Planning work on an extension of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail has been put on hold/NPS graphic

Work to extend the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan has been put on hold following talks between the National Park Service and the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

The two tribes, the Leelanau County's Cleveland Township Board of Trustees, and the National Parks Conservation Association all have voiced concerns with the cost to the environment the segment's construction would inflict.

As envisioned by the Park Service more than a decade ago, the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail would be a "hard-surfaced, multi-use trail paralleling state highways M-22 and M-109 for 27 miles through the Lakeshore. It will provide a safe, non-motorized, multi-use transportation alternative connecting the lakeshore’s main visitor destinations with the neighboring communities of Glen Arbor and Empire."

Twenty-two miles of the trail have been finished. The 4-mile extension now being planned, called Segment 9, would require a significant construction footprint, according to opponents.

In a three-sentence statement released Wednesday that didn't identify the tribes' concerns, the Park Service said simply that it was "pausing the design of Segment 9 of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail following ongoing consultations with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians."

"The existing design work will serve as a foundation for future planning efforts, with continued collaboration alongside the Grand Traverse Band and project partners," the statement added. "Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore remains committed to enhancing non-motorized connectivity throughout the Lakeshore and looks forward to continued, strong collaboration in the future."

Back in the spring NPCA submitted comments to the Park Service on the plan, saying that "under the current alternative, the trail will need to be constructed in the State of Michigan’s regulated critical dunes requiring a 15-foot retaining wall, extensive boardwalks through wetlands, reduction of canopy cover and habitat through the removal of 7,300 trees some culturally significant to the Odawa. A trail within this area would exacerbate impacts to forest diversity and water quality."

The Grand Traverse Band wrote Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Michigan's two U.S. senators to voice concerns over the segment's "potential impacts on wetlands, tree removal, and the treaty gathering rights of our tribal members." And the Cleveland Township withdrew its support of the project, citing concerns over impacts to dunes in the lakeshore and cost estimates showing the project could reach $15 million.