OCEANA COUNTY, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) discussed a plan to make Silver Lake Sand Dunes safer Monday night.
This comes after yet another serious accident Sunday night.
The DNR has a 99-page draft for people to review and comment on until mid-October.
"We're concerned about people's safety," Silver Lake State Park Manager Jody Johnston said.
This draft plan follows several serious and two deadly crashes this summer.
"We want people to come out, enjoy the park in a safe way and go home at the end of the day," Johnston added.
On Monday, park officials announced recent updates to provide a safer experience to visitors.
"We've recently added tourniquet training as well, too. Just recently, with our response time on Sunday, we had about five officers there on scene within less than five minutes," Silver Lake State Park Park Supervisor Joshua Smith said.
One hundred seventy people registered to hear more about the state park's General Management Plan.
"We're not going to wait until the visitor-use management study is done, if there's something that needs to be implemented now," Michigan DNR Park Management Plan Administrator Debbie Jensen said.
The proposal suggests possible speed limits, trail design and maintenance for safer rides, and the development of an accident response plan for a quicker response.
"A high percentage of our actions the dunes are probably not life-threatening. So to take an ambulance and stick it right at the parking lot of the park does take it away from other places," Johnston explained.
The Silver Lake State Park is home to nearly three miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and has 2,000 acres of dunes.
"I don't think there's any real surprises in the activities that people come to the park for," Jensen added.
The state has also outlined a ten-year action goal.
"You know, people don't want to educate themselves and operate in a safe manner. Then we can educate them in another enforcement way, too. So all these things can play a part. But at the end of the day, it's also about the way people operate," Johnston said.
Read details on the Park Management Plan here.
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