Developing increasingly threatens the endangered dunes on Lake Michigan near the Kalamazoo River. Photograph by Lyna Tucker/U.S. Army

"I’m always amazed by how much variety there is — how much there is to save,” she says.

Unfortunately, hikes through this area are not as freely attainable since Aubrey McClendon bought 402 acres of these wetlands, freshwater dunes, marshes and forest in 2002 for $39.3 million. He outbid the state of Michigan, the city of Saugatuck and two land conservancies which had hoped to buy the property for preservation.

Then he installed "no trespassing” signs and a guard.

McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corp. and co-owner of the Seattle Supersonics, is among the 400 richest people in America, with a net worth of $2.1 billion, according to Forbes.com.

McClendon’s company, Saugatuck LLC, plans to build expensive homes along the dunes and a marina in the mouth of the Kalamazoo River.

A Michigan Land Use Institute report warned in July 2007 that developing the property could generate a commercial housing boom similar to those that have occurred in the Benton Harbor and Traverse City areas. The Coastal Alliance and other conservancy groups have documented the property’s unique habitats and species and say development would harm these fragile ecosystems.

"The protection of these few remaining habitats and their wildlife are of paramount concern to shoreline communities,” the Coastal Alliance said in its application to the DEQ to gain state protection for the land.

Interdunal wetlands are rare. There are about 50 worldwide, and fewer than 20, including those near Saugatuck, considered high-quality, said Michael Cost, lead ecologist for the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, a conservation research effort affiliated with Michigan State University. The ecosystem only occurs on shorelines of lakes with fluctuating water levels and sand dunes.

"It’s a narrow ecological zone to begin with,” Cost said. The Natural Features Inventory considers the interdunal wetlands globally imperiled.

The wetlands house a variety of endangered animals: the Blanchard’s cricket frog; the Prairie Warbler, a brightly colored bird whose numbers are declining because of development; the Creek Chubsucker, an olive-tinted fish; as well as rare plants that can only grow along the wetlands’ banks such as the Pitcher’s Thistle, American Ginseng and the Cut-leaved Waters-parsnip. Most of these plants and animals live here because of the unique combination of environments, with the river channel dissecting the dune land, according to the SDCA.

In August 2008, McClendon offered to sell the lower half (or about 160 acres) of the land referred to by locals as the Denison Property for $25 million to The Nature Conservancy and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. The Nature Conservancy Director Helen Taylor said the groups planned to turn over the acreage to Saugatuck for preservation. However, the conservancies failed to raise the money by the March 2 deadline, and are renegotiating. Both sides were unwilling to talk while negotiations continue.

After a 20-minute hike at the Krow’s Nest, I sit on an old log and gaze below at the frozen Kalamazoo River and snow sprinkled dunes. Beside the river is a stretch of land speckled with striking green pine trees and yellowing dune grass, and then a stretch of the increasingly rare dunes, created during the last ice age at least 10,000 years ago.

A small breeze rustles the grass beside me as I try to image mega mansions dotting the area with their watered lawns and paved driveways. I try to picture the sun reflecting off hundreds of rooftops and car hoods, this breathtaking view of Lake Michigan blocked by electric wires and telephone poles.

"With huge houses all over this area, no one would be able to enjoy this,” Greydanus says.

She tells me about a time she came here as a teenager and skated up and down the nearby lagoon under the night sky.

"I’ll never forget that,” she says. "People need this. People with crazy, busy lives need to come here to just be.”

Shawntina Phillips is a junior journalism major at MSU. This is her first appearance in EJ.
Contact her at phill465@msu.edu.
For more information about the Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance go to saugatuckdunescoastalalliance.com.