Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Local state recreation areas will see some major improvements deemed long overdue as part of the MDNR’s next round of state park infrastructure projects.

A total of $250 million in federal relief funding was made available to the DNR to help address its long list of critical needs in Michigan state parks seeing record numbers of visitors.

DNR Director Dan Eichinger said the federal relief funding is nothing short of a historic investment in Michigan’s state parks and recreation system. “Our staff puts in a tremendous effort to keep things running efficiently and offer quality outdoor experiences for everyone, but it has been a challenge, especially as we welcome record numbers of visitors. This is an unprecedented, one-time funding wave that allows us to direct vital resources toward a decades-long backlog of repair and maintenance needs.”

The round includes more than a hundred projects, bundled into 40 contracts, for a proposed investment of $108.8 million. The funds will cover design, engineering and some construction. All projects, where possible, are sustainably designed to be environmentally sensitive and cost-efficient.

Repairs to the lower Chilson Pond Dam are planned at the Brighton Recreation Area; along with parking lot, road and utility improvements. 14 lane miles of park roads will be improved and paved as needed while the campground’s electrical system will be replaced and modernized.

At the Holly Recreation Area, repairs are planned to both the Heron Dam and Wildwood Dam.

At the Island Lake Rec Area, both the Spring Mill Pond and Kent Lake sanitary lift stations and pumps will be replaced. A contact station will be modernized to improve bike and vehicular circulation and park roads will be fixed as needed. Entrance roads and parking lots at Kent Lake will also be redone and paved as needed.

A number of improvement projects are planned at the Pinckney Recreation Area. The concession building in Silver Lake day-use area will be modernized. At the Bruin Lake campground, the garage/workshop and sanitation station will be replaced. Drainage will be improved and the Bruin Lake north campground toilet and shower building will be renovated or replaced. The campground entrance road, campground loops and day-use area roads will be improved and paved as needed.

At the Waterloo Recreation Area, the fishing pier will be replaced with more universally accessible features in the Portage Lake Campground, among various other improvements. That project includes a federal grant and state fund match.

Most all of the local projects are currently in the design/bid phase.

The American Rescue Plan Act funds are part of a $4.8 billion infrastructure package signed in March 2022 as part of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s Building Michigan Together Plan.

Whitmer said “Michigan’s beautiful, award-winning state parks are the backdrop of countless memories for millions of people every year. In April, I was proud to work across the aisle and sign the Building Michigan Together Plan, which made the largest investment ever in our state and local parks. The plan will fund improvements, renovations and upgrades, ensuring our parks remain great places to visit and continue to support tens of thousands of jobs and countless local economies. Pure Michigan is anchored by our state parks, and I will work with anyone to keep investing in them and powering tourism and recreation small businesses across the state. Let’s keep working together to ensure our public parks can thrive for generations.”

The DNR has created a website to keep the public up to date on the projects that also features an interactive map. A link is provided.