sign and directional signs for the Little Sand Bay Preserve.

In mid-September, Jim Wojan constructed a six-car, gravel-surfaced parking lot on the East side of Barney's Lake Road. A photo of the new parking lot is attached. Jim also positioned boulders to control vehicle access on the West (lake) side of the road. Please note that we plan to reposition the boulders somewhat next Spring. They were placed before the fencing and storage racks, and we can see now that slightly different placement would make the site more attractive and user-friendly.

In late-September, eight volunteers helped LTC staff clear a previously flagged new trail loop on the eastern half of the Preserve, create a connector trail leading from the new parking lot, and install trail map signs. The volunteers came equipped with chain saws, a tractor with brush hog, and a hand-held power brush-cutter. In addition to clearing the new trail segments, junipers encroaching on pre-existing two-track roads were cut back. Trail maps with a "You Are Here" indication were placed at each of the 10 trail intersections as well as at the parking lot. The attached map shows the new and improved trail system, which totals 1.75 miles in length.

The Barneyâ??s Lake Preserve name sign was moved closer to the new parking area, and a new sign identifying the parking lot as the location of the Preserveâ??s trailhead was added to help guide preserve visitors. Four â??interior" boundary signs were installed where pre-existing two-tracks leave the Preserve, to help prevent trespass on private property.

Anne Fleming, LTC's Communication Coordinator, in consultation with Island residents and other experts, has drafted interpretative signs about the natural history of both the Barney's Lake and Little Sand Bay Preserves. We have contracted with Universal Sign Systems of Grand Rapids to construct the signs. Although the signs should be done soon, we will likely wait until Spring to install them. At that time we will also install several sandblasted wood directional signs for Little Sand Bay Preserve (to match the Preserve name sign), to help better guide visitors to the parking area and trailhead there.

As you probably know, Island residents and visitors have stored boats on the lake shore at the Barney's Lake Preserve for many years. Unfortunately, this has resulted in negative impacts to the fragile shoreline environment and was detracting from lake shore scenery. In an effort to protect resources yet provide safe and easy access for small boats, LTC staffers along with the help of four Island volunteers constructed storage racks in October and November. There is enough storage to accommodate 16 canoes, kayaks, etc. as well as about six larger rowboats in an area just back from the shoreline.

We are asking that after May 1, 2012, boat owners no longer their store boats on the shore of Barneyâ??s Lake, and that the storage racks be used instead. There should be plenty of room to accommodate the number of currently stored boats, plus more. Please contact LTC to make arrangements for free boat storage on the new storage racks (231-347-0991).

We also installed split rail fencing to control vehicular access to the lakeshore. The design for this was done in consultation with Tim McDonough, Beaver Island Fire Chief, in the hope that it will allow adequate fire/emergency access to the water, yet still function to control recreational traffic.

On related Beaver Island LTC Preserve matters:


â?¢ We continue to plan and collaborate with the Beaver Island Historical Society on options for preserving the historic old house on the Little Sand Bay Preserve.

â?¢ Beavers have once again set up housekeeping in the wrong spot at the Little Sand Bay Preserve, threatening to flood the trail and boardwalk. As such, we have no choice but to remove them, and plans for that are underway.

â?¢ Formal acquisition of a new 27-acre preserve on the North end of Beaver Island (within walking distance of St. James) has just been finalized. It will be known as the George and Althea Petritz Nature Preserve. It includes an access trail to the shore (located on Lake Drive just east of Maple Street), 500 feet of shoreline, extensive sand dunes, and great views of the Islands to the North

LTC is indebted to the many volunteers that helped with this project, and to the Charlevoix County Community Foundation for the funding to make it possible. It is our hope that these projects will lead to improved outdoor recreation and protection of natural resources on Beaver Island. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions on our Beaver Island nature preserves or their management.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Doug Fuller, Director of Stewardship
doug@landtrust.org
231-344-1009

Are the other documents, photos and maps, available anywhere?

Thanks for all the great work

They will be in the Beacon and NorthernIslander and also on BI News on the Net.

This is a link to the previous News on the 'Net story about the changes at Barney's Lake which is video and text:

http://beaverislandnews.com/LTC%20Barneys%20Changes.htm

There is also another story on News on the 'Net which includes this letter and some pictures as well as a link to a third posting of another story.

Joe Moore, editor
Beaver Island News on the 'Net

I, too, appreciate all the hard work of the volunteers. Barney's has been one of my prized rowing and fishing lakes, every year, for over thirty five years.
I wonder though, are we not taming this wild area a bit much, with interpretive signage and intersection signs on the trails, etc.

Doesn't all the "help" one gets from all this infrastucture build out make one feel as if they are just one more tourist, slogging along a trail that was cut and tamed a long time ago?..unlike the feeling I get now, as my heart jumps a beat as soon as I see the wildness of Barney's come to view after being gone off island for a year.
Yes, progress is good and all that , but doesnt anyone miss just seeing Barney's setting there as if it was the first time anyone came along and discovered its' natural beauty without being told ... You are now entering a beatiful natural area... this is how you should interpret it, please follow the carefully crafted signage that will instruct you on what you should be admiring...

Yes, John, some of us do miss seeing these places just as they are. Question well-asked...natural areas don't always need to be "fixed". But it seems that argument gets lost in the idea of progress, which is less and less questioned. When people grasp the value of simply leaving some things alone, it'll probably be because there are simply less people around.

I have received 4 PM's about my previous posting. All of them agreed in one version or another with my comments about the infrastructure build up out at Barney's Lake.
Unfortunately, they were all reluctant to "go public" as they felt they would be somehow labeled politically incorrect if they did not go along with what is going on at Barney's.

I was not trying to start an insurrection, merely expressing the views of one who historically actually spends a lot of time at the lake and maybe I am a bit curmudgeon. I assumed my opinion was in the minority and that was OK with me. Truly, no hard feelings.

I am perplexd, however, when I witness people who won't express their own opinions publically on this forum because they are concerned of being labeled "anti-social".
To three of those folks who contacted me.. "Grow a pair"
The fourth, well... he is anti-social and though spot on in his opinion, would be better served keeping it to himself

While I am in favor of leaving things alone. I also subscribe to the theory that "if it's not broken, then don't fix it."

I do, however, also believe in providing access to as much as possible for the handicapped individuals who live here as well as those who might visit here. I will certainly not point a finger at them to identify them, but if a wheel-chair bound individual wants to see Cornelius Swamp or any other part of the Barney's Lake Preserve, I say that we should makes changes so that (s)he are able to enjoy the things that we enjoy.

Making things accessible to these individuals is a positive, even if the environment needs to be changed slightly. Barneys Lake has always needed a parking area. Most summer days a trip to Barneys is in order a couple times a day just to view its beauty. Nothing about the view from the top of the hill has changed except the many canoes and boats are no longer visible from the top of the hill because they are hidden behind the trees. This has made this view even more beautiful.

I love to go to the lake to take pictures, to just sit and enjoy the quiet, and to wet a line once in a while. My biggest and near-record smallmouth bass came from Barneys Lake.

I love the lake and the Preserve, but I don't mind sharing it with those that can't otherwise see it.

Well then, speaking of the handicapped, will there be valet service for dragging a 100lb., 10-14 foot jon boat, up off the rack, down through the two trees and then muck it out through the mud until it can float?
I am not getting any younger and just dragging a boat by myself the few feet from where they are traditonally kept over and into the water was a bit of a chore... So, what do we do now?.. will the racks require heavy lifting up and out of them? Will we just drag them 50-75 feet across the parking lot over to the water? Will there be rocks or other sharp stuff to damage my boat on the ground as I drag my boat over to the water? Are they going to clear the runway, add soft soil or sand to facilitate the dragging? Will one person be able to put them back into the racks without assitance? Will I be fined or my boat confiscated if I am unable to put it properly back into the rack by myself?

Lots of questions, hope somebody thought this out for those of us who actually physically use the lake. I wonder if the folks who have given us this grand design have actually launched a boat by themslves or tried to drag a boat up the incline through the sand between the two trees at Barney's Lake??? If you have accomplished this, then you will understand my reluctance to be gleeful over what the Conservancy is doing here.
I believe it could actually decrease the boating activities on the lake, not enhance them. I would hope that is not the goal.

I sure dont want to end up in the wrong side of a trail like those poor beavers on Little Sand Bay who are going to be eliminated because of their audacity and natural inclination to build a dam on the wrong side of the Conservency's natural area trail......

If you are having this issue of moving a boat, you can call me, giving me a little notice as courtesy requires, and I'll meet you out there to help you move your boat. My guess is that it will not have to be moved back every time you use it for a few days at a time, but I could be wrong. I will offer to help move the boat. This offer is extended to any and all who have an issue with the boats being stored a few feet from the edge of the water.

I don't see that the mud issue is any different that it was before. If you are suggesting a boat launch area, I don't think that was ever in anyone's plan, but the mud and muck there hasn't changed and isn't going to change as far as I know.

I can't imagine that you have seen the boat storage area nor the canoe storage area by what you write. The boat storage area does not require moving the boat across the road. It is located on the left side of the old driveway. The canoe storage is on the right side of the driveway. These directions are given related to the front end of a vehicle pulled into the driveway.

You still have the ability to back a trailer into the driveway, but you cannot back all the way into the water between the two trees. This is a slight inconvenience for the small number of boats launched this way in the last few years. Most of these boats were too big to use on this lake anyway.

Take a look at the video if you're interested. It can be found at:
http://beaverislandnews.com/LTC%20Barneys%20Changes.htm

There are a couple of pictures that help see what it looks like now.




and




Beyond this, we must agree to disagree. Have a good Thanksgiving!

Joe,
You are most generous in being at my call for whenever I have a quick whim to run down to Barney's to catch the last hour or so of daylight to wet a line. (don't be late). But seriously, dragging the boats up the incline is going to be a real issue. If the boat rack is stacked like the canoe rack... then I want bottom bunk! Can I get a handicapped permit to beach store if I am unable to get a boat from the rack to launch by myself? If we are to promote B.I. as a retirement destination these are serious issues.
Perhaps Mr. Fuller should personally come over and drag a 12 footer up the incline and try to place it in an upper rack by himself, before he considers the issue settled.
(Learn by doing.. is the local university's motto here)

Plus, we have to make storage reservations?? What if it fills up? Do I make them for the entire summer, and then only use them for the month or so I am on island, in order to make sure my boat can "get in"? ( believe me, a lot of folks will be thinking this way)
What if someone has taken my reserved spot?
Who is going to enforce this matter? The valet?

Yes, we can agree to disagree, yet we will all still be encompassed by this drag on the Barney's Lake boat launch situation.
Again, I salute all the good work and intentions, I just wonder if the whole project was fully considered or perhaps, a bit over engineered.

Yes, have a Good Thanksgiving, too. Everyone.

I have had numerous calls and emails regarding this and must say as a descendant of "Barney" I am, too, disappointed. We are trying to sterilize something that is only taking us away from all of the things that made Beaver Island so attractive to the people who pay taxes to keep us local people afloat. I have long opposed taking any more land off the tax rolls and believe that we should have been expanding areas the state held into public parks and recreational areas, not private property, that was hardly if ever pursued. When land is taken off the tax rolls the "load" is redistributed amongst the remaining parcels!

My ancestors lived on that property, had families, raised animals and slaughtered them, had outhouses and garbage piles and barns and stone hedges and God knows what else. Now it is being held out as something nearly untouchable and honestly hard to take! Staying on the path reminds one of following the gates and cow fences at Disney, is this what we really want Beaver Island to become instead of a welcoming place with "open borders", I think not! Oh well, probably wrong on this one too but we are getting a little too sterile here, let's be more realistic! To those who contacted me, thanks, at least I know I am not alone and thanks!

I saw the canoe rack, It holds up to 16 canoes. The design seems a bit dangerous to me. I think that someone putting a canoe on the top rack could really get hurt. The row boat rack to the side is pretty far from the shore also and boats would have to be dragged along the ground apx 25 feet. I wonder if the Conservancy considered potential litigation in the design.

Here is another idea. What if we donated 4 canoes and two row boats to the site for all people to use. We make a small rack for paddles and oars. We could use the lumber there to create a small shoreline rack for the boats that would keep them neatly stored upside down and elevated off the ground right next to the water. I could see how someone in their later years or with a disability has the potential for injury with the new set up. It sure would make a much smaller footprint on the area and benefits all who wish to utilize the lake. Then personal boats would not be needed to be stored there at all. Thus reducing the clutter. Just a thought.. I would be more than happy to donate my tools and time to the effort, Oh! and a Canoe and paddles.

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Though it is probably too late to "save" Barney's Lake, I would hope this thread will inspire the next property owner who wants to donate to the Conservancy to put in some conditions on what they feel is naturalized development.
What may look great on paper over on the mainland, here, the issues of public use and general appreciation can be quite different.
IMHO
Though the use of signage (ie:Keep Out/ No Tresspassing) by private property owners has, unfortunately, increased over the last thirty years, the island for the most part, is a joy to traverse, as it is mostly uncluttered by signs of human activity.(I would encourage all property owners to consider using minimal signage when filling the need to stake out their territory)
What some see as progress, such as the new blue road signs that now mark almost every road, I see others missing out on the adventure of having to stop in the middle of the road, get out the map, locate a landmark or stop a seldom seen passing car (you meet the nicest people that way) and enjoy the experience of "geting a little lost" on the island.
THAT is a big lure of this island, not an over signed, well marked, fully drained, clipped and raked trail. It was exciting as a newbie to wonder where I was, and try to find a road back to the water's edge. I was in the island's domain and needed to adapt to it... not visa versa.
But like you Richie, I too, am most likely in the minority, as many believe that only by making the island completely user friendly, to 21st century standards, are we to bring economic vitality to the island.
To me, it is the lack of all the civilized improvements that are the true beauty to be appreciated here and keep me returning every year, spending my recreation money and paying my taxes.

It is better to have debated and not settled an issue, than to have settled an issue, without a debate......

It greatly saddens me that so many people seem to think that Barney's Lake as well as the other lakes and natural beauty around the island need to be 'fixed' or have something added to it. As you said, they have been popular for over 35 years, and everyone has enjoyed it just fine without all the added parking lot and such. Why can't we just leave nature to its own natural beauty? Why do you we always have to think of the tourists and their comfort rather than the natural lives and resources of this island? It was here first as the islanders were. Anyone who comes to the lake and wants to use it should adapt to the area, not the other way around.