Indiana Dunes Tourism announced a formal position in support of bills proposing Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore receives national park status. In conjunction, Indiana Dunes Tourism released a video series to better help visitors understand and appreciate all the region offers. The Dunes 101 series includes information on camping, hiking and beach-going in the area.

“We started the Dunes 101 series as a marketing campaign to help visitors navigate the vast national treasure that is the Indiana Dunes,” said Dustin Ritchea, promotions director, Indiana Dunes Tourism. “But we also see it as a vehicle to shed light on this overlooked resource. Indiana Dunes advocates have been trying to get national park status for the Lakeshore since 1916, and we hope the Dunes 101 videos series will help people understand why.”

Indiana Dunes attracts 3.6 million visitors annually, just shy of Yellowstone National Park in terms of visitation. If given national park status, Indiana Dunes would be the seventh-most popular national park in the country.

“The Indiana Dunes has over 15,000 acres of woodlands, prairies, savannas, bogs, wetlands, beaches and shoreline, and it is the birthplace of ecology. The deciding factor on whether or not a park gets the national park status should be based on the diversity of the park and its visitation. The Indiana Dunes has a greater variety of plant and animal species than Hawai’i, and its visitation numbers speak for themselves,” said Lorelei Weimer, executive director, Indiana Dunes Tourism.

“We have long maintained that this natural resource is an environmental treasure, not only for our residents but for the entire country as well as foreign tourists. The number of annual visitors to the park clearly supports our position. We believe that such a resource, utilized by a diverse cross-section of individuals from all over the world, clearly deserves such a designation.

We sincerely hope that the United States Senate will be given the opportunity to consider such an important matter,” added Mitch Peters, board president, Indiana Dunes Tourism.