SS Badger is History as in the Latest National Historic Landmark

[XLFD]

Is there anything more satisfying than having a writer from the Muskegon Chronicle report the news that the SS Badger has become a designated National Historic Landmark?  Home to the Badger's only cross-lake competition, the Mlive article fails to mention the government subsidized boat that docks at their port. 

LUDINGTON, MI – The historic S.S. Badger car ferry has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

The National Park Service made the announcement Thursday afternoon, Jan. 21 in a public post from its verified account on facebook.com.

"Congratulations to our newest National Historic Landmark the S.S. Badger: Lake Michigan Carferry in Ludington, MI, which was designated yesterday!" the park service wrote. "Badger is the last example of a Great Lakes rail/car ferry design, a type that influenced design around the world"

The 410-foot-long car ferry built and launched in 1952 seasonally conducts regularly-scheduled runs between its home in Ludington, Mich., and Manitowoc, Wis. It is owned and operated by Lake Michigan Carferry.

A spokeswoman for Lake Michigan Carferry said Thursday night the company was waiting to receive more information before commenting on the national landmark designation. 

Congressman Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, praised the ship as an economic powerhouse as well as "a vital and historic piece of the Ludington community" in a released statement.

"Nearly five years after Lake Michigan Carferry's initial application, the federal government has finally recognized the Badger for what it is - a National Historic Landmark," Huizenga said. "This is an important victory for the hardworking families, small businesses, and communities that have relied on this Great Lakes car ferry for generations, and I am pleased it will continue to be part of their future."

The Badger is the last coal-fired steamship operating on the Great Lakes.

The 2015 season was the first year in which the Badger operated without dumping coal ash into the lake. The owner installed an ash retention system, reportedly at a cost of $2.4 million, after lengthy negotiations and a legal fight with the Environmental Protection Agency. 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2016/01/ss_badger_car_...

[stump]

I like all the praise and glory about the car ferry and then if the last paragraph the sharp stab in the gut which they probably deserve but maybe in another story.

[XLFD]

And now the designation has been taken away!  The same Chronicle reporter notes today:  "...the paperwork really wasn't really complete, federal officials said later. The National Park Service deleted the facebook post, owning it as a mistake.

"It was accidentally put up on our facebook page," National Park Service spokeswoman Christine Powell said Friday, Jan. 22. "It shouldn't have been. ... It was our mistake."

National Park Service's parent organization, the U.S. Department of the Interior, confirmed that the paperwork hadn't received final approval.

"Inaccurate information related to the S.S. Badger was mistakenly posted to the National Historic Landmarks Program Facebook page on January 21, 2016," DOI Spokeswoman Jessica Kershaw wrote in an email. "The application for NHL status is still under Secretarial review and is not final."

The obligatory finish copy and pasted from the first article:  "The 2015 season was the first year in which the Badger operated without dumping coal ash into the lake. The owner installed an ash retention system, reportedly at a cost of $2.4 million, after lengthy negotiations and a legal fight with the Environmental Protection Agency."  

[stump]

Now not only a stab in the gut. now a stab in the back or maybe it was a torpedo

[Willy]

I can almost guarantee that the person holding up the National Landmark designation is none other than the Senator from Illinois tricky Dick Durbin. For many years He's had a large bug up his a_s regarding the Badger. He's almost obsessed with that fact the the Badger even exists.

[jfc123]

I remember a trip out west that started out on a ride from the Badger with our motorhome as freight, what a great memory! Sad that they are doing this to this treasured memory, yet the COL can have NUMEROUS sewage/road breaks into a bayou and never clean anything up? Maybe we need to be designated as a landfill? EPA, DNR, watershed council, no one is bigger then the col council and Shay, right? lol.

[Willy]

What I don't understand is how can the Badger be considered a "landmark" when it's mobile and not located on land?  The dock and surrounding real estate could be considered a "landmark" because they are permanent and cannot float away.  The Badger can simply pull up anchor and relocate any where it pleases. If the Badger sailed to Windsor Canada and docked there, would it still remain a U.S. landmark?

[XLFD]

Good observation, Willy, the dictionary definition would exclude an operating ship.  I went to the National Parks Service webpage and got some more data in the National Historic Landmarks section.  After reading the criteria they use, it seems unlikely that the SS Badger will get NHL status, unless Pavel Datsyuk takes a mini-cruise on it.  Check out eligibility requirements, the only criteria I see applying would be quite a stretch by the NHL committee-- and I say that as a confessed SS Badger backer.. 

[AQUAMAN]

Well, that tears it good imho. I thought, mistakenly, this designation was in the bag and done some 4-5 years ago. You mean it took these dufuss's all this time to declare this, then the idiots posted it wrongly now at long last? Any wonder some seeking the Presidency call these Feds. STUPID? That's exactly what they are, STUPID to the bone. As far as just picking up your marbles and moving away to another vicinity, the "route across Lk. Michigan" is designated by some bureaucratic agency, "Transportation Dept."?  with that authority, it's granted within the limits of Manitowoc and Ludington, not other ports for this vessel. The "Badger" goes hand in hand with the dock, land, and facilities at that locale, no other except Manitowoc, Wi.. Without that "boat", or some other vessel granted for this "route", there is no real landmark except property and bldgs.. The "boat" is the primary function for the historical designation.

[stump]

The only reason that the application for the National Historic Landmark was made by Lake Michigan Carferry LLC. was it protected the Badger from being forced to quit dumping the coal ash onto the lake.

[XLFD]

Very true; so now that the need to be a NHL is more of a luxury than a necessity, most people would probably think that the designation is 'dead in the water' because of the lack of definite criteria for being a NHL that the Badger has. 

The usual amount of time it takes for them to make a decision is 2-5 years, and that's coming up fast.  I predict it will fail for now, but when the Badger retires from making the cross-lake trips, presuming they keep their coal-fired system intact until then, they would be almost a cinch to become a landmark at that point.

[stump]

I could see it being placed on a Historical Registry , maybe it already is .

[Willy]

Well knock me over and call me stupid. If Wikipedia can be believed, there actually is a "landmark" designation for ships. I can understand shipwrecks which are supposedly permanent but who would have thought that the Government would consider something a Landmark even if it could float away. Maybe the same people that think a Marxist makes a fine President or people that think the LDN is an impartial, fair and competent newspaper. I also found a list of Michigan historic designations including Mason County which has the Badger on as a National Historic Register designation just as Stump thought it might be.