When I lived in Michigan City, one of my favorite places to visit was Mt. Baldy, the magnificent giant sand dune at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Starting soon, there will be less opportunity for such visits. Lakeshore officials plan to restrict -- restrict, not eliminate -- access to the dune:
The Times of Munster reports that lakeshore official say studies are showing vegetation that should be a natural part of the dune at Mount Baldy is being trampled by visitors. They say that's causing plants to die and speeding up the erosion of the dune. Lakeshore officials say similar problems are occurring at other dunes within the national lakeshore.
Officials say the initial focus of will be on Mount Baldy, with trails being altered to allow vegetation to grow.
I'm not ordinarily someone who celebrates the "let's save this natural wonder for everybody, which means it can be accessed by nobody" view. But this seems like a reasonable approach. Fighting erosion has always been a tough job at Indiana's dunes, and altering trails to give vegetation a chance is just common sense.
