Clark Township's Five-year Recreation Plan Will Be Presented in March
By Amy Polk

Clark Township's new recreation plan will be presented to the public in March, and if adopted, will be in place through 2012. It is the first new recreation plan in five years. Five-year recreation plans are required by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources from communities applying for Trust Fund grants. Recreation plans also guide resource development and support other grant requests.

Clark Township has already attracted more than $34,000 in private grants and anonymous donations for its planned recreation park on Blind Line Road in Cedarville. More money is needed, however, since the draft recreation plan estimates construction and amenities at the park will cost approximately $600,000. Clark Township will most likely seek funding through the DNR Trust Fund program, Clark Township Supervisor Linda Hudson said.

The recreation plan is 85% to 90% done, said Michelle Walk of the Clark Township Recreation Plan Work Group Thursday, January 17, township meeting.

Citizen input can be contributed at a March 20 hearing and then the plan will be sent for review by the Mackinac County Planning Commission and Eastern Upper Peninsula Regional Planning and Development Commission. It will then go to the Department of Natural Resources for another round of review and approval.

Public comments are accepted throughout the review process.

A 2007 public survey was distributed to residents and tourists in the summer and fall and inserted in school newsletters. Cedarville High School students were surveyed by Youth Advisory Committee members of the Les Cheneaux Community Foundation.

Residents rank (in order of importance) boating, hunting, fishing, basketball, snowmobiling, swimming, walking, camping, kayaking, and volleyball among the top 10 most important activities. Others that scored high include visiting the library (11th), sailing (12th), cultural events (13th), football (14th), baseball and cross-country skiing (tied for 15th), hiking, hockey, and horseback riding (tied for 16th), ice skating and jogging (tied for 17th), canoeing and picnicking (tied for 18th), bird watching (19th), and another tie between youth dances and a boat school (20th).

Township recreational facilities include the Hessel Marina, Cedarville and Hessel boat launch ramps, the Community Center in Cedarville, and the Albert J. Lindberg Airport north of Hessel. The plan lists four park areas maintained by Clark Township, including the Cedarville Downtown Waterfront Park and Dock, Clark Township Recreation Park at the township hall in Cedarville, Clark Township Ball Field at the airport in Hessel, and the Hessel Beach and park area at the Hessel Marina.

The Les Cheneaux Bike Path through Clark Township is an emerging facility that is being developed by the Clark Township Bike Path Committee, and ad hoc committee of Clark Township. Construction is projected to start in 2009, and the route will be a section of the proposed North Huron Scenic Pathway between the Mackinac Bridge and Drummond Island.

Rest rooms are suggested at the Mackinac Bay Nature Preserve Scenic Overlook between Cedarville and Hessel. The preserve is one of eight owned and maintained by land conservancies in Clark Township.

The proposed Clark Township Recreation Plan can be seen at Clark Township Hall in Cedarville or at the March 20 hearing.