User:Sagsaw/Draft NOD

North Ottawa Dunes is a 500 acre (2 km2) unimproved county park in Ottawa County, Michigan. The park is located within the City of Ferrysburg and Spring Lake Township and contains one of the largest areas of wooded dunelands in the vicinity. According to a Calvin College study, North Ottawa dunes contains 18 miles (29 km) of trails.

Topography

 * Parabolic dunes form during periods of high Lake Michigan water levels as waves erode and destabilize coastal bluffs and underlying deposits and wind carries the resulting sediment inland.
 * Park contains parabolic dunes, blowouts, nested dunes, backdunes, and interdunal areas. Western park boundary lies approximately along the first line of parabolic dunes.
 * Park contains 130 acres (0.5 km2) of critical dune areas.
 * Contains 59 dunes of which 5 are active.
 * Sand dunes rise to 200 ft (60 m) above Lake Michigan.
 * Dunes range from 2,000 to 6,000 years old.
 * Largest reliefs occur along the western edge of the park, with progressively less rugged terrain progressing to the east.

Flora & fauna

 * 303 plant species, including 229 native species, have been identified within North Ottawa Dunes.
 * 69 species of birds, 3 species of amphibians, and 2 species of reptiles have been identified within North Ottawa Dunes.
 * Deer are responsible for significant plant destruction and erosion within the park.
 * Two threatened species, Pitcher's thistle and Panicled screw-stem are found within North Ottawa dunes.
 * Two species of concern, the hooded warbler and the eastern box turtle are found within the park.
 * Invasive species include garlic mustard, autumn olive, Scotch pine, and honeysuckle.
 * Park contains mesic forests, conifer/hardwood forests, dune savannah areas, blowout areas, open sand, and wetlands.
 * Most of the critical dune areas located in the western portion of the park are populated by mature mesic forest plant communities consisting of american beech, sugar maple, red oak, black cherry, red maple, white ash, hemlock, eastern white pine, yellow birch and basswood.
 * Backdune ridge and inter-dunal areas are coverd in a dry-mesic forest consisting of red oak and eastern white pine with some american beech, eastern black oak and white oak and sugar maple specimens.
 * North Ottawa Dunes contains pockets of mixed hardwood and softwood forests consisting mainly of eastern white pine, big-tooth aspen, and red maple.

History

 * The oldest dunes, located along the eastern side of the park, were probably formed 10,000 to 13,000 years ago, shortly after the retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet, and may represent the approximate locating of the Lake Michigan shore at that time.
 * The next oldest dunes, located closer to the Lake Michigan shore, were probably formed 6,000 to 8,000 years ago.
 * The parabolic dunes along the western edge of the park were probably formed 2,000 to 6,000 years ago.
 * Logged during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
 * Many trails may be the remnants of logging roads.
 * Historic ORV use.
 * Human impact decreasing over since the early 1970's.
 * Sand mining proposed.
 * Residential development proposed.
 * Purchased by Ottawa County in 2005.
 * ORV use continues in northeast portion of the park.

Proposed greenway

 * Part of a proposed greenway.