A year and a half after a local nonprofit kicked off fundraising efforts to buy and preserve the site of a proposed RV resort, those 200-plus acres of bayfront land near Northport have finally changed hands.

Bill Rastetter, attorney for the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB), shares with The Ticker that the GTB and its partners at New Community Vision (NCV) have successfully taken over ownership of the land formerly earmarked for a development called Timber Shores. Rastetter says 188-plus acres of the land have been deeded “to the GTB Land Trust” and another 24 acres have been deeded to NCV, with both transfers recorded on December 26.

Those land transfers end a lengthy struggle over the 212-acre Timber Shores property. Early this decade, developers sought to turn that acreage on West Bay into a sprawling RV resort, with 355 RV sites and 15 tent sites. The coastal Leelanau Township property had previously served as an RV park until the late 1980s. Despite that precedent, the project became embroiled in a range of different disputes and lawsuits, relating to everything from zoning rules to sewer agreements. The project stalled out for good in November 2022, when Leelanau Township voters upheld a recently-adopted zoning ordinance that significantly restricted development by way of new setback rules.

In June 2023, the Leelanau Ticker broke the news that a new nonprofit, NCV, had formed with the purpose of raising funds to buy the Timber Shores land. NCV’s vision for the property was a “hybrid land trust model,” where some of the acreage would be used for a nature preserve, some for a small attainable housing development, and some for other purposes to be determined through public feedback.

Earlier this year, the Timber Shores preservation project got a big boost thanks to a partnership with the GTB. Much of the acreage in question is ancestral tribal land, which GTB River Restoration Project Manager Naomi Louchouarn explained in detail at an open house event earlier this year.

“The name for this land is Mashkiigaki, which means marsh lands, but it also means the ‘place of medicine’ because this is where, in times past, tribal members would find food and medicine and connect with the earth,” Louchouarn said. “To collaborate with NCV and everyone in the area is important for the ecological restoration of this place, but also for the restoration of the irreplaceable cultural and spiritual connections to the land as well.”

“The Mashkiigaki property is 187 [188] acres of sacred ancestral property located between two historic Anishinaabeg villages, Wazakoo [Wakazoo]  (now known as Northport) and Ahgosatown,” reads a tribal report shared with The Ticker by Rastetter. “In the nineteenth century, the Mashkiigaki property was a setting with abundant fish and deer, medicines, berries and other plants. Tribal Elder and former Councilwoman Eva Petoskey describes the property’s importance to the Anishinaabeg way by stating, ‘Reconnecting with this land, and restoring it, taking care of the water and fish, the white pine, tamarack, and cedar trees, and the plants, will strengthen our way of life. The stars, sun, moon, sky, trees, plants, animals, earth, rocks, and water are our relatives and teachers. Those of us in the middle between the ancestors and the children, have an obligation to protect the land, water, and our rights for future generations.’”

It was ultimately an $11.9 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to GTB that made the acquisition of the Mashkiigaki possible. Announced in July, the NOAA grant earmarked some $6.5 million for the purchase and restoration of the coastal property.

Rastetter describes this week’s land transfer as a historic “‘land back’ accomplishment” for the tribe, referring to GTB’s long-held stance that much of the Leelanau Peninsula – including the Mashkiigaki acreage – was illegally taken from the tribe as part of an 1855 treaty. That treaty ceded vast amounts of tribal-owned land to the United States Government with the understanding that the government would set aside some of the property as a permanent “reservation” homeland for tribal members and their children. Despite the supposed protections, the GTB claims the government over time sold approximately 87,000 acres of reservation land to non-Native American settlers and lumber firms, reneging on the 1855 treaty without providing any monetary compensation to the tribe.

“188 acres is merely a drop in that bucket, but tremendous significance nonetheless,” Rastetter says.

GTB’s Natural Resources Department plans to clean up and restore the property, with a special focus on protecting the creeks, wetlands, and shoreline as spawning areas for native fish. Parts of the property will also become publicly accessible for hiking, birdwatching, and more.