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Permits Sought To Protect Homes from Lake Michigan Dune

Sleeping Bear Dunes
Wikimedia Commons

Officials say they're working to get permits into place so homeowners can protect property in a western Michigan tourist destination from being taken over by sand dunes.

An 80-foot-tall (24-meter-tall) dune at Silver Lake State Park has moved close to Sue Dressler's cottage along Lake Michigan.

The dune, which is part of nearly 2,000 acres (809 hectares) of sand dunes in the area, still contains pieces of another cottage of Dressler's it consumed in April.

The Detroit Free Press and MLive.com report the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality recently put a stop to truckloads of sand being taken from the dune.

The DEQ says it's working with area residents to line up proper permits so sand can be moved.

Dressler says she wants to defend her cottage from the sand.

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