Wall Repair, Coyote Plans Among Many Park Projects
By Karen Gould

Crews will be sent to the Island this spring to make repairs on the crumbling limestone walls at Fort Mackinac. Flaws in paint and mortar are thought to have contributed to the early deterioration of the walls, which were renovated just six years ago. Other ongoing projects, including the purchase of a landing craft, airport property issues, and the Island's coyote population also were discussed during a Mackinac Island State Park Commission meeting Wednesday, March 28, in Lansing.

"These walls deteriorated more quickly than they should have, based on a time table that is used for masonry repair," said Phil Porter, director of Mackinac State Historic Parks, referring to the wall at Fort Mackinac, the oldest structure in Michigan.

Repair was scheduled following a four-hour meeting in early March with representatives from the three companies involved in the wall restoration project, said Mr. Porter. That project cost $4.1 million and lasted two years, with completion in 2001.

The project was supervised by Deputy Director David Armour, who is now retired, but he attended the March 8 meeting along with representatives from the Christman Company of Lansing, which was the general contractor on the project, Smith Group Architects of Ann Arbor, which designed the restoration, and Schiffer Mason Contractors, Inc. of Holt, which performed the masonry work.

Crews will repair existing problem areas this spring, and other areas will be chosen to test paints and masonry products, said Mr. Porter.

The walls were constructed 226 years ago by British soldiers when they moved the Fort from the mainland during the Revolutionary War.

A new request for $250,000 for a new freight boat for the park is back on the table following omission from last year's appropriations bills, said Commissioner Laurie Stupak, wife of U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak.

"We're told that the projects that were approved last year that then were dropped from the final budget would have priority in this year's budget," said Commissioner Stupak.

The appropriation would be used to replaced the commission's 1952 surplus Navy landing craft with a new 74-foot vessel.

Park staff continues to work with the Bureau of Aeronautics over land issues, zoning requirements, and tree cutting at the Mackinac Island Airport. A contract has been signed with URS Corporation to provide land acquisition and easement acquisition services for specific parcels that are in the restricted airspace zone, said Mr. Porter.

Survey work completed last year by the Bureau of Aeronautics revealed that three lots in the Forest Brook subdivision are unbuildable, because they are in the flight safety zone.

Mr. Porter noted that the airport at Frankfort airport is having similar problems with the new federal requirements.

The park has obtained a year-around permit to destroy any coyote that posses a threat to humans or airport safety, Mr. Porter announced.

The park staff has been working with wildlife biologists to address concerns over the coyote population on the Island. They have no natural predators here and they have no way to leave the Island, except over the ice in the winter, Mr. Porter told commissioners. There was little ice this winter, he added, and under these circumstances, "the population will continue to grow."

He estimates that six to eight coyotes live on the Island, and if they reproduce, the population could double.

"We're looking to manage the pack," he said.

Initial abundance of wildlife, native or introduced, could have presented an appetizing invitation for these predators to hang around in the winter, but they are becoming a nuisance as they begin to interfere with human activities.

A visitor broke a hip last fall when his horse was startled by a coyote, a plane had to abort a landing at the airport because of a coyote on the runway, and the animals are being blamed for disappearing pets.

These incidents, plus complaints from residents concerned for the safety of their children, led to the shooting of one coyote last fall by a state park employee.

Commissioners next meet May 25 in Mackinaw City.