Harbor Country Living

Warren Woods Preserve

New Warren Woods foot bridge to be built
By Katie Kissel, News staff writer

SAWYER - Visitors to Warren Woods State Park may soon be able to cross the Galien River again.Chikaming Township Clerk Jeanne Dudeck told Township Board members on Feb. 10 that she had received word from the Michigan Department of Environmental Equality that a permit had been granted for the reconstruction of a pedestrian bridge in Warren Woods. According to board consensus, the old bridge had been out for over 10 years. A fallen tree snapped one of the main supports, rendering the old bridge structurally unsound, and it was demolished soon thereafter.

Warren Woods is located between Elm Valley and Warren Woods roads north of Three Oaks. Dudeck said the permit was requested by the Department of Natural Resources. The only downfall was that a date was not given for the rebuilding to begin. Trustee Jack Gibson noted that the date of expiration on the permit was Dec. 31, 2009.

Dudeck said she wasn't expecting the new bridge to go up anytime soon. But those hiking through the forest primeval may indeed be able to cross the new span in 2005. Warren Dunes State Park Manager Mike Terrell said on Tuesday, Feb. 15, that he expects the new bridge to be built "this winter." "Tentatively it should start about the (Feb.) 28th and hopefully it will end by June 1st," he said of the bridge construction project. In addition to Warren Dunes State Park, located between Sawyer and Bridgman, Terrell oversees Warren Woods and Grand Mere State Park in Stevensville.

Prairie Trillium

Board members and audience members alike could not believe their eyes when they looked up at the clock after adjournment of the Feb. 10 meeting. A month's worth of agenda items was completed in less than one hour - 54 minutes to be exact. Dudeck, who had been elected by the board to run the show in the absence of Board Supervisor Ivan Zimmerman due to illness, said she could not take all of the credit because it was a fairly short agenda.

February 17, 2005 -Katie Kissel
Copyright © 2005 Harbor Country News– may not be copied or reproduced without expressed written permission.

Previous editions of Harbor Country Living are in the Archives