Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Empire, Michigan

Vireo led a team with the National Park Service to study the Platte River District of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. NEPA-level analyses were developed to provide recreational boat access in Lake Michigan’s Platte Bay and to restore natural fluvial processes. Relocation alternatives of stockpiled river sediments were also evaluated. The study required an understanding of how to balance public use with natural resource conservation, including protection of the dune ecosystem and threatened and endangered piping plover nests.