Development along our coastlines can limit the public's use of the shore and fragment wildlife habitat. To address the problem, Michigan coastal managers are helping to create regional greenways, a connected system of land and water trails that benefits man and animal alike.
"This has been a priority for us," says Catherine Cunningham, chief of Michigan's Coastal Management Program. "One of the things we've looked at under section 309 [of the Coastal Zone Management Act] is managing secondary and cumulative impacts of development. We realized fragmentation of habitat was a serious concern."
The coastal program is providing technical assistance and grants to help with greenways planning in four regions of the state, and the trail engineering and construction efforts of the included communities. "Our involvement is to facilitate the process," Cunningham says.
Defining the Solution
The term "greenways" has evolved to refer to corridors of protected open space managed for conservation and recreational purposes. Greenways often follow natural land or water features, and can link nature reserves, parks, cultural features, and historic sites with each other and with populated areas. Greenways can be publicly or privately owned.
"Prior to the recent regional initiatives," says Cunningham, "the focus on greenways was much more on developing recreational trails. No one knew what the term ecological corridor entailed. Our interest [in greenways] is twofold: public access and the movement of wildlife through ecological corridors. We've promoted both of these."
She says most of the initiatives for greenways in Michigan have been "grassroots efforts done on a regional basis." The motives behind the initiatives have ranged from promoting tourism to providing animal habitat.
"How we've approached greenways is through using grants to fill a niche that wasn't being filled by other programs," explains Cunningham. Coastal program grants have helped regional planning organizations and communities hold public meetings, develop local capacity building, conduct master planning, and even engineer and construct trails. Some of the state's Great Lakes Coastal Restoration Grant monies are being used to purchase property that represents gaps in a region's trail system.
Technical assistance also has been provided, such as supplying data layers for geographic information systems (GIS), and creating an educational CD-ROM for private landowners. The CD development was done in partnership with a nonprofit organization that is helping local landowners within a planned ecological corridor develop habitat plans for their property.
Steps on the Trail
An important component of Michigan's greenway initiatives has been the regional focus, Cunningham says. "It gives it a context. You don't want to be spending money on trails that go nowhere. You need a larger than local area when you're thinking about a comprehensive trail system."
All the regions involved with developing greenways approached the coastal program for assistance. While their unique needs dictated the type and amount of assistance they received, each planning process was similar—the idea was brought forth by a regional planning agency or organization; a series of public meetings were held to identify areas to be included; and regional plans were developed that are being implemented by counties and communities with the support of other federal, state, and local agencies and nongovernmental organizations.
The regional plans are extremely detailed and include information such as existing trails, natural wildlife corridors, all identifiable resources and how to link them, the existence of waterways or wetlands, public and private lands, and identification of areas where future trails can be built.
The challenge is finding someone who can provide the necessary leadership to pursue regional planning, Cunningham notes. "Putting together a regional plan is a labor-intensive exercise. You really need strong leadership and the administrative capacity to carry it off."
Learning from Others
While the regional plans are vital, it is local leadership that "really gets things off the ground" and turns the regional plans into reality.
Almost every county that has been involved in a regional greenway initiative has "added significantly to their trail system" as a result, and the number of grant applications to the coastal program for trail development is on the rise, Cunningham says. When looking at a regional greenways initiative, "we don't look at mileage, we look at local support and if the communities are on board."
The state learned the importance of local involvement the hard way, Cunningham explains. Another state agency completed plans for a regional trail network, but when they took it to the communities they met with "strong resistance."
"It's surprising, but trails are controversial," she says. "We've found that if citizens and communities are involved in developing the plans, there's so much more support later on."
Cunningham emphasizes that it is the combination of regional planning and local action that is making greenway initiatives successful in Michigan.
"Because of the larger regional initiative, this has spurred local communities to look at their trail systems and think about ecological corridors," Cunningham says. "I think it showed the local communities what opportunities there were for linkages. . . It's spurring a lot of collaborative efforts."
For more information on Michigan's greenway initiatives, contact Catherine Cunningham at (517) 335-3456, or cunningc@michigan.gov. To learn more about the Huron Greenways Project, one of the regional plans, point your browser to www.hurongreenways.info.
