Keep Working to Save Dune Land
Our region's unique and rare sand dunes are to this area what the Rockies are to Denver, the Marin Headlands are to San Francisco, Puget Sound is to Seattle, and Cape Cod is to Boston. They are natural features that increase home values, increase our quality of life, and attract tourists and new businesses.

We applaud the Holland Sentinel's editorial board for continuing to promote needed protections of the dunes that define our coastline.

Civic and business leaders of West Michigan have long acknowledged the economic, intrinsic, and educational value of our public dune lands that stretch from Douglas Beach south of Saugatuck to Holland State Park. Under the leadership of executive director Jim Brooks, the West Michigan Strategic Alliance has remained committed to preserving our unique landscape. In the fourth of six priorities for regional collaboration the Alliance states: "West Michigan's natural environment is essential to our quality of life and plays an important role in defining our region."

Saugatuck Dunes State Park was ushered into existence thanks to the leadership of Patty Birkholz. Senator Birkholz credits the several years she worked to preserve what is now the park's natural area as the defining moment she entered politics.

And most recently local and regional individuals, agencies, and organizations banded together to try to preserve the entire Denison North and South. The Denison - 420 acres of dunes, coastal marsh, and wetlands that serve as the spectacular gateway to the Saugatuck Harbor - is one of the last great open spaces on the Great Lakes. Dave Dempsey, acclaimed author of several Great Lakes books, recently said, "The Denison is the Porcupine Mountains of our generation."

However, instead of selling the Denison land to the locals who worked hard to raise the funds, the Denison estate and trust sold the property for only a few million dollars above appraised value to Katie and Aubrey McClendon, an Oklahoma City couple, who have hired an attorney/developer and a public relations firm as they explore the potential for building roads and houses on the dunes.

If the Denison and other significant properties are developed it will create islands of our rare and fragile dune lands. It will also compromise the open space and vistas for which our coastal communities are so well known. And it will jeopardize the natural area status of Saugatuck Dunes State park.

Studies have shown that large tracts of public wilderness draw permanent residents and strengthen local economies. This will become more rather than less true as open land becomes scarcer.

    From The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space, Trust for Public Lands, 1999
    • And in survey after survey home buyers identify nearby open space and trails as among the top features in choosing a home. pg 12
    • Owners of small companies ranked recreation/parks/open space as the highest priority in choosing a new location for their business. pg 13
    From Michigan's Land, Michigan's Future, Michigan Land Use Leadership Council 2003
             (of which Senator Patty Birkholz was a member)
    • Open space, view corridors, the environment, fish and wildlife habitat, viewsheds, and other natural resources have intrinsic, social, and economic value and should be protected and enhanced. pg. 43
    • Tourism often benefits from landscapes with significant open space. pg. 43
We are asking our region's leadership - Senator Birkholz, Jim Brooks and the West Michigan Strategic Alliance, those who run major corporations and foundations in the Grand Rapids metropolitan area - to work with conservancy groups, as well as the Natural Resources Trust Fund to protect the significant undeveloped dunes between Saugatuck and Holland, especially the crown jewel Denison parcel.

David Swan, Holland Sentinel - Opinion Page, 11-19-06
Return to Concerned Citizens for Saugatuck Dunes State Park Resources & Reference page.

www.SaugatuckDunes.org