Update

This is a revised version of the draft recreation plan (32 megabyte PDF file) that was posted on May 12. Because the changes were relatively minor, only the full draft has been posted. Individual sections can be downloaded from the earlier post. The Manistee County Planning Commission will review the plan on June 26.

Revised Draft

The following is a revised draft of the Manistee County Recreation Plan, based on input and edits from the March 28 Steering Committee meeting, separated into fourteen parts:

1. Part 1 - Cover and Table of Contents (7.0 megabyte PDF file)
2. Part 2 - Introduction (2.0 megabyte PDF file)
3. Part 3 - Community Description (718 kb PDF file)
4. Part 4 - Administrative Structure (1.8 megabyte PDF file)
5. Part 5 - Inventory of Recreational Assets (part a) (2.2 megabyte PDF file)
6. Part 6 - Inventory of Recreational Assets (part b) (7.2 megabyte PDF file)
7. Part 7 - Inventory of Recreational Assets (part c) (1.3 megabyte PDF file)
8. Part 8 - Planning Process (604 kb PDF file)
9. Part 9 - Public Input (1.6 megabyte PDF file)
10. Part 10 - Goals and Objectives (1.7 megabyte PDF file)
11. Part 11 - Action Program (534 kb PDF file)
12. Part 12 - Appendix A (1.1 megabyte PDF file)
13. Part 13 - Appendix B (45 kb PDF file)
14. Part 14 - Appendix C (1.6 megabyte PDF file)

This is a full draft of the revised plan (31 megabyte PDF file).

Draft of the Manistee County Recreation Plan

The draft of the Manistee County Recreation Plan is now available for review. It is separated into twelve parts:

1. Part 1 - Cover (7.1 megabyte PDF file)
2. Part 2 - Table of Contents (130 kb PDF file)
3. Part 3 - Introduction (2.1 megabyte PDF file)
4. Part 4 - Community Description (725 kb PDF file)
5. Part 5 - Administrative Structure (1.8 megabyte PDF file)
6. Part 6 - Inventory of Recreational Assets (10.4 megabyte PDF file)
7. Part 7 - Planning Process (610 kb PDF file)
8. Part 8 - Public Input (1.6 megabyte PDF file)
9. Part 9 - Goals and Objectives (505 kb PDF file)
10. Part 10 - Action Program (560 kb PDF file)
11. Part 11 - Appendix A (5.0 megabyte PDF file)
12. Part 12 - Appendix B (45 kb PDF file)

This is a full draft of the plan (29 megabyte PDF file).

Second Input Open House Rescheduled

Tuesday, February 19

The next public open house will be held on Tuesday, February 19, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Brethren High School. The school is located in Dickson Township at 4400 North High Bridge Road, Brethren, MI, 49619.

This flyer provides additional information about the February 19 public open house.

Please stop in at your convenience to talk with recreation planners and community leaders. It won’t take long, just 5 to 10 minutes of your time. We want to hear your ideas and suggestions!

Wednesday’s Community Input Meeting Postponed

Due to the weather, tonight’s (Wednesday) planned public input open house at Brethren High School is postponed until further notice.

Tomorrow’s public input open house at Faith Covenant Church is still on, running from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.  The church is located in the City of Manistee at 475 Eighth Street. This flyer provides additional information about the public input open house.  We’ll see you there!

We Need Your Input!

As the Manistee County Planning Commission, in partnership with the Alliance for Economic Success, continues to develop the county’s 5-year recreation plan, input from residents is needed.

County leaders, along with Spicer Group, will gather ideas, hear comments, and listen to suggestions about recreational programs, facilities, and parks in Manistee County.

Two opportunities to provide input will be held at the end of January. These community input open houses will have the same format and are designed to give you flexibility of attending one open house or the other.

Please stop in at your convenience to talk with recreation planners and community leaders. It won’t take long, just 5 to 10 minutes of your time. We want to hear your ideas and suggestions!

---

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Postponed due to the weather.

The first public open house will be held on Wednesday, January 30, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Brethren High School. The school is located in Dickson Township at 4400 North High Bridge Road, Brethren, MI, 49619. This flyer provides additional information about the January 30 public open house.

[Edited on January 30, 2008]

---

Thursday, January 31, 2008

The second public open house will be held on Thursday, January 31, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Faith Covenant Church. The church is located in the City of Manistee at 475 Eighth Street. This flyer provides additional information about the January 31 public open house.

---

If you cannot attend either of the open houses and have suggestions on how to improve public recreation in Manistee County, feel free to submit your comments via the comment function on this website. All electronic comments are reviewed by the Administrator before they are posted. Anonymous postings are permitted. If you prefer to submit a comment without it being posted to this website, please say so and the Administrator will honor your request.will honor your request.

Steering Committee Meeting

The next Steering Committee meeting will be held at the Manistee County Courthouse on Friday, December 14 at 9:00 am, located at 415 Third Street in Manistee.  We’re meeting in the Manistee County Board of Commissioners Room.  The following files will be shared with the group:

1. Agenda - 49 kb PDF
2. Project schedule - 25 kb PDF
3. Draft flyer for January 30 input open house in Brethren - 172 kb PDF
4. Draft flyer for January 31 input open house in Manistee - 288 kb PDF

Facts About Wildlife-Associated Recreation in Michigan

The implications for Manistee County, with its 25 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, 9 inland lakes over 50 acres in size, and 276 miles of rivers and streams, should be obvious.  According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a report called 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation: State Overview that was released this summer:

• In Michigan, fishing ranked highest for total expenditures, at $1.6 billion.  Other activities included hunting ($0.9 billion) and wildlife watching ($1.5 billion).
• Among the 50 states, Michigan ranks fifth in terms of the total number of in-state anglers.  We have 1.4 million!  At the top are Florida, Texas, California, and Minnesota.
• Over one-third of Michigan residents are considered “wildlife watchers” (38%).

Clearly, fishing is big in Michigan!  If you don’t believe it, check out this video of the fishing activity at Tippy Dam Pond on Thursday, October 4, 2007.  Anglers were abundant and the salmon were biting!  What a beautiful day!

The National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation provides estimates of the number of wildlife-related recreationists and their expenditures for 2006.

The Benefits of Parks and Recreation in Manistee County

Over at the National Recreation and Park Association, they have created a Top Ten list of park and recreation values. Those values are the reasons why parks are important in this country. They are listed here as important points to reflect on as the recreation plan is developed over the coming months.

The following summary is from the article, Top 10 Reasons Parks Are Important, by Richard J. Dolesh, Monica Hobbs Vinluan, and Michael Phillips:

1. Public parks provide millions of Americans with the opportunity to be physically active.
2. Parks have true economic benefits.
3. Parks provide vital green space in a fast-developing American landscape.
4. Parks preserve critical wildlife habitat.
5. Parks and recreation facilitate social interactions.
6. Leisure activities in parks improve moods, reduce stress and enhance a sense of wellness.
7. Recreational programs provide organized, structured, enjoyable activities.
8. Community recreation services provide a refuge of safety for at-risk youth.
9. Therapeutic recreation is an outlet that individuals with disabilities have.
10. Public parks embody the American tradition of preserving public lands.

More detail is provided by the authors in the above link.

Meeting #2 Draft Documents

The following draft recreation plan files were distributed at the second Working Group meeting on Thursday, November 8, 2007, at 10:30 am:

1. Table of Contents - Draft, Adobe PDF file (34 kilobytes)
2. Introduction - Draft, Adobe PDF file (2.7 megabytes)
3. Community Description - Draft, Adobe PDF file (3.3 megabytes)
4. Administrative Structure - Draft, Adobe PDF file (1.3 megabytes)
5. Inventory (Part A) - Draft, Adobe PDF file (2.1 megabytes)
6. Inventory (Part B) - Draft, Adobe PDF file (23 kilobytes)

Comments are welcome. Anonymous postings are permitted, but they are reviewed by an administrator prior to publication.

Map of Recreational Assets

Here are three different ways you can review the parks and recreational assets available in Manistee County.

First, you can look at them in Microsoft’s online mapper, Live.com.

Second, you can load an interactive KML file into Google Earth. You will need the Google Earth program to view this file. If you do not have Google Earth, rest assured, this is the same information provided in the Google Maps link above.

And finally, click the aerial image above for a more detailed view of the recreational resources in Manistee County. This is a rather large JPEG image, about 1.3 megabytes in size (33 inches x 27 inches).

This map is a work in progress, so please feel free to post your comments, additions, or suggestions.

The Beauty of Manistee County: A Virtual Slideshow

Manistee County and the Growth of “Silent Sports” in the Region

The leaders of Manistee County are moving forward on the development of the county recreation plan. At Thursday’s meeting, we learned that over one-third of the land in Manistee County is publicly held.

Some quick facts:

• Over 91,000-acres are under federal ownership,
• About 29,000-acres owned by the State of Michigan, and
• 2,600-acres are owned by local governments.

In total, Manistee County occupies an area of about 357,000-acres. (Data from Chapter 4 of the draft 2007 Manistee County Master Plan.)

Over the Labor Day week-end, the Traverse City Record-Eagle ran a great article about how silent sports are growing in the region.

What are silent sports?

According to the article, the term refers to “outdoor aerobic activities such as cross-country skiing, running, bicycling, kayaking and canoeing, snowshoeing, triathlon events and even bird watching.” With a large proportion of land in the county under public ownership, this concept can be applied to the recreation plan.

How so?

Initiatives that create linkages, both physical and programmatic, between population clusters (neighborhoods, hotels, campgrounds, etc.) and public outdoor lands will enable leaders to create new outlets for residents and visitors to get outside, have fun, and enjoy the natural beauty of Manistee County. When coupled with the diversity of recreational opportunities available, these linkages will most certainly enhance toursim in Manistee County. Data from the Michigan State University Extension Tourism Area of Expertise Team illustrate the strengths of Manistee County, adding that the county has “many attractions, including some of the finest fishing in the country, white sandy beaches, a national forest… campgrounds, horseback riding, skiing… [and] canoeing.”

To capitalize on the emerging trend of silent sports, the recreation planning process will engage all county interests, promote community-wide participation, and incorporate this input into a final action plan. Part of the challenge will also invlove developing the best strategies to connect the dots between Manistee County’s tourism industry and its public outdoor lands.

Meeting #1 Agenda and Project Schedule

Our first meeting will be held at the Manistee County Courthouse on Thursday, August 30, 2007, at 9:30 am. These are the files to be shared at the meeting:

1. Agenda for Meeting #1 - Adobe PDF file (19 kilobytes)
2. Project Schedule - Adobe PDF file (29 kilobytes)