Chicago, Ill. – The nation’s leading voice for our national parks, the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association today joined Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) in praising the public-private partnership that funded the critically-needed restoration of a lighthouse at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan. The lighthouse will be lit in a local ceremony this Saturday.
"The relighting of the South Manitou Island Lighthouse is a shining example of public private partnership working to preserve our nation’s maritime heritage," said Senator Levin. "I congratulate the staff at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the volunteers of the Manitou Islands Memorial Society, and Electro-Optics Technology for their efforts to restore this magnificent lighthouse."
On Saturday, the National Park Service, local volunteers, and representatives of the private company, Electro-Optics Technology, will be on-hand for the lighting of the South Manitou lighthouse at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The restoration of the lighthouse was made possible by a pilot program that matches federal funding with private investment to restore cultural and natural treasures throughout the National Park System. If authorized and funded by Congress, the Park Service program could receive $25 million next year to benefit projects in national parks across the country.
As profiled in the National Parks Conservation Association’s 2007 Center for State of the Parks assessment, Sleeping Bear Dunes is one of many national parks with critical federal funding needs, and relies on volunteers and private funding to help complete park projects.
In 2007, funding from the public-private partnership program helped fund the ongoing removal of baby’s breath, a fast-growing plant which is threatening critical nesting habitat for the endangered piping plover in Sleeping Bear Dunes; the plant has invaded approximately 1,300 acres in the park, so much work remains to be done. The Park Service expects to receive stimulus funding to help with the ongoing removal, as well as to fund trail repair and rehabilitation of historic buildings.
Nationwide, national parks have a backlog of maintenance projects that exceeds $8 billion.
"The South Manitou lighthouse is a beacon of hope for this national park and others--a reminder that together, we can restore our national treasures in time for their 2016 centennial," said Lynn McClure, director of the National Parks Conservation Association’s Midwest regional office. "An investment in this national park is an investment in the local community, in the experiences of visitors, and a down-payment on the legacy we’re leaving to our children and grandchildren."
An economic study commissioned by the National Parks Conservation Association found that every federal dollar invested in national parks generates at least four dollars economic value to the public.
