What do you need to know?
Any inland lake property owner, including: permanent and seasonal homeowners, municipalities, and businesses that are interested in becoming a MI Shoreland Steward may participate. While anyone can take the survey not every property will qualify.
Note: At this time the survey is only designed for inland lake properties. Many practices do apply to the Great Lakes and river front properties however the energy associated with water processes are very different from inland lakes. The questions at the shoreline and in the lake are specifically designed for inland lakes.
Cost
- Taking the survey: Free
- Certificate: Free (Generated at the end of the survey if you have registered and qualify)
- Sign for your yard: Prices vary depending on size
Do I have to register?
At this time the survey can be taken anonymously though we would really like you to register. This helps us know what lakes are represented and more about the quality of the shoreland of your lake. This also helps lake association volunteers know if goals for protecting your lake are being met and/or where more work needs to be done. Setting a goal of having 85% or more of property owners be a MI Shoreland Steward is a great goal to have.
Registering for an account enables you to:
- Save your answers and return later. You can register and save at any time throughout the survey. If you did not finish your survey you will be returned to where you left off to continue.
- Showcase your property by uploading pictures (They cannot be seen by the public)
- Receive and print a certificate at the end of the survey if your property qualifies.
- Print the results of survey information including information on "Areas for Improvement".
- Connect with your lake association. (If they have registered on this site)
- Have an opportunity to purchase a sign to be placed on your shore.
Can I take the survey again?
Yes, you can take the survey as many times as you want. You only need to create an account once. You do have to clear your original survey. The internal design of the survey will not allow you to just change one answer.
How do I upload pictures?
Once you have registered there will be a "box" at the bottom of your account page. We have made it easy - just drag and drop your picture file into the box. You can then add some basic information about each picture.
How will my pictures be used?
Once you upload your pictures only the site administrators can view your pictures. We have two reasons for asking for pictures:
- We want to use pictures as part of our evaluation process as it is not possible to do site visits on every property. So the next best thing is pictures! Your pictures can tell a story about how well this survey is working.
- We would like to have some awesome pictures of many different properties to showcase healthy shoreland management practices. We are looking for some great "Before and After" pictures of properties that made some improvements to qualify or just achieve a higher level. And we would love some pictures of the MI Shoreland Steward sign on your lakeshore property. Of course we will only use your pictures with your permission.
What if I have a seawall?
There are some properties with existing seawalls that can potentially qualify to become a MI Shoreland Steward. For more information see Properties With Seawalls