• Michigan's fresh-water sand dunes comprise the largest such dune ecosystem in the world.Dunes on Lake Michigan shore NW INdiana image by Steve Johnson from Fotolia.com
  
  Michigan's Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE) is responsible for protecting and preserving the state's 250,000 acres of dunes---the world's largest fresh-water dunes--while ensuring that the industries relying on mining sand continue to prosper. In all, 70,000 acres of the dunes are considered by DNRE to be "critical sand dune formations," meaning they contribute to the economy of the state through recreation and industry and are also a fragile biological, botanical and geological ecosystem requiring erosion and sedimentation control and protection from overuse.
  
  

Causes of Erosion

• Australian non-profit Coastcare indicates that in the 20th century over 70 percent of the waterfront dunes in the world had become smaller because of erosion. They further show that although there are natural cycles of dune erosion, there are many other preventable and manageable factors. Global warming is feared to raise sea and freshwater levels increasing shore and dune erosion; Michigan's Great Lake's dunes may become victims of this phenomenon. People recreating with ATVs and other motorized vehicles, on horseback, and even by foot destabilize the dunes by destroying plant and grass root systems that maintain dune formation. Waterfront development---condominiums, homes and recreational areas---may be the biggest culprit: stripping the vegetation from and grading the shore-side dunes for development both cause rampant erosion.
  
  

Effects of Erosion

• Michigan has a number of endangered species that call the dunes home and can face extinction if the dunes erode too much; the destruction of dune habitat for both plants and animals is one of the greatest adverse effects of erosion. Erosion also causes sediment and other materials such as organics to foul surrounding waters which negatively impacts fish and other water-reliant flora and fauna by changing the water temperature and/or essentially polluting it with organic and suspended materials. Caused by both water and wind, dune erosion also destroys natural landscapes that attract the economic boons of tourism and residential communities.
  
  

Preventing Erosion

• Michigan's DNRE and other government groups take measures to regenerate and restore overused and damaged dune areas; make sure to respect these areas and do not enter them on foot or by vehicle. If you own a property near the dunes, fence the dune area and allow for only one walkway across them, protecting the rest. Avoid using motorized vehicles anywhere in the dunes and try to keep horses, farm animals and non-native vegetation from taking over the naturalized plants that preserve dune formation. If you are planning to build any structures near the dunes make sure that the dunes are not disrupted during the construction process. Finally, continue to do whatever you can to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming.