| Greetings!
Here are three news items that will interest you.
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Your continued financial support is critical to efforts to protect the dunes and to promote sensitive and careful develop-ment within this unique and fragile ecosystem.
Donations can be sent to PTD, P.O. Box 164, Riverside, MI 49084 or made with credit card or PayPal by selecting the Donate button below.
Remember we are a 501(c)3 organization and all donations are tax deductible.
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Critical Dune Residential Design Awards
Preserve the Dunes announces the winners of the 2011-12 Critical Dunes Residential Design Awards which recognized excellence in the design of single family homes in the critical dune area of Michigan and most the most of their setting in the dunes while minimizing the environmental impact.
 Winning entries can be seen at sosdunes.org. They are:
- First Prize: Lake House in the Dunes, Covert, Michigan; Architect: Davis Associates Architects &Consultants, Inc., Chicago, IL.
- Honorable Mention: Laketown Residence, Holland, Michigan; Architect: Allegretti Associates, St. Joseph, MI.
- Commendable Aspects: Beachfront Retreat, Covert, Michigan; Architect: Booth Hansen, Chicago, IL.
These dunes are the largest collection of freshwater dunes in the world, and contain unique and sensitive ecosystems. They are valued by many as a beautiful backdrop to the lakeshore, for the rare ecosystems they support, and for the recreational opportunities they provide. No one knows this better than those that live and vacation there. Yet it is this desire to live, work and play in the sand dunes that have slowly degraded natural communities, altered topography, and even destroyed their unique features. The extreme conditions under which the largest of these sand dunes were formed no longer exist, and once lost, these dunes will never be replaced.
In Michigan there are approximately 250,000 acres of sand dunes. Michigan's largest dunes reach 250 feet in height and up to 1 mile in width. A total of 71,189 acres have been designated as critical dune areas and are protected under statute due to their significant recreational, economic, scientific, geological, scenic, and other benefits to the people of this state.
A press release was also published. It can be accessed at sosdunes.org/ptddesignawards/pressrelease.pdf. |
Link to Great Lakes News
We have added a link to GLIN (Great Lakes Information Network) on the website. Daily the GLIN lists just published news articles about the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence region.  Here is what it looks like:
You can: - Click on GLIN in the lower right corner and link to the GLIN website.
- Click on one of the article titles to go directly to the article source (use the up-down arrows to see all of the titles for the day).
- Click on more to see a short summary of all of the articles.
Visit sosdunes.org and try it out. |
Coming Soon
Watch for a special issue of the newsletter dealing with the proposed changes to the Sand Dune Protection and Management Act.
The Michigan Association of Home Builders and the Michigan Association of Realtors joined in drafting revisions that the house and senate are now considering. Basically, the revisions will change the bill's stated intent from resource protection to economic exploitation.
Watch for it. |
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"These dunes are to the Midwest what the Grand Canyon is to Arizona.. once lost, the loss would be irrevocable." Carl Sandburg
Sincerely,
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