Former Timber Shores property acquired by tribe, local nonprofit
By Meakalia Previch-liu on Tuesday, December 31, 2024
After a two-year long fundraising effort to preserve the former Timber Shores campground in Leelanau Township, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) and local nonprofit New Community Vision (NCV) have officially closed on the acquisition of the property.
According to the warranty deeds signed on Dec. 20, the GTB Land Trust will receive approximately 188-plus acres of land, including 1,800 feet of shoreline, while NCV will receive a corner parcel of 25 acres along M-22 to be used for attainable housing. With the acquisition now complete and $10 million purchase price met, the 214-acre lakeshore property will be permanently protected and preserved for years to come. Development plans for the campground and sewer over the years have been contentious among county residents and local government officials, resulting in application delays and zoning changes along the way. However, since an exclusive purchase option was negotiated in early 2023, NCV has been actively working not only to raise enough money, but to build awareness about the land’s vulnerable ecosystems and the history with the tribe that dates back hundreds of years.
Following an agreement to partner with NCV, the GTB applied for a federal grant in November 2023 from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In July, it was announced that the tribe was allotted $6.5 million from the NOAA grant specifically for the property acquisition. The NOAA grant award was dependent upon NCV raising $3.5 million in matching funds from private donors and foundations “to achieve the property purchase price of $10 million and formally exercise NCV’s purchase option in November 2024.” The funds will allow GTB to preserve and restore coastal habitat on “Mashkiigaki,” a parcel of sacred ancestral land along West Grand Traverse Bay.
Tribal attorney Bill Rastetter said the preservation would not have occurred if GTB’s Natural Resource Department had not “stepped up” to apply for the NOAA grant when it became clear by August 2023 that NCV was “woefully short (barely 10%) of its $10 million fundraising goal.”
Although many know of the land as being where Timber Shores once stood, it is historically, culturally and spiritually significant to the GTB. The property known as Mashkiigaki in Anishinaabemowin means “the place of the medicines,” and is located between two historic Anishaabeg villages: Wakazoo (Northport) and Ahgosatown. The land represents the importance of the wetlands as a traditionally significant location for hunting, fishing, gathering, and collecting medicines.
According to the GTB, the U.S. government brought a treaty to the tribe in 1855 asking that the remaining third of what is now Michigan be ceded to the U.S. government. When this treaty was signed, a reserve was established that included most of Leelanau County, including the land of where the Timber Shores property now is, and a large tract of land in Antrim County. The treaty was broken many times following this by the federal government, with much of the land being illegally taken from the tribe and its people.
While the 188-plus acres does not equate to what the tribe lost, it is a significant gain for the GTB and its future as stewards of the land. The successful property acquisition gives the GTB the opportunity to regain land once removed from their ownership and care, and will remain open to the public for education and/or recreational use in designated areas. Public access to the property will be determined through “tribal-led visioning sessions, ensuring that all approved activities are determined and supported by the ancestral stewards of the land, the GTB community…” GTB also has preliminary plans outlined in the federal NOAA grant award to remove debris from the former campground and marina, restore cobble substrate along the shoreline, and revegetate parts of the property with native plants.
“Working in concert with NCV and extensive involvement from the community, GTB will protect this rare parcel and its unique inventory of natural features that are critical to productive and sustainable fisheries,” reads a statement from the NOAA grant, Restoration, Engagement, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: An Indigenous Approach to Comprehensive Resiliency (RETEK). “Through RETEK, GTB citizens and the non-Native community will come together to preserve land, restore ecosystems, utilize TEK, and prepare for climate hazards to come…” A separate 25 acres of land on the northwest side of the property will be owned by NCV to pursue attainable housing in Leelanau. Along with community input, this portion of land will be developed and designed with help from the local nonprofi t community land trust, Peninsula Housing.
“When NCV approached the previous owner of Timber Shores, Fred Gordon, over two years ago with a vision to buy the property, raising $10 million in a short amount of time to acquire and preserve this signature parcel along with a portion for much-needed affordable housing, seemed like an insurmountable goal to some people,” said NCV President John Sentell in a recent press release. “But with the key help of GTB and the many generous and forward- thinking donors in the Leelanau community who embraced a new vision of the future of the landscape, the job is now done…. NCV acknowledges with deep gratitude our partnership with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and the transformational NOAA grant that returns this property to Tribal stewardship, forever changing the trajectory of the former Timber Shores property.”
See article here: https://www.leelanaunews.com/news/gtb-ncv-reach-end-year-fundraising-goal?check_logged_in=1
NCV thanks the Leelanau Enterprise and Meakalia Previch-Liu for allowing us to share this coverage with you.
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