The Proposed Invasion of Ludington Beach

[XLFD]

The Ludington City Council is expected to vote for the sending of an application to the Michigan DNR Trust Fund for a $300,000 grant to significantly alter beautiful Stearn's Beach into something that will look quite different.  Four years of public unrest over the changes in previous applications, has not daunted our city management's efforts to do this unpopular action. 

The criticisms vary and are valid:  the loss of parking spaces, alteration or leveling of a sand dune, the high cost, erosion maintenance, the loss of the natural beach, the lack of a public vote as per the city charter, the blocking of the view, etc.  But perhaps the best argument against this project has not yet been raised, and only hasn't because many of the specifics are hidden from the public's view both before and after the application is sent to Lansing.  A willful action that the planners of this fiasco should know will not end well. 

They have left our whole lakefront open to invasion.  This invasion is not from the Germans, the Martians, or crazed militant Muslim fundamentalists.  The invasion will be from...

Wait, I am no expert in the field I am about to speak of, so I will allow an expert to make the case, an expert specifically picked by the West End Project planners to give them expert advice.  A local expert named David C. Dister, noted Michigan Botanist who lives very close to the lake.  In 2012, they sent this letter from Dister in with their application, where he suggests some specific recommendations.  Those recommendations in his field are circled in red below:

He strongly suggests only native flora (plants) be used in any plantings done at the beach front at the West End.  He goes on to say:  "sandy soils at this location are more likely to facilitate some horticultural plants to become 'invasive', as the sandy soils lack native fungus to control non-native and horticultural varieties of native plants.  It's not worth the risk."  He then lists 15 different native species that would supplement the beach grass.  Some of these are very attractive and interesting plants. 

For the first time this year, 2016, after four years of applications, they actually went into detail with some of the flora they are scheduled to use for 'landscaping' the constructions they propose at the beach.   Beyond the American Beach Grass and a European horticultural variety of the Purple Coneflower mentioned in Dister's letter these fifteen plants are not utilized-- though seven other varieties are.

Here is a brief listing of some of the facts of these non-native plants with links to that info:

Sapphire blue oat grass originates from southwestern Europe where it naturally resides in open forests, meadows and rocky slopes. This grass will not tolerate “wet feet” and is especially intolerant of cold, wet conditions.
http://www.learn2grow.com/plants/helictotrichon-sempervirens-sapphi...

Blue Pacific Juniper is native only to Japan.
http://www.anythinggreen.com/blue-pacific-juniper.html

Regal Privet (above) is native to Japan.  This plant is capable of escaping to form dense thickets that can crowd out native species. It is declared as a 'weed' in many settings due to this proclivity.
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/fhp/invasive_plants/weeds/border_privet.pdf

Bobzam Bayberries are native to the northeast US coast, and grows 6' tall.  Didn't John Shay say there would be nothing as tall as he was?
http://www.abnativeplants.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantdeta...

Dwarf Fountain Grass occurs naturally only in open grasslands throughout eastern Asia.
http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/plantName/Pennisetum-alopecuroid...

Bird's Nest Spruce is a cultivar (horticulturally produced) of a spruce species native to Europe.
http://www.hortmag.com/plants/plants-we-love/birds-nest-spruce-make...

Neon Sedum (above) is native to China and Korea, their voluminous pink flowers are very attractive to bumblebees.
http://www.learn2grow.com/plants/sedum-spectabile-neon/

Our local botanist, chosen by the planners of the West End debacle, warned these people of the dangers inherent with choosing non-native or horticultural plants for this project.  These city official deadheads have decided to choose these plants, one of which is regarded as a very invasive weed capable of crowding out native species, in the southern part of Stearn's Beach, ready to invade the rest of the beach with help from the prevailing air and water currents. 

Perhaps it's time to weed out our non-native city management team invasive of our security, our inalienable rights, and, as always, our pocketbooks.

[Willy]

You certainly did your homework in this one X. Very interesting information on plants. I think your last paragraph says it all. The people of Ludington have non native invasive species controlling the City. This is what happens when fertilizers like bullsh_t come into contact with invasive species. Their numbers grow larger and then they start spreading their own form of bullsh_t and when they outgrow their area they try to force natives out by shoving more crap down their throats.

[XLFD]

I had to flex my inner botanist on this one.  Who looks at our pristine Stearn's beach area and says "Let's add four Asian plants, three European plants, several of them horticultural designer plants and put them where they don't normally go, to add to the beauty of that area." ?

John Shay and Heather Tykoski have achieved a new degree of foolishness on this one, violating the advice of their own experts.  'He's just a dumb local rube anyway', they probably think.

 

[AQUAMAN]

A very revealing article on the West End Project. I guess the council members again, didn't do their homework! This is obviously NOT a good idea. Guess they have to modify the plan again, crazy.

[Jasper]

Who even came up this plan for all this ridiculous horticulture? Those suggested plants/shrubs are not even naturally occurring in sand. Some of these people in local government need to pull their " heads out of the sand."

[shinblind]

Other reasons to oppose the West End Scheme.

The way it is now planned;

The view of the Lake now starts at Lewis Street. This will be obstructed with the boulevard extension, kayak rack, landscaping. benches, banners, and the ass end of a beer tent all summer long.

No Parking between the South Concession stand and the Skate Park on the West Side of Stearns Outer Drive. That will not increase the recreational use for fishermen and handicap pier walkers. Their life will be made a little more difficult. Or if  you own an RV, there will be RV parking on the East side across from the breakwall. Also there will be 8 parking spaces across from the skate park for playground users. This portion of Stearn Outer Drive will be reduced to one lane to make your exiting these parking spaces more difficult. 

Picture this if you can. The portion of Stearn Outer Drive that goes from  the Loomis Street Launch site to Ludington Avenue will now be one lane, one way North exiting on the half roundabout planned for the end of Ludington Avenue.  There will be no other exit save heading back east on Ludington Avenue.  From the looks of things the roundabout to nowhere is one lane. Now picture this, a truck and boat exits Loomis Street, get on Ludington Avenue heading East and wants to turn North on Lakeshore Drive. Opps. No left turn lane. Traffic coming off Stearns Outer Drive and Loomis backs up behind the boat and trailer. Gridlock.  A complete traffic cluster-fek. Maybe they plan on having a cop there directing traffic year around. Or maybe they can they have plans to add another traffic light who knows? This is beyond being poorly thought out. The roundabout there is just plain Stupid.

Oh and at the Loomis Street Launch site, where when you are done fishing now you pull up by the cleaning station to clean your catch and can pull out driving forward. Not any more. Diagonal  parking only. You have to back out without a clear view of where your boat is at in relationship to the cars parked along dog park. Those will be on your blind side.  Good luck not running into anything.

The whole West End Scheme is poorly thought out. It is conceived by people who don't have a clue what it is to live here. And is endorsed by a city council who no longer care.

Anyone who wishes to add photos or maps to help visualize this feel free.  Those types of things are not my forte.

[Brad]

[XLFD]

A recent article in the COLDNews has LHS environmental science students learn about, remove invasive spe... from Sutton's Landing.  This will undoubtedly give them plenty of practice for helping clear out the invasive species they propose down at the West End of Ludington Avenue in the future IF this scheme ever gets underway. 

“We’re getting the message out about managing invasive plants,” Dani McGarry (of the Mason-Lake Conservation District) said.  Send messages to the Ludington City Hall about their vegetation choices for the West End, Ms. McGarry

[AQUAMAN]

This area still looks dirty and crappy today. Why can't the DPW spend a day or two in cleanup and repaving the west end? I think they want to keep it dirty so it looks like a West End Project is the winning idea for it's future.

[Brad]

Noticed that today too.

WES.......WTH!

"Love Ludington" and Lakestride is this weekend too..?

Just NO love from Lud CC, CM, or DDA  for the West End~!!

...speechless...

[Brad]

A pic that doesn't really give you an idea how messy, and the snow fence that's still up.... And ironically the COL trash can with the word "Clean" on it.  The trash can is the only thing clean.

[Willy]

Thanks for the pic Brad. Aquaman, I think your on to something when you said they City is deliberately trying to keep the west end messy looking. I also think that is true. I took the image below on 5-28-16, Memorial weekend and it was as messy as I have ever seen it. A front loader had recently been thru there and dumped dirty sand all over and undercut the base of the dune. When undercutting takes place it causes the sand on top to fall down resulting in a loss of sand at the top. This is a deliberate attempt to create a negative impression of the west end. This was done on one of the busiest weekends of the tourist year.

[Brad]

Note... fence is gone I'm told. Not sure about trash.