HOUGHTON, MI— Dredging is set to resume this week in Houghton County’s Grand Traverse Harbor.
The current project will tackle clean sand that has naturally accumulated in the harbor. Officials with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Water Resources Division say while the dredging will benefit recreational and commercial uses, the primary purpose is to keep the harbor operational as they develop a long-term solution to the stamp sand issue.
Stamp sands are copper mine tailings deposited over the past 100 years at a milling site in the town of Gay. Wind and waves have moved the sands south, inundating natural beaches and threatening the spawning habitat of whitefish and trout within Buffalo Reef.
The reef is beneath the waters of Grand Traverse Bay.
