The Resource Advisory Committee met on site at Forest Dunes on December 8, 1998. Although behind its original schedule, the development is progressing. The main lake, which is approximately 28 acres, has sixty percent of the 30 mil plastic liner installed. The remainder of the liner will be installed this spring as soon as weather permits.
Seeding is scheduled to be completed by June 15, 1999. Forest Dunes has involved Audobon International, Center for Sustainable Resource Management, to help provide guidelines for environmental friendly planning, construction, and maintenance. They also have employed Grass Roots, a landscaping firm which specializes in the utilization of native Michigan plants. The present plan is that there will be approximately 90 acres of planted area plus 18 holes as compared with the normal amount of 125 to 150 acres. The use of native Michigan plants and the reduction of planted area will reduce the amount of watering required and reduce the potential effect on the aquifer.
Recent data has shown that the direction of flow of the aquifer is more easterly than the original engineering studies indicated. This means that the danger of any impact on the springs feeding the South Branch is less. It is interesting to note that the review of Forest Dunes aquifer study made by McNamee, Porter and Seeley, the engineers hired by the coalition, indicated that the indicated direction of the flow of the aquifer may be in error.
The committee has a meeting scheduled with Forest Dunes in April. I will report on that meeting in the next issue of The Riverwatch. Forest Dunes personnel, especially Tom Faus, Project Manager, continue to be very cooperative with the committee. RWOL
© Copyright 1999- , Anglers of the Au Sable, Inc. All rights reserved. Last modified: January 17, 2002
