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ALPENA - The Friends of Rockport/Besser Natural Area met for the first time Tuesday evening to discuss what citizens want to see in Rockport State Park.
The evening's agenda consisted of a brief run-over of the Department of Natural Resources' management plan for the 4,237-acre parcel, which was transferred from state forest land to become Michigan's 100th state park in December. Anna Sylvester, the district supervisor for the DNR's Parks and Recreation Division, told about how the management plan defines what activities should take place in certain areas of the park.
Sylvester also explained what a friendship group does.
"A friends group is a group of interested citizens in our state parks that want to help out with their time, their talents and even their fundraising abilities to get projects, events and potential development at a state park," she said.
Rockport's will be the state's 47th friends group, and others throughout the state have raised more than $1 million and put in more than 30,000 hours of volunteer time.
"Friends groups help us develop trails, they help us with cleanup projects, they help us do events," Sylvester said.
One event the DNR would like to do soon is a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the park.
Sylvester and the friends group's interim board, consisting of Carol Dodge Grochowski, Patrick Pokorski and Lynn Morrison, fielded questions from audience members. Present were representatives of the Boy Scouts, horseback riding, biking and cross country skiing organizations, among others.
The primary concern among audience members was what kind of trails could go in the park and how they would be used. Ron Anderson of the Thunder Bay Trails Association said the organization would like to see mountain bike and cross country skiing trails in the park. Bonnie Cornelius and Darlene Alexander of the Alpena County Horsemen's Club asked about whether trails in the state park would be multi-use or designated for hiking, biking or horseback riding. Sylvester said trails likely would be separated by use in order to avoid user conflicts, although others in the audience raised questions about bottlenecks created by wetlands.
"It's a beautiful piece of land for everyone to use," Morrison said.
Others in the audience asked about the possibility of getting started on trails in the property.
"The trails are well established," Morrison said. "It's just a matter of cleaning it up."
A few of the audience members were owners of property adjacent to the Rockport property who came to see what they could expect. Melinda Ritter frequently rides her horse from her property to trails on the parcel, and wanted to know if the change to state park would affect whether she can do this. She found out that her land abuts what the DNR has designated as primitive area, which generally isn't open to equestrian use. Sylvester told her it could be possible to establish a corridor for her and others to use.
Dave Stempky, supervisor for the DNR's Straits District of the Parks and Rec Division, told about some of the projects planned for 2012. The state is partnering with the Native American tribes who use the boat launch for fishing vessels to dredge out the channel, with the tribes shouldering half of the cost. The launch ramp also will be lengthened, and a vault toilet will be moved to an area that's more wheelchair accessible.
Audience members also heard from Brandon Schroeder of the Northeast Michigan Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative. He talked about how the organization is working with local schools to engage students in environmental stewardship. Rockport offers an opportunity for students to learn about geology.
"There's a lot of things students could be doing that apply directly to the curriculum to their textbooks," he said. "Instead of reading it in class, could they be doing it at Rockport?"
Friends of Rockport/Besser Natural Area plan to meet again in the third week of March, with the exact time, date and location to be determined, Grochowski said.
Jordan Travis can be reached via email at jtravis@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5688.