Manitou Island Dock Projects To Proceed Starting This Summer

The U.S. Department of Interior tells the Leelanau Ticker that the National Park Service (NPS) will move forward with planned dock replacements on the Manitou Islands starting this summer, despite sweeping federal cuts that could impact park staffing, operations, and budgeting.

NPS will replace and relocate the docks on both North and South Manitou in an effort to “address the impact of natural processes, such as littoral drift (shifting sands) and high-water levels.” Those issues have caused years of boat access problems on both islands, and have required frequent dredging to keep the docks accessible.

Speaking to the Leelanau Ticker last fall, Scott Tucker, park superintendent for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, said the tentative plan was to have North Manitou closed for the 2025 season and South Manitou closed for 2026. Those closures would allow time for the NPS to complete approximately $32 million in infrastructure upgrades – not just dock replacements, but also electrical, drinking water, and septic system work.

But sweeping federal budget cuts since President Trump took office in January – including mass layoffs at NPS and wide-ranging cancellations of federal funding – have raised questions about the Manitou projects. One team member at Mammoth Distilling, which has an ongoing farming project on South Manitou, reached out to the Leelanau Ticker, noting that any delays could “dictate plans” for the business this summer and beyond. Meanwhile, Megan and Jimmy Munoz, who own and operate Manitou Island Transit, say they “haven’t heard a word from the park” about the project timeline.

The Manitou project is funded entirely by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), legislation enacted in August 2020 and described on the U.S. Department of the Interior website as “the single largest investment in public lands in U.S. history.” Project funds will come from GAOA’s Legacy Restoration Fund, which authorized up to $1.9 billion in federal spending annually for five years to work through a “deferred maintenance and repair backlog on public lands.”

The Ticker contacted the Department of Interior, which oversees the NPS, to find out if GAOA funding could be impacted by the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE), which is working to slash up to $2 trillion from the federal budget. Elizabeth Peace, a department spokesperson, checked on the Manitou project specifically and confirmed it is still funded and still slated to move forward this year.

“The project and repairs to North and South Manitou Islands is on track for 2025,” Peace shared in an email. “Project contractors will mobilize in late March 2025 (weather dependent). The Lakeshore will issue additional information the first week of April on visitor impacts to North Manitou Island in 2025.”

This week, the NPS issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Manitou project, following an Environmental Assessment (EA) process that kicked off last April.

According to the FONSI, NPS decided to replace the docks “after careful analysis of potential impacts to resources and to the visitor experience, and in consultation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service; the US Army Corps of Engineers; associated tribes; the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office; and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy; the Grand Traverse Road Commission; and review and consideration of public comments.”

The FONSI clears the way for the dock projects to proceed as outlined in last year’s EA. Per that document, the new docks have “been designed with resiliency in mind,” including plans to use concrete panels and piling rather than wood, as well as design elements that incorporate “both 50-year storm wave heights and 100-year flood water level conditions.” The docks will also “extend into deeper water to account for low-water conditions and variability in sediment transport, given the various predictions for how climate conditions may change in this area over the next 50 years.”

In terms of ferry service, Manitou Island Transit is taking reservations for this season, but only for South Manitou trips. The Munozes previously told the Leelanau Ticker that even losing access to one island at a time could put them at risk of going out of business, which they reiterate now that the NPS project is officially moving forward.

“The big difference is what North Manitou camping provides versus what South camping provides,” Megan explains. “There’s a whole different clientele [for the two islands]. North offers a wilderness camping experience the likes of which is not easy to find, especially in the Midwest. North really attracts a certain time type of camper. South Manitou, you'll get more of your families on group campsites.”

Even if the two islands offered interchangeable experiences, Manitou Island Transit would be in a tough spot due to capacity issues.

“North is a much bigger island than South, and South Manitou has a capacity limit,” Jimmy explains. “We’re not far from that limit as is, so we don’t have the ability to take more people to South Manitou to make up for North being closed. Which is something we think the park should have foreseen – perhaps by increasing the capacity of the islands by creating more camping sites.”

The Munozes filed a lawsuit against the NPS last month, alleging breach of contract. That lawsuit pertains to a long history of dock access troubles at the Manitous, including a temporary dock installation at North Manitou last summer that the Munozes claim made it impossible for them to access that island for the entire season.

“We’ve asked to be compensated for not being able to make that money,” Jimmy says of the lawsuit.

Manitou Island Transit won a breach of contract lawsuit against the NPS in 2021, over similar island access and compensation issues. Megan tells the Leelanau Ticker that the new lawsuit is “basically just a refiling” of that previous suit.

Pictured: Maps of the planned dock replacements, as included in last year's Environmental Assessment.