Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan	Ernie Ostuno
	Jul 22, 2004 09:57 PDT

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakehsore is a place that needs to be
investigated for patches of remnant old growth. This area contains
71,000 acres, with an undetermined amount of forest acreage that was
either never logged, or only selectively cut. It is located between
Traverse City and Frankfort in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan

Empire Bluff, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - NPS photo

I did manage to find a 5-10 acre stand of old growth hemlock-beech
forest on a trip up there in September 2000. The old growth is located
in Benzie County, on Aral Road just north of the intersection with Esch
Road. The old growth occurs on an incline and is bordered by Aral Road
to the north and an open field to the south. On the southern edge stands
the biggest tree here, a hemlock with a dbh of about 3.5 feet. Back at
park headquaters, this hemlock is listed as the largest of its species
in the entire park. Just down the road at Esch Beach, there is an
interpretive sign that mentions that a small patch of forest was never
logged near here, in order to provide shade for community picnics for
the local lumber town.

In several trips to Sleeping Bear Dunes, I have not come across any
large expanses of what appears to be old growth, but I think some
extensive areas of forest in the park that weren't heavily cutover have
recovered to being close to old growth. I wouldn't be surprised if there
are at least a few more smaller (10 acres or less) segments out there
that were never logged. It is just a question of finding them, or
finding someone who knows about them.

Ernie Ostuno

http://www.nps.gov/slbe/ NPS Site: "Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore encompasses a 60 km (35 mi.) stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline, as well as North and South Manitou Islands. The park was established primarily for its outstanding natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena. The Lakeshore also contains many cultural features including a 1871 lighthouse, three former Life-Saving Service/Coast Guard Stations and an extensive rural historic farm district. Authorized: October 21, 1970. Acreage: 56,993 federal, 14,194 non-federal.

Sleeping Bear Dunes Revisited	Ernie Ostuno
	Sep 14, 2004 00:37 PDT

Paul, Lee and I also got a chance to visit the site mentioned below
which contains some impressive maple along with the beech and hemlock.
Paul measured a dbh of 4 feet for the fattest hemlock here. We came up
with a height of 69.1 feet; quite the stubby hemlock!

At the park headquarters we got a list of the biggest trees by species
on Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We took a tour of some of the
trees listed and found the following:

What was listed as the biggest Rock Elm actually turned out to be a Red
Elm.

What was listed as the biggest "Mountain Paper Birch" turned out be a
regular Paper Birch. This was kind of odd since it was also listed as
the national champion for the species. Hmmmmmm...

We also checked out the biggest Northern White Cedar, American Beech and
Bigtooth Aspen. We also saw several acres of mature to old growth
beech/maple forest along the forested dunes near the lake. This place
could provide countless hours of searching and measuring some impressive
examples of maple, beech and hemlock and this I actually might attempt
to do in the future.

Ernie

Re: Sleeping Bear Dunes Revisited	Lee E. Frelich
	Sep 14, 2004 06:54 PDT

Ernie:

It was great to finally see the forests on the other side of the
Lake! Then there was that view from the top of the 475 foot dune. There
is not any other such view in North America where one can see a horizon to
horizon ocean of aquamarine water, an ocean of sand, hills covered with
old-growth beech and maple forests, and islands with 500 year old cedars.

There is a lot of potential for tall maples and beeches in those dunes. Its
amazing that several square miles of open sand can be next to old growth
maple and beech with some trees that looked to be up to 120 feet tall.

Paul and I missed the ferry on the way back--it takes longer to drive to
Muskegon from Sleeping Bear Dunes than we realized. However, we decided to
take advantage of the situation by visiting Warren Woods State Park in the
southwestern corner of the state. This was the most magnificent
beech-sugar maple forest I have seen. There is nothing like it in the
Porkies, the Door Peninsula, Cook Forest, or the Berkshires. Obviously
Warren Woods has superior site quality. I had no idea that such forests
could grow in the Midwest. Lake Michigan must moderate the climate by
alleviating droughts and reducing the frequency of high winds compared to
the other side of the lake, where no beech tree would dare reach a height
of 130 feet.

Lee

RE: Sand dune forest	Lee E. Frelich
	Sep 30, 2004 07:20 PDT

Neil, Ed, Bob:

The forests in Michigan and Wisconsin on sand dunes are all rooted in a 1-2
foot thick horizon that has developed as organic matter accumulates from
plant roots. Tree roots probably also break down some of the sand into
silt, so that a layer of finer, organic and nutrient rich soil is formed
and held into place by the forest floor and roots. We know from gradually
emerging sand bars on Lake Michigan that soils development capable of
supporting a climax forest of beech, maple and hemlock takes over a
thousand years. The beech maple forest at Sleeping Bear Dunes has tall
straight trees that go right over the top of the dunes, while the first row
of dunes along the lake, which is younger, still has many square miles of
open sand with occasional stunted groves of trees and patches of dune grass
and goldenrods.

...
Lee

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