A Michigan Department of Natural Resources plan to construct a boat launch and access site at Lake Angeline in Ishpeming is a sound project.

The goal, according to city and state officials, is to increase access to the lake for city residents, anglers, kayakers and outdoor enthusiasts. Construction by the agency’s Parks and Recreation Division should begin by mid summer and be completed by mid-to-late August.

It’ll be sited in the southwest corner of the lake and accessible to the public from Pine Street. Designed for small boats 16 feet in length and under, the launch will feature an 18-foot-wide and 120-foot-long launch ramp, a 30-foot skid pier, a vault toilet and 15 angled parking spaces of various sizes, for vehicles both with and without trailers.

Vehicle maneuvering lanes, parking spaces and access routes will all be gravel and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Construction is possible because of a land swap between the DNR and local attorney Bruce Houghton, who owned the land where the launch will be built. The swap was finally completed last year, after about a five-year process.

In June 2010, Michigan’s Natural Resources Commission approved the exchange of about .73 acres of state-owned land on the northern shore of the lake for approximately 1.4 acres of land owned by Houghton at the site of the future launch.

Houghton has said the process to grant various easements and work out details of the swap was finally finished last year.

Completion of the launch will help spur economic development in the west end, especially Ishpeming.

And that’s a very good thing.