People with historic ties to Isle Royale gathered at the Isle Royale Families & Friends Association annual meeting at Barkers Island in Superior, WI in January to talk about how the National Park Service Cultural Resources Management Plan will impact their families. Chatting at the IRFFA banquet are David Barnum, Joyce Eckel and Scott Eckel. Barnum is the great-grandson of George Barnum, one of the original Isle Royale residents. Scott is the son of Tommy Eckel, whose family had a fishery on the island.
Isle Royale National Park issued an invitation on February 10 for a workshop to discuss the development of a Cultural Landscape Report /Environmental Assessment (CLR/EA) for the Washington and Barnum Island area of Isle Royale. The workshop will be held on February 17 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Great Lakes Aquarium, 353 Harbor Drive, Duluth.
According to the announcement from Chief of Interpretation and Cultural Resources Liz Valencia, the report is a collaborative effort by park staff and a team from Quinn Evans Architects and Woolpert, LLC. Valencia said the workshop will “provide an overview of part one of the CLR/EA, which contains historic research and documentation of the landscape over time; inventory and mapping of existing conditions; and an analysis of landscape character and integrity. The workshop will also introduce and initiate part two of the CLR/EA, which will develop alternatives for treatment of the landscape, assess impacts, undergo public review, and ultimately provide a recommended treatment plan.”
Everyone interested in this project is invited to attend. Valencia said the project team welcomes discussion and comments from all interested parties and looks forward to wide public participation. She stressed that this workshop will discuss only the CLR/EA and should not be confused with the broader, more comprehensive effort to develop a Cultural Resources Management Plan for the park that has recently been initiated.
At press time, the report was not available on-line and there is no opportunity to comment other than by attending the workshop. Contacted by e-mail Valencia said she would work with Quinn Evans Architects to get the information on-line.
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