The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians is one step closer regaining ownership and stewardship of a 187-acre chunk of land on the Leelanau Peninsula.
The site, which sits along Grand Traverse Bay, was once the site of Timber Shores campground. It was later eyed for a luxury condo development with a private marina, and most recently, a group hoped to turn it into an RV park and campground.
But before that, it was part of the ancestral lands of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for more than 300 years, according to a report on the site’s history.
The land that became Timber Shores was illegally transferred to private ownership in 1855.
Now, a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could change that.
NOAA is giving more than $6.5 million for the purchase of the Timber Shores site. It's also chipping in on restoration efforts. The money comes from a larger $11-million pool that also funds continued work on the FishPass project in the Boardman-Ottaway River.
The remaining amount for the purchase, roughly $3.5 million, will come from a Leelanau County nonprofit called New Community Vision, which negotiated a $10 million purchase of the land. The nonprofit says it's still $2 million away from that amount but expects to have it by the end of 2024.
(New Community Vision was created with the goal of purchasing the site for a nature preserve and affordable housing, instead of an RV campground.)
Under the agreement, New Community Vision will purchase the land, then transfer it to the Grand Traverse Band for restoration and preservation. It will be renamed Mashkiigaki, which means marsh lands and place of the medicine.
The tribe’s Natural Resources Department will restore Mashkiigaki’s shoreline, wetlands and creek corridor, which are important spawning grounds for cisco and other native fish species.
In their application for the grant, the tribe lays out plans to remove debris from the former campground and marina; restore cobble along the Lake Michigan shoreline for spawning; and revegetate certain areas with native plant species culturally important to the Anishinaabek.
The plan is for the site to remain a protected nature preserve in perpetuity, with certain areas accessible for hiking and birdwatching by tribal and non-tribal community members.
New Community Vision says a separate 24-acre parcel will be used to develop affordable housing in partnership with other Leelanau County-based nonprofits.
With that $2 million left to raise, the deal isn't done yet. New Community Vision says if they are unable to make the purchase, plans for an RV campground will move forward, according to the landowner.
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