For many years, Isle Royale has been “home” to an assortment of people—first the Ojibwe people, and then Scandinavian emigrants. Descendants of the original settlers have continued to spend summers at the island, under the auspices of convoluted life leases, special use permits (SUP) and volunteer-in-the-park (VIP) agreements with the National Park Service (NPS). People with ties to Isle Royale and the NPS have co-existed in limbo for many years as the Park Service sought funding to complete a Cultural Resources Management Plan (CRMP). The CRMP has finally been funded and the scoping progress begins in December with meetings in Minneapolis, Duluth, and Houghton and East Lansing, MI.
In September 2009, as seasonal residents prepared to leave the island, the Cook County News-
Herald
learned that several families were concerned because the Park Service, via a letter from Isle Royale Park Superintendent Phyllis Green, were being asked to remove their personal belongings. Members of the Isle Royale Family and Friends Association (IRFFA) protested, arguing that no changes should be required until the CRMP is complete.
Green responded to the argument by explaining that NPS has required locks and park access to structures for all sites whose life lessee agreement had ended. She also explained that the park asked all VIP agreement holders to remove personal property or have it inventoried by the Park Service to reduce the potential for unauthorized removal of property. Another reason why personal items should be removed, said Green, is that during the CRMP process, the public would have access to the historic structures.
At this point, it is unclear when and how the public will have that access. The CRMP/Environmental Analysis begins with four listening sessions far away from Isle Royale. The first session will be at the Mill City Museum, 710 South 2nd Street in Minneapolis on November 30. The second session is the closest to the Minnesota side of the island, in Duluth at the Radisson Hotel, 505 West Superior Street on December 1. The final sessions will be held in Houghton and East Lansing, Michigan. All sessions are from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Answers to the questions raised by the IRFFA and others who enjoy visiting the island won’t be coming quickly. NPS expects the CRMP process to take two years. According to the CRMP announcement, NPS is forming an interdisciplinary planning team to produce the plan in consultation with the public, tribal, and state governments and other interested parties. The purpose of the CRMP is to address the general management, preservation, public use, and interpretation of cultural resources island-wide.
Grant Merritt of IRFFA said it is important to stay involved throughout the process. He said he would be attending the meeting in Minneapolis and he knew IRFFA members would be attending all of the others. “It is important to show up if you are interested in preserving the culture of the island.”
Merritt echoed the sentiment of David Barnum, who told the News-
Herald
in September that he feels the Park Service should keep the status of Isle Royale families the same until the CRMP is complete. “We’re in kind of a state of flux right now,” said Merritt. “The Park promised no one would have to leave until it was done. We hope that is what happens.” Isle Royale’s cultural resources reflect 4500 years of human endeavor and include: prehistoric mining and occupation sites, American Indian and Euro-American historic mining and fishery sites, lighthouses, shipwrecks, and historic resorts and summer homes. They demonstrate a complex interaction of people and the role they played in shaping the human and physical landscapes on Isle Royale. Presently, the National Park Service manages its cultural resources according to directives defined in the Park’s General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (GMP/EIS 1998) without specific guidance for a number of cultural resource themes and topics. The proposed Cultural Resources Management Plan and accompanying Environmental Assessment (EA) seeks to define sustainable management practices for all significant cultural resources found on Isle Royale, including archeological sites, cultural landscapes, historic structures, ethnographic resources, and museum objects.
For more information as the CRMP progresses, visit www.parkplanning.nps. gov/ISROcrmp.
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