In addition to the appeal I responded to the DNR with, I have also pitched the topic to a national outlet. Coverage on this matter will also be featured in the Traverse City Record-Eagle any day now, where a survivor who has been supporting this effort will share his perspective as well.

In collaboration with aforementioned survivor, he has rephrased the plaque text to read:

"In Memory of the children who suffered on this island under Brother Paul's Children Mission during the 1960's and 1970's. 
We honor their courage, mourn their suffering, and vow to protect all children. 
Never Forgotten • Never Again" 

I am extremely thankful for his willingness to help me make this a reality. 

The DNR rejected the proposal with multiple inconsistencies and attempted to deflect the goal here by suggesting we put it on the mainland somewhere. That would negate a lot of the purpose in this.

 For survivors, I think, it could potentially be helpful to know that it's there, not somewhere else. It's not a matter of staring at it everyday. It's a matter of knowing that their abuse is finally being acknowledged and that it's being acknowledged where it happened---not somewhere else.