United States National Lakeshore
A National Lakeshore is a protected area of lakeshore in the United States. National Lakeshores are similar to U.S. National Parks in that they are maintained and protected by the U.S. National Park Service. Currently, there are four National Lakeshore[1] areas in the United States, all of them on lakes Michigan and Superior. The total area of the four shorelines is 145,641 acres (589.3 km²).[1] These areas are located in the states of Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin.
National lakeshores
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, near Munising, Michigan, on Lake Superior. Authorized in 1966, Pictured Rocks was the first National Lakeshore and largest by area.
- Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, in northwest Indiana, near Michigan City, on Lake Michigan. Authorized in 1966, soon after Pictured Rocks. By most estimates, this park is the most popular National Lakeshore, probably due to its proximity to Chicago and other large Midwestern cities.
- Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, in northern Wisconsin on Lake Superior. Authorized in September 1970.
- Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, in Leelanau County Michigan, on Lake Michigan. Authorized in October 1970.
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a U.S. National Lakeshore on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States. It extends for 42 miles (67 km) along the shore and covers 73,236 acres (114 sq mi/296 km2). The park offers spectacular scenery of the hilly shoreline between Munising, Michigan and Grand Marais, Michigan, with natural archways, waterfalls, and sand dunes.
Pictured Rocks derives its name from the 15 miles (24 km) of colorful sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising. The cliffs are up to 200 feet (60 m) above lake level. They have been naturally sculptured into shallow caves, arches, formations that resemble castle turrets, and human profiles, among others. Near Munising visitors also can view Grand Island, most of which is included in the Grand Island National Recreation Area and is preserved separately.
The U.S. Congress made Pictured Rocks the first officially-designated National Lakeshore in the United States in 1966. It is governed by the National Park Service (NPS), had 22 year-round NPS employees as of May 2006, and received 476,888 visitors in 2005.
History
Although the Pictured Rocks lie adjacent to sections of Lake Superior that are rich in fish, the sandstone cliffs are dangerous to canoes and other open boats skirting the coastline. Pierre Esprit Radisson, the fur trader, made this risky passage in 1658 and noted that his Native American companions offered some tobacco to the local spirit of the cliffs.
During the Romantic Era of the 1800s, a series of American writers described their feelings upon sight of the Pictured Rocks. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft paid a tribute in 1820 to "some of the most sublime and commanding views in nature." As long ago as 1850 developers platted a tourist resort, Grand Island City, adjacent to the Pictured Rocks near the current site of Munising.
After the lumbering era ended around 1910, many of the parcels of land making up the current Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore reverted to the state of Michigan for unpaid property taxes. Eager for federal help and recognition, the state cooperated with the federal government in the region's redevelopment. Congress enacted a law in 1966 to elevate the shoreline between Munising and Grand Marais to the status of a National Lakeshore.[2]
In October 1966, Congress passed a bill authorizing the establishment of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, “... in order to preserve for the benefit, inspiration, education, recreational use, and enjoyment of the public, a significant portion of the diminishing shoreline of the United States and its related geographic and scientific features.” When President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill, Alger County became the home of America’s first National Lakeshore.
Grand Sable Dunes
The Grand Sable Dunes, at the eastern end of the Lakeshore, are a perched dune formation. Sand washed ashore by wave action was then blown upslope by northerly prevailing winds until it came to rest atop a glacial moraine. The Grand Sable Dunes today form a sand slope that rises from Lake Superior at a 35° angle. The summits of the tallest dunes are as high as 275 feet (85 m) above lake level.
Photo Gallery
<gallery> Image:Munising Falls 804x603.JPG|Munising Falls Image:PicturedRocksLakeshoreMichigan.jpg|Looking down at the Miners' Castle. November 2004. Image:Pictured Rocks Lakeshore Michigan2.jpg|Miners' Castle. Image:Pictured Rocks Lakeshore Michigan3.JPG|Pictured Rocks in the distance. Image:Miners' Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.jpg|Miners Falls Image:Miners' Falls, Michigan1.jpg|Miners Falls Image:Grand Sable Dunes-804×603.JPG|Grand Sable Dunes Image:Grand_Sable_Dunes.JPG|Grand Sable Dunes Image:Sable Falls 4a.JPG|Sable Falls
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Wright, John W. (ed.) and Editors and reporters of The New York Times (2006). The New York Times Almanac, 2007, New York, New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
- ↑ The Pictured Rocks: An Administrative History of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (Table of Contents)
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- National Park Service. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Retrieved January 11, 2009.
- National Park Service. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Retrieved January 11, 2009.
- National Park Service. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Retrieved January 11, 2009.
- National Park Service. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Retrieved January 11, 2009.
External links
{{United_States_National_Lakeshore|257862708|Pictured_Rocks_National_Lakeshore|240918940|
