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President Obama Signs Sleeping Bear Wilderness Protections

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

President Obama today (Thursday) signed into law the first-ever formal wilderness protections for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. More than 32,500 acres will remain primitive in perpetuity. No new roads or other amenities will be built in these areas.

We explained the changes in detail in a blog post last week, after the U.S. House gave final approval.

Perpetuity is the key change. The park will feel very much the same as it does today. Managers say the most of this land has been treated as wilderness for decades.

The new law also guarantees roads to popular swimming holes, such as the one near Otter Creek, will remain open. Those areas will no longer be slated for future wilderness.