Bringing the latest science to protect Michigan’s dunes

Michigan’s world-class coastal dunes provide ecologic, geologic and economic value to our state’s coastal communities. They attract new residents and millions of visitors to our shorelines. In the process, they challenge us to weigh our enjoyment of the dunes against the need to protect them and live in greater harmony with their dynamic, evolving character.

While not explicitly calling for new dune research, Public Act 297 of 2012 recognized the importance of science for effective dune management, specifically calling for the application of “the most comprehensive, accurate, and reliable information and scientific data available” in fulfilling the Act’s purpose.

So, the Michigan Environmental Council began discussions with many of the state’s leading academic researchers in late 2013. The result of those conversations is the joint project, “Bringing the Latest Science to Management of Michigan’s Coastal Dunes.”

Download the report

Read the results of our local government survey

Read our local government phone interviews

Read our state coastal dune management comparison

Read our compiled references

Follow our story map

Read the paper on our report

This initiative is intended to make science a fuller partner in the management of our dunes. In the decades since that passage of Michigan’s first law dealing with the coastal dunes was adopted, scholars have certainly advanced the state of scientific knowledge about Michigan’s world-class coastal dunes, including sharpening our understanding of when and how dunes formed, their role in supporting native species and natural features, and some of the factors influencing their highly dynamic nature.

Our efforts here are intended to better equip Michigan with this information, summarizing the best and most up-to-date picture of the dunes themselves, pushing the science forward, and finding the best, most useful, and most interesting innovations among the various management programs and systems in place to support dunes in Michigan and elsewhere, allowing the state and its coastal communities to engage in true, science-based management of this unique and vital coastal resource.

This research is the first of three reports on properly managing Michigan’s coastal dunes.

Read our geographic, economic research

Read our social, photographic research