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Forest biologist and botanist Liana May of  Borealis Consulting toured the lakeshore  property targeted for acquisition and protection with NCV Vice President Beth Linnea Verhey, along with a review of  available ecological historical data on this environmentally-rich area of Leelanau.

 

This first blogpost on her report focuses on the wetlands on the property. May found that the existing wetland complexes on the property were historically part of the interdunal wetland, wood dune and swale complex and ‘rich conifer swamp’ that naturally characterize this part of the Leelanau Peninsula.

 

The former Timber Shores property currently has several kinds of wetland habitats, including two swamp varieties and an emergent marsh. There are also two fresh water creeks that run through the property and into Grand Traverse Bay. 





Ennis Creek is the larger of the two creeks flowing across the property, flowing through the northern third of the parcel. A smaller, unnamed creek runs from Ennis Creek south and then east into Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan. Not only do these creeks support important marsh and wetland flora and fauna, but Ennis Creek’s high-quality aquatic habit supports native brook trout. 

 

Part of what makes these valuable wetlands possible is a dune and swale complex that covers nearly two-thirds of the property. Past man-made disturbances have “disconnected” some of the previously inter-connected wetland complex. The good news is that these previously filled and disturbed areas can be restored, to once again contribute to cleaner water flowing into the bay. 


 



 

The once prominent Rich Conifer Swamp is largely gone from the interior of the parcel. However, high-quality remnant parcels have survived along that portion of Ennis Creek that runs along the northern portion of the property and also across approximately 6.5 acres in the southeast corner of the property that was not used for the former campground facilities and parking. This rich conifer swamp area near the 1,800 feet of shoreline on Grand Traverse Bay is prime for successful restoration. 

 



The Hardwood-Conifer Swamp is the largest vegetation type identified on the parcel.  Swales that once defined the property were filled and altered so that the linear formations are now small, unconnected wetland depressions between the former, gravel-fill campground pads. 


Not surprisingly, these swales are vegetated with early successional aspen (Populus tremuloides), balsam poplar (P. balsamifera), white ash (Fraxinus americana), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), American basswood (Tilia americana), northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis), willows (Salix spp.) and riverbank grape (Vitis riparia). Herbaceous vegetation includes bulrushes (Scirpus atrovirens, S. cyperinus), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis), and sedges and grasses. 

 

In sum, this unique property boasts a coastal landscape defined by sand and gravel beaches, interdunal wetlands, wooded dune and swale complexes and the remnants of a rich conifer swamp that are all ranked as vulnerable in the state of Michigan, with interdunal wetlands ranked as imperiled habitat. Such a special landscape is what helps to define Leelanau and protect our watershed, and it is deserving of conservation, restoration and careful stewardship. 

 

Globally, and in Michigan, wetlands are decreasing. Wetlands are critical in supporting coastal resiliency, water quality, birds, fish habitats, and plants. An important part of developing our region sustainably is recognizing the environmental and economic value of preserving wetlands. 

 

If you’d like to help protect the property, please consider supporting NCV. 


NCV appreciates Liana May’s scientific study on the property.  In the next blogpost, we look into the plants she observed that make this parcel so special. 


Who is Borealis Consulting? Borealis works for many conservation groups including federal and state agencies, municipalities and non-profits, including The Leelanau Conservancy.  Owner-operator Liana May does natural resource management planning, floristic inventories and quality assessments, wetland delineations, threatened and endangered species surveys, invasive species surveys and management and is certified to write Michigan Forest Stewardship Plans, NRCS Fish and Wildlife Conservation Activity Plans, and NRCS Forestry Plans. For more see  Borealis Consulting.




Updated: Jun 19, 2024

Warm greetings as we all get ready for spring!  


New Community Vision (NCV) continues to make exciting progress to acquire, preserve and restore the former Timber Shores property.  In April we also recognize Earth Month, a time where people around the world reflect on our relationship with nature and ways we can help protect this special corner of the planet where we live. So, over the next few weeks we will be sharing highlights with you from the valuable environmental investigation work conducted at the Timber Shores property last summer and fall. 

 

The findings from these environmental investigations supported a federal grant application and culminated in partnership with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa (GTB), for whom the former Timber Shores property holds deep ecological and cultural significance.  In fact, historical documents from the early 1800’s refer to the area as Mashiigaki, and translations emphasize the term’s reference to the wetlands, creek, shoreline and these interconnected ecosystems.

 

Investigations also illuminated  the special environmental impact of the property within the EPA-approved Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Plan, which designates the shoreline, creek riparian corridors, and wetlands as a “Special Critical Area”.  

 

One of the most valuable inputs of our environmental studies was a Natural Communities Mapping by a forest biologist and botanist, Liana May of  Borealis Consulting.  The findings of her report will be presented in three separate blog posts/reports in emails to you and on our website.  As you will see, her assessment of the Timber Shores property indicates incredible and varied habitats and its potential for restoration, finding the property to be of “significant conservation value, particularly for protections and restoration of Great Lakes shoreline communities.”

 

Throughout the blog posts, the landscape’s historical and current natural communities are outlined as well as an abbreviated list of native plant species.  The first blogpost focuses on the wetlands on the property.


Meakalia Previch-Liu

April 4, 2024


Timber Shores Family RV Camping & Beach Resort received a groundwater discharge permit on March 26 from Michigan’s department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). Monday, the permit officially went into effect, clearing another small step in a lengthy development process.


Good through April 1, 2029, this permit essentially gives authorization to discharge approximately 38,688 gallons per day of treated sanitary sewage to the groundwaters at the Timber Shores property off N West-Bay Shore Drive in Leelanau Township. Timber Shores would utilize a moving bed biofilm reactor that discharges to rapid infiltration basins.


Development plans for the campground and sewer in the last few years have been contentious among county residents and local government officials, resulting in application delays and zoning changes along the way.


The permit is based on an original application submitted in November of 2022 and amended through February 14, 2023. However, a final decision was made after a draft permit was public notice from July 18 through August 17 last year, during which EGLE received many comments from residents requesting a public hearing.


The public hearing, which garnered much input from locals of Leelanau Township, was held on Nov. 7. Neighbors of the property in attendance at the virtual public hearing were completely opposed to the idea of a discharge permit being issued, and urged EGLE not to do so.


In addition to the permit being granted, RVTS Acquisitions and NM Investment Co. owner Fred Gordon, who first bought the Timber Shores property in 2007, passed away in early March. Timber Shores developer/ representative Rick Cavenaugh said due to Gordon’s passing, he is working with his estate and partners that own the property to help get things in order and to ultimately find a long-term solution for the 200-plus acreage. For now though, the project is on hold.


“We’re working on getting some things cleaned up. I had been working with Fred for about three years on the development process,” Cavenaugh said. “Last year, we received the EGLE/Army Corps wetlands permit for the property — there’s not a lot, but there’s a few acres of wetlands… The two things that the township wanted to have before we could ever submit for a new site plan were the wetlands and groundwater permit issued, so what we’ve been doing in the background is getting those prepared.”

Cavenaugh explained they pursued a permit to operate its own wastewater treatment system because the Northport Wastewater Treatment Plant does not have the capacity to handle additional wastewater flow.


“It’s (the permit) the first step before you can design a package plant on a site to handle whatever the demands are,” he said. “So the discharge permit, coupled with the wetlands permit, gives us the two unknowns from EGLE and the government before we could proceed with any kind of site planning… It’s one of the next steps that we can take, but it’s not imminent.”


After the groundwater permit application was submitted, Cavenaugh said that Gordon signed an exclusive option agreement in 2023 with the local nonprofit, New Community Vision (NCV), that has been working to raise enough funds to buy the 213 acres of land. The option is still valid and in place, Cavenaugh added, and he is open to continuing working with NCV in the months ahead.


“The option agreement expires in June, but there’s always negotiations,” Gordon said. “... I know they (NCV) are very interested in moving forward, so we will continue to work on that agreement, and we will continue to decide if and when it makes sense for us to submit a site plan approval as a backup, or an alternative use if the land doesn’t sell.”


According to NCV, the permit approval does not alter its urgent fundraising appeal to preserve the property. The group “remains fully-focused on the outright purchase of the former Timber Shores property with a vision that will ensure its permanent protection, with the majority of critical lakeshore and open space set aside as a nature preserve.” NCV added that this is an alternate vision for a historic property “that the entire community can embrace.”


Additionally, NCV recently negotiated an amendment to its exclusive purchase option that extends its right to buy the entire property until the end of September 2024, allowing for more time to fundraise.


Read article here.


Special thanks to the Leelanau Enterprise for allowing us to share this article with you.


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