NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PLANS PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR SHORELINE RESTORATION MANAGEMENT PLAN

Date: November 12, 2010

Be part of the future. The National Park Service (NPS) is in the early stages of a Shoreline Restoration and Management Plan and an associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. NPS staff will host four open houses where they will introduce the issues that affect the Park’s shoreline, biological communities, foredunes, sand movement and beach nourishment and will propose tools to restore and manage this treasure along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. The majority of the open house is set aside for public questions and comments.

There are four opportunities to share your ideas. NPS staff will be presenting the same information at each open house.

While everyone is welcome at all meetings, two meetings are primarily for those who live in the neighborhoods closest to the national lakeshore: December 8, at the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission, 6100 Southport Road, Portage, Indiana, and December 9, at the Lubeznik Center for The Arts,101 W. 2nd St., Michigan City, Indiana. Two additional meetings will be primarily for members of the general public at large, regardless of their community of residence: December 15, at the Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission, 6100 Southport Road, Portage, Indiana and December 16, at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Visitor Center, 1215 North State Road 49, Porter, Indiana. All meetings are 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.    

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of 393 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore includes 15 miles of the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan and 15,000 acres of beach, woods, marshes, and prairie in the northwest corner of Indiana. More than 2 million visitors come to this national park each year.