COLDWATER (WTVB) – The hearings and surveys that started a year ago on what the future holds for further development of the Coldwater Lake State Park are finished and the Director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources this week receives the end product for possible approval of the plan. Last night, the Branch County Township Supervisors Association listened to a pair of DNR park officials detail the 10-year action goals for the little used park at the south end of Coldwater Lake where public hunting is allowed but much of the property through the years has been leased for farming. That lease has just been extended for another 3 years. Deb Jensen with the DNR told the Supervisors meeting that a low level development remains the priority for Coldwater, or in her words, not a big parking lot and definitely no motorized boat launch ramps but rather along the lines of pedestrian paths and trails to the lakeshore.
Jim O’Brien, another DNR manager who has worked on the Coldwater Park site, said he was relieved to find out that the local residents have encouraged what he termed passive recreation rather than a major expansion of the park. He said with an already long list of DNR capital projects backlogged and limited budgets, there should be no expectation of any significant development of the state park at Coldwater Lake. Both Jensen and O’Brien were cautiously optimistic that the handful of interested conservation groups, including Pheasants Forever, might be able to provide some meaningful funding assistance with such a scaled back project. The next step for the land, which the state purchased in 1988, is to prepare a phased concept plan for park improvements.
