TRAVERSE CITY - Before a major upgrade to a state park in northern Michigan, the Department of Natural Resources must ask the township to approve tree removal.
At tonight’s East Bay Township meeting there will be a vote on zoning to protect the trees within the Traverse City State Park.
This comes after the announcement that the state park will be receiving $8.5 million in funding for improvements from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The DNR must get site plan approval from the township before moving forward. Even though the state has put money into the project. The removal 300 trees will be important to cut back on the risk of Oak Wilt, which are an invasive species.
“Before becoming a district supervisor, I was the supervisor of this park. And, our rangers at the time. And I used to dream about, you know, one day when we could see these improvements coming,” shares Kasey Cline, Cadillac District Supervisor, “it is kind of nice that we can close the park at one time, bring all of these, you know, needed changes and then reopen and have no interruptions to the public.”
Another part of the project includes removing the pedestrian bridge over US-31 and putting in a traffic signal and crosswalks. If passed tonight, the Traverse City State Park will be closing on July 7th, but the Interlochen State Park will be open this summer. If campers are looking for another option.