News Updates | New Community Vision

NCV Board receives award from the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council

4 min read

Press release from New Community Vision

Dated: May 19th 2025

The all-volunteer board of New Community Vision (NCV) is the proud recipient of the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council (NMEAC)’s Environmentalist of the Year: Grass Roots Group award.

The award recognizes NCV’s dedicated volunteer efforts to secure the acquisition and permanent preservation of land located between Omena and Northport and bordering Grand Traverse Bay in Leelanau.

The award was announced May 16th at the 36th Annual Environmentalist of the Year Celebration of NMEAC, a Traverse City based non-profit dedicated to preserving our natural environment through citizen action and environmental education for over 40 years.

In announcing the award, NMEAC praised NCV for its partnership with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) and the broader community of Leelanau to ensure the acquisition and preservation of a critical 187-acres portion of the former Timber Shores campground property through grassroots fundraising and organizing efforts. These efforts included supporting the successful application of the GTB for a multi-milliondollar federal grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) as well as NCV raising over $3.5 million in support from 300 local community groups, foundations and private individuals to facilitate the outright purchase and transfer of the property. This was successfully concluded in late December 2024. The land will remain a nature preserve with public access in perpetuity.

NCV’s partnership with the GTB made possible the return of this historic property to the Tribe as part of their ancestral homeland. The land is called Mashkiigaki (Mashkeeg-aki) meaning the “place of the medicines”. Mashkiigaki includes ecologically critical coastal wetlands, 1,800 feet of shoreline and woodlands.

NCV Vice President Beth Verhey and NCV board member Andy Thomas received the award on behalf of the entire NCV board. “Our beginning was five people in Northport mobilizing together to forge a positive future for about 200 acres that had been through contentious development threats for decades,” said Verhey. “We came together to find a way to stop the cycle of contention [about this property] and forge a positive future. And that positive future today is Mashkiigaki, returning ancestral land to the tribe.”

NMEAC also awarded the GTB two separate prizes, including one recognizing Sandra Witherspoon, Council Chairwoman of the GTB as Environmentalist of the Year: Public Service or Public Office. NMEAC noted that Mashkiigaki being returned to the Tribe through the receipt of the NOAA grant and the efforts of NCV in advocacy and fundraising is part of continued momentum behind the nationwide “Land Back” conservation movement and should as such “be a point of pride for the whole Leelanau community.”

NCV President John Sentell said: “This recognition by NMEAC is very special to our board and we are very appreciative. The successful preservation of Mashkiigaki is proof-positive of what can be accomplished when we pull together to do the right thing for nature and people. This conservation success story resonates deeply in so many ways. Connecting communities through the power of nature is meaningful beyond measure.”

Left to right: Madeline Baroli (NMEAC board member), Barbara Stamiris (NMEAC board recording secretary), Beth Verhey (NCV vice president), John Nelson (NMEAC board member), Andy Thomas (NCV board member).

Notes to editors:

New Community Vision (NCV) was launched as a 501(c)3 non-profit in 2023 with a vision to re-think how the former Timber Shores property located between Omena and Northport in Leelanau could best benefit both current and future generations. The all-volunteer Board focused on acquiring the property in order to preserve the majority of the 200-plus acres - including 1,800 feet of valued lakeshore - as a public nature preserve for the community while setting aside nearly 25 acres in the upland sections of the property with the least conservation value to address some of the housing issues faced in the Township. The majority of the property (187 acres) was successfully purchased and transferred to the GTB Land Trust in late December 2024 where it will remain a nature preserve with public access in perpetuity. The Board of NCV is: John Sentell, president; Beth Verhey, vice president; Dale Lersch, treasurer; Kate Bulkley, secretary; and Andy Thomas, board member. For more information about NCV, see our website: https://www.newcommunityvision.org

The former Timbers Shore’s property is part of the ancestral homeland of the GTB; it is called Mashkiigaki (Mashkeeg-aki) and is historically, culturally and spiritually significant to the GTB. Mashkiigaki means the ‘place of the medicines’ and represents the importance of these wetlands as a traditionally significant location for hunting, fishing, gathering, and collecting medicines. Going forward, Mashkiigaki will be a nature preserve that is permanently preserved and owned by the GTB Land Trust, to be stewarded by a multigenerational group of tribal elders, youth and the GTB’s Natural Resources Department and with access in specified areas for low-impact walking, birding and hiking. For more information about the GTB see their website: https://www.gtbindians.org

The Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council (NMEAC) is dedicated to preserving our natural environment through citizen action and education. Founded in 1980, it is the oldest grassroots environmental organization in the Grand Traverse region. For more about NMEAC see their website: https://www.nmeac.org

NCV

Leelanau Enterprise: New Community Vision Board receives award

Leelanau Ticker: New Community Vision, Grand Traverse Band Earn 'Environmentalist Of The Year' Honors

NCV Board receives award from the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council