Traverse City‘s Unknown Park... Soon to be a Major Sprawl Zone

June 19, 2002

Sara Cockrell has probably logged more river miles than just about anyone in these parts.
But the seasoned canoe racer has a favorite right in Traverse City -- a 1.5-mile section of the Boardman River stretching from the YMCA to the Sabin Dam.
“It‘s such a tranquil area,“ she says. “There‘s a beautiful cedar swamp along there and a
lot of wildlife, mostly muskrats and birds. Sometimes I see blue herons farther up along River
Road, and that just makes your whole paddle to see something like that.“
Near the Cass Road bridge is a tranquil, flat-water pond rife with cattails and a pair of
nesting swans. “It‘s a beautiful little pond and totally unknown,“ she notes. “I never see anyone
in there at all.“
In fact, the whole area might well be called Traverse City‘s Unknown Park. Its serenity
belies the fact that it‘s surrounded by commercial and industrial activity along South Airport,
Keystone and Cass Roads. But you‘d never know it, says Cockrell.
It‘s also an area that‘s in the path of a $25.9 million road plan which is expected to tear a swath of development through the valley, connecting Hartman and Hammond roads in Traverse City with a $2.2 million bridge. Currently a coalition of environmental and anti-sprawl groups are suing to keep the Grand Traverse County Road Commission from building the bridge in a battle that goes back to the mid-‘90s.
Of note, the Reserve itself isn‘t part of the property where the bridge may be built, but many hikers and paddlers treat it as such, with trails wending along the river from Sabin Dam to the YMCA.

NO TRAFFIC
“One of the nicest things about this section of the river is that you don‘t hear hardly any
city traffic,“ Cockrell says. “When you get close to the YMCA, you can hear South Airport and a little bit of Keystone... and at night sometimes, I hear the stamping equipment at the industrial park off Cass Road. But you hardly know you‘re in the city, it‘s so peaceful.“
Canoeists aren‘t the only ones who‘ve discovered this paradise. Designated a “Blue
Ribbon“ trout stream and boasting an extensive network of trails, it‘s also a favorite haunt of
fishermen, photographers, families, school groups, and hikers of all ages.
They can thank the Grand Traverse Soil and Water Conservation District for that, which
helped to establish the area as the Grand Traverse County Natural Education Reserve. Dedicated in 1976, the Reserve now includes over 400 acres of land and features 1,200 feet of boardwalks, a working beaver pond and dam, six miles of trails, five viewing platforms, and an aviary viewing gazebo.
“It gives people an opportunity to walk through a wetland which they ordinarily wouldn‘t
be able to do,“ says Wally Chappel, Parkland Coordinator for the Conservation District. “The
biodiversity of that area is so rich. To me, that‘s one of the most interesting parts of the six miles of trails we have at the Reserve.“

HOME OF THE WILD
There‘s a reason why Chappel calls it “a green emerald in the midst of development.“
Wetlands are said to be second only to the rainforest in terms of biodiversity, and this one
features nearly every natural cover found in the state -- a bog, marsh, swamp, level terrain,
upland forest, pine forest, creek, river and pond, to name a few.
It‘s also home to an assortment of wildlife -- deer, black bear, mink, otter, and a wealth of birds. Local birder Bob Carstens has identified 38 species in the area, and many unusual birds also use it as a nesting ground or stopping point.
All of this is one reason why the Conservation District is building a Nature Center near
the Sabin Pond trailhead on Cass Road. The 5,700-square-foot facility -- scheduled to begin
construction in spring of 2003 -- will house a classroom, lab, exhibit area, and a large room for public meetings and events.
The center will also further the educational efforts of the Conservation District, which
already includes guided hikes, a Kid‘s Discovery Program, and a proposed summer day camp at
the new Nature Center. Extending the trail network is also in the works. They hope to purchase
the YMCA property, which will link the Reserve trails with the new Boardman Lake trail
stemming from the Grand Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere Avenue.

TROUBLE IN PARADISE
But just north of the Reserve between the Sabin Dam and the YMCA is also the location
of the proposed Hartman-Hammond bridge, a $25.9 million plan to reroute and widen regional
arterial roads and construct a 200-foot bridge across the Boardman River. In Sara Cockrell‘s
mind, that would be a big mistake.
“I‘m totally opposed to the Hartman-Hammond bridge, and you can quote me on that,“
she says. “That whole section between the YMCA and Sabin will be ruined, and if we let it go,
we‘ll never be able to get it back.“
Bob Carstens has similar thoughts about the road project. “Increasingly, people want to
live in an area that has quality of life, so why diminish that quality of life for the sake of
transportation?“ he notes. “At the same time, it‘s questionable whether it will solve the problems they‘re seeking to solve.“