Do you think campsites should be added to Isle Royale campgrounds? Should new trails be blazed? Should the two fire towers on the island be removed?
These are all matters under consideration by the National Park Service, which has released its Final Wilderness and Backcountry Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for Isle Royale National Park. The plan became available for public review on September 30, 2011 and will be open for 30 days from that date.
Isle Royale Superintendent Phyllis Green explained that the purpose of the Plan/EIS is to “outline steps for preserving Isle Royale’s wilderness character, natural resources, and cultural resources while providing for the use and enjoyment of the park’s wilderness and backcountry by current and future generations.”
The Plan/EIS addresses issues and provides guidelines for management of the wilderness and backcountry areas of the park, including 1) managing overnight camping in the wilderness and backcountry, including permitting and information services; 2) managing day use in the wilderness and backcountry; 3) managing campfires; 4) maintaining or removing fire towers in the park’s wilderness; and 5) maintaining or removing picnic tables in wilderness campgrounds.
The final Plan/EIS identifies the NPS preferred alternatives and specifies goals, objectives and decision-making guidelines for administrative actions and visitor use. The preferred alternatives seek to minimize adverse resource impacts and reduce the impacts of development with in the wilderness and backcountry while not further restricting public access to the park. In many cases, the Plan/EIS formalizes current NPS management practices in the wilderness, however some changes are proposed that are intended to bring Isle Royale into better compliance with NPS policies, improve visitor services, or generally improve wilderness and backcountry management.
“Since 99% of the land area of Isle Royale National Park is federally designated wilderness, this plan is critical to the future management and preservation of these significant wilderness resources. We greatly appreciate the public’s interest and participation through the course of this rather lengthy planning effort,” said Superintendent Green.
The Plan/EIS is available online through the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website, parkplanning.nps.gov/ISRO. Click on the link for the “Wilderness and Backcountry Management Plan/EIS,” then click on “document list” and then on “Wilderness and Backcountry Management Plan EIS: Final” to open the document.
The public is encouraged to access the Plan/EIS online. A very limited number of copies of the 432-page Plan/EIS have been printed. If you would like a CD or a paper copy, send a request to the Isle Royale Superintendent at the address above. Review copies of the Plan/EIS will be available at the Isle Royale National Park Headquarters and Portage Lake District Library in Houghton, Michigan; Peter White Public Library in Marquette, Michigan; and Duluth Public Library in Duluth, Minnesota.
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