The Great Lakes and Underwater Preserves
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Michigan Underwater Preserves
The Great Lakes - Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario - are known for their beauty and the wealth of resources within and around them. The combined lakes contain one-fifth of the world's surface fresh water, and they are often referred to as the "sweetwater seas". The Great Lakes could cover the entire continental United States with over 9.5 feet of water. They are large enough to influence the regional climate, cooling summers and tempering winters, as well as increasing amounts of rain and snow in the region. A world-renowned fishery, thousands of acres of forests, major mineral and metal reserves and rich agricultural land provide a balance of economic opportunity within the basin. In addition, the lakes and their surroundings provide many recreational opportunities and an appealing place to live and work. 
Michigan's Submerged Lands Program is responsible for regulating construction activities along 3,165 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and over 38,000 square miles of Great Lakes bottomlands, including coastal marshes. The program regulates the recovery and use of submerged cultural resources (shipwrecks and associated artifacts) located in the Great Lakes, administers the underwater preserve program, and as of July 21, 2000, is responsible for regulating the recovery of submerged logs from Great Lake bottomlands under Part 326, Great Lakes Submerged Logs Recovery, of the NREPA. The State of Michigan is trustee of the bottomlands and waters of the Great Lakes and has a perpetual duty to manage these resources for the benefit of its citizens.
In addition to having the Great Lakes bottomlands conveyance and permit application review coordinated by the Submerged Lands Program staff, other programs in the Great Lakes Shorelands Management Section work directly with the submerged lands statute. The Coastal Program staff is responsible for Part 353, Sand Dune Protection and Management, and the Shorelands Management Program staff is responsible for high risk erosion and environmental areas under Part 323, Shorelands Protection and Management, of the NREPA. Coastal Program and Shorelands Management Program staff review applications involving construction activities on the Great Lakes bottomlands. Staff of these programs consult with each other and with the Submerged Lands Program staff on a daily basis regarding the impact of rip-rap, seawalls, groins, jetties, docks, breakwaters, etc., on nearshore coastal processes and coastal marshes.
The Great Lakes have provided transportation for Michigan's inhabitants for hundreds of years. Thousands of vessels from canoes to car ferries and steamers to modern ore boats have sailed these "inland seas" and unknown numbers still remain - settled on the lakes bottom in watery graves. They lie in shallow water and in the deepest reaches of Michigan's 38,000 square miles of the Great Lakes bottomlands. An estimated 6,000 vessels were lost on the Great Lakes with approximately 1,500 of these ships located in Michigan waters. These are unique resources.
The history of Michigan can be traced by the material records of its shipwrecks. They are a wood and steel chronicle of the history of naval architecture on the lakes. The pilings of thousands of abandoned docks tell of a time when transport by water was as important as transport by land. Skin and scuba divers from across the United States come to explore these shipwrecks preserved by the cold, fresh water of the Great Lakes.
The cold fresh water of the Great Lakes keeps wrecks exceptionally preserved even after decades underwater. However, special care must be taken to ensure that these resources remain for generations to come.
More Than Just Shipwrecks...
Shipwrecks and other underwater cultural resources, such as aircraft, prehistoric sites, piers, wharves and other structures, are valuable and non-renewable. More than just shipwrecks, these resources are irreplaceable records of our cultural history. The State of Michigan manages shipwrecks as public trust resources to protect them for divers, archaeologists, and future generations to explore, study and enjoy.
Shipwrecks & Nondivers
Shipwrecks are publicly owned resources that are important to divers and nondivers alike. Museum exhibits, maritime heritage associations, park interpretive programs, television documentaries and school educational programs provide access for the nondiver to enjoy these resources. In addition, new technologies such as Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVS) , interactive CD-ROM and the World Wide Web allow people to view shipwreck sites without getting wet.
Shipwrecks and the Law
Protecting underwater cultural resources preserves them as an element of our history and for the enjoyment of our future generations. Sport divers, dive clubs and other dive related organizations requested the Michigan legislature to pass a law that preserves and protects these resources.
Part 761, Aboriginal Records and Antiquities, 1994 PA 451 as amended, is administered jointly by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Department of State. This law authorizes preserving abandoned property (shipwrecks, etc.) on the bottomlands of the Great Lakes, designating underwater preserves, issuing salvage permits when appropriate, and for fines and penalties for illegally removing, altering, or destroying artifacts. The law does not restrict searching for, diving on or photographing shipwrecks.
You can report illegal removal, alteration or destruction of shipwrecks and associated artifacts by calling the Department of Natural Resources' Report All Plundering (RAP) Hotline at 1-800 292-7800
Dive Ethics
Recognizing the importance of protecting these resources for divers and nondivers alike, Great Lakes divers have fostered a dive ethic:
"TAKE NOTHING BUT PICTURES, LEAVE NOTHING BUT BUBBLES"
Michigan's Submerged Lands Program is responsible for regulating construction activities along 3,165 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and over 38,000 square miles of Great Lakes bottomlands, including coastal marshes. The program regulates the recovery and use of submerged cultural resources (shipwrecks and associated artifacts) located in the Great Lakes, administers the underwater preserve program, and as of July 21, 2000, is responsible for regulating the recovery of submerged logs from Great Lake bottomlands under Part 326, Great Lakes Submerged Logs Recovery, of the NREPA. The State of Michigan is trustee of the bottomlands and waters of the Great Lakes and has a perpetual duty to manage these resources for the benefit of its citizens.
In addition to having the Great Lakes bottomlands conveyance and permit application review coordinated by the Submerged Lands Program staff, other programs in the Great Lakes Shorelands Management Section work directly with the submerged lands statute. The Coastal Program staff is responsible for Part 353, Sand Dune Protection and Management, and the Shorelands Management Program staff is responsible for high risk erosion and environmental areas under Part 323, Shorelands Protection and Management, of the NREPA. Coastal Program and Shorelands Management Program staff review applications involving construction activities on the Great Lakes bottomlands. Staff of these programs consult with each other and with the Submerged Lands Program staff on a daily basis regarding the impact of rip-rap, seawalls, groins, jetties, docks, breakwaters, etc., on nearshore coastal processes and coastal marshes.
The Great Lakes have provided transportation for Michigan's inhabitants for hundreds of years. Thousands of vessels from canoes to car ferries and steamers to modern ore boats have sailed these "inland seas" and unknown numbers still remain - settled on the lakes bottom in watery graves. They lie in shallow water and in the deepest reaches of Michigan's 38,000 square miles of the Great Lakes bottomlands. An estimated 6,000 vessels were lost on the Great Lakes with approximately 1,500 of these ships located in Michigan waters. These are unique resources.
The history of Michigan can be traced by the material records of its shipwrecks. They are a wood and steel chronicle of the history of naval architecture on the lakes. The pilings of thousands of abandoned docks tell of a time when transport by water was as important as transport by land. Skin and scuba divers from across the United States come to explore these shipwrecks preserved by the cold, fresh water of the Great Lakes.
The cold fresh water of the Great Lakes keeps wrecks exceptionally preserved even after decades underwater. However, special care must be taken to ensure that these resources remain for generations to come.
More Than Just Shipwrecks...
Shipwrecks and other underwater cultural resources, such as aircraft, prehistoric sites, piers, wharves and other structures, are valuable and non-renewable. More than just shipwrecks, these resources are irreplaceable records of our cultural history. The State of Michigan manages shipwrecks as public trust resources to protect them for divers, archaeologists, and future generations to explore, study and enjoy.
Shipwrecks & Nondivers
Shipwrecks are publicly owned resources that are important to divers and nondivers alike. Museum exhibits, maritime heritage associations, park interpretive programs, television documentaries and school educational programs provide access for the nondiver to enjoy these resources. In addition, new technologies such as Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVS) , interactive CD-ROM and the World Wide Web allow people to view shipwreck sites without getting wet.
Shipwrecks and the Law
Protecting underwater cultural resources preserves them as an element of our history and for the enjoyment of our future generations. Sport divers, dive clubs and other dive related organizations requested the Michigan legislature to pass a law that preserves and protects these resources.
Part 761, Aboriginal Records and Antiquities, 1994 PA 451 as amended, is administered jointly by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and Department of State. This law authorizes preserving abandoned property (shipwrecks, etc.) on the bottomlands of the Great Lakes, designating underwater preserves, issuing salvage permits when appropriate, and for fines and penalties for illegally removing, altering, or destroying artifacts. The law does not restrict searching for, diving on or photographing shipwrecks.
You can report illegal removal, alteration or destruction of shipwrecks and associated artifacts by calling the Department of Natural Resources' Report All Plundering (RAP) Hotline at 1-800 292-7800
Dive Ethics
Recognizing the importance of protecting these resources for divers and nondivers alike, Great Lakes divers have fostered a dive ethic:
"TAKE NOTHING BUT PICTURES, LEAVE NOTHING BUT BUBBLES"
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