Platte River mouth changes prompt investigation

HONOR, MI — Who messed with Platte River Point?

That’s what the National Park Service is investigating after the Platte River outflow suddenly shifted in a way that makes it easier for boats to access Lake Michigan.

The river, which winds through the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore before entering Lake Michigan at Platte Bay, cut a channel this month through a long, sandy spit which had previously built up along its western bank.

The new flow pattern deepened the river mouth enough to ease access for boats from a nearby launch maintained by a local township, which wants the outlet dredged.

According to state officials and witnesses, the park service caught someone digging out the river mouth with a shovel. But park service officials refused to release details or elaborate on what they termed an “active law enforcement investigation.”

“There was a dramatic shift to the mouth of the Platte River last week,” said Scott Tucker, superintendent at Sleeping Bear. “Rangers and park biologists are assessing the situation.”

The park service issued a call on Friday, Aug. 26 for anonymous tips about the “illegal diversion.”

State regulators are taking a hands-off approach.

“We’re letting the feds handle this,” said Hugh McDiarmid, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). “Our understanding is that one or more people hand-dug with shovels, whatever they dug.”

The new flow pattern apparently began sometime around Aug. 15. According to a witness, that’s when authorities were called with safety concerns about motor boats attempting to access the lake through an area popular with beachgoers.

Platte River Point is one of the few remaining undeveloped river mouths or large creek outlets on the state’s Lake Michigan coast. It’s highly frequented but parts of the beach are restricted to protect nesting for endangered piping plovers.

There is a boat launch about 900 feet upriver at a township park, but it’s mainly used for kayaks and canoes due to sand build up and shallowness of the outlet.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which maintains a fish hatchery and weir on the Lower Platte, used to dredge the river mouth but stopped several years ago.

Lake Township would like to see that dredging resume.

“In my opinion, it’s a safety issue; the mouth of the river not getting dredged,” said Anna Grobe, Lake Township supervisor.

Grobe has been lobbying the park and elected officials to resume dredging at the river mouth, arguing that should someone need a water rescue in Platte Bay, the nearest usable emergency launch point is at least 10 coastal miles away in Frankfort, to the south.

Beyond safety, Grobe said easing boater access to the bay would benefit the local economy.

“The park belongs to the people,” Grobe said, echoing remarks Tucker gave in a local TV interview. “Well, the people want to see this dredging happen and they are not doing it.”

“It’s become very frustrating.”

Jay Wesley, Lake Michigan basin coordinator for DNR fisheries, said the state used to dig out the river mouth under a federal permit, but stopped about four years ago.

The river bottom is sandy and it used to be dug daily, he said. The park service stopped approving the permit because it didn’t want the spoils deposited on the beach. Hauling sand and rock away was cost-prohibitive, Wesley said.

The large sand and pebble berm at Platte Beach is made of dredged material from the river. The park service doesn’t like it there and previously received Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding to “reverse past misplacement,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA isn’t part of the investigation, but spokespeople for Region 5 said the park service is assessing the river mouth “to determine whether future use of GLRI funding for this purpose is still feasible.”

The more direct cut through the sand spit now makes it easier for salmon and steelhead to get upriver each fall to spawn, said Wesley. The annual coho salmon run up the Platte River is expected to begin within a couple weeks.

Although the new changes deepened part of the river mouth, a mini delta had formed last weekend as sandbars shifted in response to the new flow pattern and filled enough of the mouth to enable beachgoers to walk its perimeter in ankle-deep water.

Wesley thinks the fish will still make it upriver.

“They’ll swim through a couple inches of water if they have to,” he said. “They’re determined and strong. They’ll get upriver.”

The river may be helping. Local anglers say the current has continued to scour out the sand at the mouth enough over the past week to allow some boats through.

Tim Keely, a fishing guide in Benzonia, fishes Platte Bay regularly and thinks the annual coho run might see better numbers due to the fish having an easier swim upriver.

Previously, the river cut east about 1,000 feet before entering Platte Bay. Keely said that shallow meander forced boaters to push or pull boats through and created a more stressful pathway for fish to navigate.

Keely also wants to see the dredging resume. Bay access from the launch at the end of Lake Michigan Road was nearly impossible previously and he thinks the annual $45 park passes should fund the work.

“That launch was supposed to be for easy access to the bay,” Keely said. Absent that, “why even have that boat launch?”

Keely was skeptical about whether the recent changes were intentional or caused by frequent beachgoers who move rocks around to build small dams. He thinks the river mouth previously extended as far east as it did earlier this year because of those structures.

“These kids and people just go down there and do random sh—,” Keely said. “There’s no signs that say ‘do not mess with anything.’”

“Fifty other people do the same thing; now you’ve got a dam.”

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