All those “Pure Michigan” ads now playing coast to coast on cable television not only counteract the bad PR the state’s economy receives on a daily basis but remind residents why they can be proud of their state.

Pride without stewardship, however, is just as fleeting as a 30-second TV spot. And when state officials and the constituents they represent fail to be good stewards of the assets Michigan is pitching to a national public, the notes the ads try to strike can be false ones.

On a day last week when the federal government announced it was pledging nearly $2.5 million to fund improvements at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Isle Royale National Park, state officials said a Michigan State Park system 90 years old this year is in tatters.

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