News Flash!   April 19, 2002   Rodney Stokes, Chief of the Department of Natural Resources Parks and Recreation Bureau, informed Laketown officials in an April 11 letter to Robert Scanlan, chairman of the Laketown Township Building Authority, that he intends to recommend the DNR's Land Exchange Review Committee deny the township's request for the land swap that would allow building a water treatment facility at the park.   "The size, location and amount of space and depth needed to construct a water intake system in a fragile area will have significant and permanent negative impacts to this dune system," he wrote. "The proposed easement would pass through designated critical dunes. The proposed construction will result in significant tree removal and permanent forest canopy fragmentation."   David Swan, Co-chair of Concerned Citizens for Saugatuck Dunes State Park, views the DNR decision as a significant victory, but cautions this is far from the end of the issue.   To illustrate Swan's warning, Scanlan stated that he feels the recommendation to deny the land swap is only the first part in what will be ongoing negotiations between the DNR and Laketown Township. "At this point, I think it's a boilerplate recommendation and there's a lot yet to be discussed," he said. "It's not a major setback . . . Like any other negotiations, we can sweeten the pie." Return to Concerned Citizens for Saugatuck Dunes State Park Resources & Reference page.