Michigan Fights to Preserve Historic Lighthouses.

• Position: Brief Article

Lighthouses have been beacons of hope and also of warning for American sailors since 1787--but new technologies have rendered most of them obsolete.

So what does a state or federal agency do with a slightly used, but still good, lighthouse? The Michigan Lighthouse Project is illuminating the way for other states and the federal government to coordinate the saving of these maritime treasures.

Michigan, with 3,200 miles of shoreline, has more lighthouses (120) than any other state. The towers sit atop offshore shoals, reefs or shallows; on islands; at harbor entrances; and on prominent points along the coastline. Almost all of them either have historic or architectural significance and are listed or are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. When the federal government declared lighthouses to be excess property, the U.S. Coast Guard had to decide what to do with 77 Michigan lighthouses by 2005.

The Michigan Lighthouse...