Shiawassee River Water Trail Coalition – Meeting 5
Hosted by City of Linden
Agenda - November 17, 2016
- Announcements
- Presentation of Water Trail Inventory (current conditions) – Sara McDonnell
- Water Trail Site Inventory Review and Edits - Sara
Assignment: Launch Site Inventory: Here is a link to the Shiawassee River Launch Site Inventory ( will be available next week). Each community who has public access sites along the Water Trail should review the launch site inventory for each of the access points and/or sites under their jurisdiction. Please review, make corrections/edits, and/or acknowledge if the information is correct. Please return the inventories to Sara McDonnell, [email protected] by Jan. 19.
Water Trail Site Improvements – Checklist/Form - Barbara
Assignment: Launch Site Assessment: For each of your community’s access and launch sites, please fill out a Water Trail Site Improvement Form (hot link). Identify any known planned or potential launch site improvements or enhancements. If planned, please note date that the improvement is expected to be made. This information will be used to create a water trail recreation improvement plan for existing and future public access sites/launches.
Please return Site Improvement Forms to Sara McDonnell, [email protected] by Jan. 19
User Experience Map – Level of paddling difficulty, river and land characteristics – Sara presented draft map for meeting feedback. Will post on water trail website for more feedback.
Resolutions of support for National Water Trail designation - Barbara
Sample resolutions of support for local governments, example from Huron River National Water Trail - Barbara
Resolutions of support from public land managers including State government: DNR (Boat access on Lake Ponemah)
Need acknowledgement and support from MI State Trails Coordinator, Paul Yauk, MDNR
Non-profits – those involved in managing, maintaining, and educational/environmental programming on the water trail
Landowners who provide public access and are listed on water trail maps/website need to be notified and sign letter of support and access permission
Assignment: Resolutions/Letters of Support Resolutions Due to the Friends March 1st.
Each local government, landowner, state agency (DNR), and/or non-profits who provides public access to the Water Trail will be asked to do a resolution or letter of support for the water trail grant application. In that resolution of support they should also confirm that all public lands under their jurisdiction and that are listed as open to the public on Water Trail maps and other public information will be maintained and opened to the public for the next 10 years. See website for sample letters/resolutions of support.
Water Trail Goals – Recreation, Environmental, Economic
Open discussion – brainstorming – Barbara will edit into goal statements
Recreation: Open river, navigable, accessible to all ages and abilities (Corunna applied for ADA dock, Linden putting specs together); keeping river clean/free of trash; safe for total body contact; fishable; develop launches to draw more users (restrooms, kayak lockers); appropriate length trips for beginners; tie in with other recreational activities (bicycling, bbq/picnic, etc); canoe/kayak races in Corunna, Chesaning, Holly-Fenton; mesh with other events; leave-no-trace ethic
Environmental: keep natural features of beaver dam; wildlife viewing; enforce/enact local building codes to address building in floodplain and removing floodplain vegetation, fishable, swimmable; preserve riparian and wetland areas (Saginaw Basin, NOHLC, 6 Rivers); linear park; hospital protecting river bank and increasing access to river (restorative); migratory bird route (north-south); green infrastructure; leave-no-trace ethics
Economic: good wayfinding signs for paddlers to navigate trail towns, safely store equipment while visiting towns (storage lockers, etc); sponsorship opportunities for businesses to advertise proximity to water; app for users (like Shiawassee County Recreational App “Shiawassee County Parks”), health department promotes as health benefits, getting people more active; find ways to promote outside of our area to draw new river users in a cost-effective way; create ‘sense of place’ and connecting our communities; accessible for low cost (fishing, etc); shop local, play local
The National Water Trail Application submission is due no later than May 1, 2017 for consideration by the National Park Service and other federal agency partners. So, we'll need all the key items organized by April for final review before submission. Another discussion topic will be what organization submits the application to the NPS.
ACTION ITEMS
1. Launch Site Inventory: Here is a link to the Shiawassee River Launch Site Inventory ( will be available next week). Each community who has public access sites along the Water Trail should review the launch site inventory for each of the access points and/or sites under their jurisdiction. Please review, make corrections/edits, and/or acknowledge if the information is correct. Please return the inventories to Sara McDonnell, [email protected] by Jan. 19.
2) Launch Site Assessment: For each of your community’s access and launch sites, please fill out a Water Trail Site Improvement Form (hot link). Identify any known planned or potential launch site improvements or enhancements. If planned, please note date that the improvement is expected to be made. This information will be used to create a water trail recreation improvement plan for existing and future public access sites/launches.
Please return Site Improvement Forms to Sara McDonnell, [email protected] by Jan. 19
3. Resolutions/Letters of Support Resolutions Due to the Friends March 1st.
Each local government, landowner, state agency (DNR), and/or non-profits who provides public access to the Water Trail will be asked to do a resolution or letter of support for the water trail grant application. In that resolution of support they should also confirm that all public lands under their jurisdiction and that are listed as open to the public on Water Trail maps and other public information will be maintained and opened to the public for the next 10 years. See website for sample letters/resolutions of support.
4. The National Water Trail Application submission is due no later than May 1, 2017 for consideration by the National Park Service and other federal agency partners. So, we'll need all the key items organized by April for final review before submission. Another discussion topic will be what organization submits the application to the NPS.