The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has decided that no new ordinances are needed for the regulation of boating on Tan Lake, Long Lake, Clear Lake, Cedar Lake and Squaw Lake, more commonly known as the “Stringy Lakes” in Oxford Township.
After a public hearing on Sept. 16 and the investigation of area safety reports, the DNR found that “No Significant Conditions presently exist which necessitate the establishment of controls more restrictive than those currently within the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.” The DNR also found that many of the concerns presented for safe boating on the Stringy Lakes “are already violations of existing state law.”
The entire investigation was spurred on by residents concerned with water safety issues on the Stringy Lakes. In fact, approximately 117 area residents attended the September public hearing.
During that evening, resident Robert Martin, who mentioned that his comments to the township board may be what led to the public hearing, stepped forward and explained that his concern was with smaller water craft, such as jet skis, using Cedar Lake, which has no housing on it, as a cut through – steering directly across the lake instead of following the counter-clockwise rule. Martin described the area as “passive.” He approached the Oxford Township Board to see if limitations could be placed on this area.
In response to the safety concerns, the Oxford Township Board of Trustees passed a resolution requesting the DNR to conduct the public hearing, and any other necessary investigations, into the need for special local watercraft controls.
“I think what the state is trying to tell people is that there are no ordinances that will change things out there,” said Township Supervisor Bill Dunn. “It’s policing, that’s all. The people need to contact the sheriff’s department when there are concerns or problems.”
In addition to watercraft safety, several residents also expressed concerns during the September public hearing about the water levels of the lakes and the number of boaters using the public access.
Many residents stated that water levels have been decreasing and several individuals even asked about dredging the lakes to increase the depth. Dunn said he contacted the Oakland County Drain Commission and he was given copies of the August 29 through October 10 “Weekly Legal Lake Level Information” for the String Lakes.
According to the commission, on August 29, the legal level for the lakes was 1,017.64 feet and the water level was measured at 1,017.80 feet, or 0.16 higher. For the next month and a half, the water levels stayed right at or above the legal limit until October 10 when the number dropped slightly. On that date, the legal lake level was 1,017.84 feet and the Stringy Lakes measured at 1,017.80 feet, a 0.04 difference.
“Nothings going to happen with this,” explained Dunn, “the levels are right where they should be.”
In response to concerns that the public access allows too many visitors into the lakes, Supervisor Dunn contacted Robert C. Bremer with the Bald Mountain Management Unit, a local division of the DNR.
Bremer sent the township a 1995 survey done on the visitor usage at the Squaw Lake access. The survey was compiled by Robin Phillips who reviewed the usage primarily on the weekends between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and on Tuesday evenings between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
According to the survey, the public access attracts mainly individuals who live nearby or around 10-12 miles from the lakes. Everyone surveyed at this time lived within 30 miles of the access. The survey also found that on a typical weekend late-afternoon, about 25 visitor boats could be expected, with 15 being pleasure boaters, five fisherman and five jet skis. The survey mentioned that fishermen appeared to be trying to grasp the early hours while pleasure boaters seemed to go for the warmer afternoon hours; however, these findings were not conclusive.
Also, the survey found that there was often more cars parked in the lot than watercraft launched into the lakes. This was attributed to visitors coming “to the lake to join their boat-owning colleagues and to sit and watch the on-water activities, and just to be ‘by the lake.’”
Bremer wrote in a cover letter of the survey that there are some conclusions in the findings he “would be hard pressed to agree with,” and believes that those results were probably caused by the survey study hours. One of the points he has observed himself, over a two year time span, is that before the hour of 10 a.m. on weekends, the primary users of the launch were fishermen with an average of 8-10 vehicles in the lot. Bremer explained that because of the study hours, these users were not taken into account.
Bremer also believes, based on his observations over a couple summers, that only “some of the current users would undoubtedly go elsewhere if a charge was instituted, but the vast majority would still continue to use this access site.”
When asked if the DNR had any studies more recent than 1995, Bremer said no.
“We were lucky enough that year to have a work-study individual on staff we could place there for that time,” he explained. “We normally do monitor the site now and then just to keep an idea of the usage.”
Bremer said the usage of the access today is probably very similar to the usage in 1995. He added that on average they find five to six vehicles in the lot on any given weekday and between 10-12 on weekends. Over the years, he has found between eight and ten vehicles in the lot at any given time.
“A good percentage of the users are people who live within five to six miles of the access,” he confirmed. “That really has not changed.”
Anyone interested in packets containing a copy of the letter from the DNR and the additional information collected by Supervisor Dunn, can either stop by the township office, or call 248-628-9787and leave a name and address to receive one in the mail.