By Louie Stout

Anglers can kiss goodbye hopes of having improved access to Eagle and Juno lakes. The former Dock property the DNR had hoped to develop will soon fall into the hands of lake residents.

A consortium of Eagle Lake residents formed an LLC and has tendered an offer to purchase the land before the DNR could act.

The news broke early last week while the Michigan officials were prepping for its Wednesday night Ontwa Planning Commission meeting at which it was to submit a revised plan to accommodate township officials concerns.

Too little, too late. While the DNR dawdled, lake residents walked in, tendered an offer, and the bank accepted. The papers will be signed this week.

How did this happen? Good question, but it sure seems like the DNR dropped the ball. It buckled to pressure from a strong lake association then left the door open for the lake group to buy it.

Why didn’t the state work with the bank to protect its interests? The rumors were out there that a group of residents were waiting to pounce on the property if the DNR didn’t meet its payoff deadline.

You’d think the DNR would have fought a harder battle with nine acres and a prime location at stake.

Its unknown what the prospective new owners will do with the property or how much it agreed to pay for it. We know the DNR tendered $600,000 in the beginning before its deadline ran out.

Do you people with that kind of cash would let a cool piece of lakefront property sit without putting their investment to work?

Really, though, it doesn’t matter. What matters is sportsmen lost lake access and families lost a fishing pond because the DNR let them down.

I’m not alone in that opinion. Here are just a few of comments I’ve received from disappointed readers:

• “Epic failure of the DNR!”
• “Michigan has no problem doubling our fishing license fees but doesn’t have the guts to fight for access!”
• “Sad, sad, sad for our Michigan families. We can’t take our families out to enjoy what Mother Nature gave us.”
• “As a resident who lives only a few hundred yards from the lake but not on the lake, I was looking forward to a place where I could take my children to enjoy all the lake offers in terms of a safe spot to fish from the shore and observe wildlife.”
• “This isn’t just a loss for us, but sportsmen state-wide. It sends a message to lake associations that the DNR has no guts and won’t stand up for our public access rights.”

Who can blame them for being angry?

All we can hope is that state officials learn from this, will grow a spine, and not bungle future access projects the way it did this one.