Isle Royale National Park is 50 miles from Upper Michigan’s Copper Country and 18 miles from the nearest point on the Minnesota shore. The island is approximately 45 miles long and nine miles wide, comprising a land area of 210 square miles. It became a National Park in 1940.

There has been much dissatisfaction with the draft proposal for a General Management Plan (GMP) for Isle Royale National Park. The National Park Service (NPS) is in the midst of changing Isle Royale to more of a “wilderness preserve.”

A year ago, the NPS imposed a $4 per day fee on anyone visiting within the park’s boundaries, part of a nationwide experiment with user fees at all parks. To this, they add a 20 percent surcharge to the price of anything the visitor needs to purchase on Isle Royale - bringing gasoline to well over $2 a gallon. This, coupled with announced plans to greatly reduce access facilities, has generated significant interest, as might well be imagined.

The Isle Royale GMP asked the public for comment on several versions of proposals to change the facilities and services available for visitors. As most of our readers know, access to Isle Royale National Park is by boat, ferry or very limited air service. Their request drew hundreds of written responses, which were followed by comments from participants at several public hearings. 

Philip J. Myers of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, responded in writing, but, while he alone signed his letter, he is speaking for hundreds - maybe thousands - of us who have carefully tended this incredible park for dozens of years. He is right on the mark for many of us in his initial remarks: “As an avid Lake Superior boater, it is probable that my family has enjoyed this water access-only park more than any other National Park, and probably much more than those involved in its contemplated new management plan (italics added).” 

“Isle Royale is everything that people seeking to reassess its access and utility perceive it as being - an isolated, unique ecosystem with splendid isolation and majesty, and truly a gift … to use wisely and preserve for future generations. Its pristine qualities are a direct result of its limited access and extremely short season.… Its uniqueness is one of the few water access-only parks in the country.… It will certainly be less enjoyed, if new restrictions are imposed on its use by boaters.”

Myers says, “Plans to limit the park’s utility by boaters are inimical to the very nature of the park as an isolated, water access-only human and natural island refuge. There is simply no plausible basis to restrict powerboat use and/or access to the waterways surrounding the island. The island is a mariner’s paradise because of its coves and inlets that afford boats of all sizes safety and serenity.

The proposed General Management Plan for Isle Royale National Park contains many changes, including razing the Rock Harbor motel units, shown here.

LAKE SUPERIOR MAGAZINE

“If you have traveled the island by boat,” he says, “you know that few power boats actually ply its waters at any one time. While the focus of much of the boating activity is at Windigo and Rock Harbor (the two developed NPS points of access), these locations are critical for basic re-supply, fuel and services, especially considering that most boats arriving at the island have traveled significant distances on open water.” 

All of us who love Lake Superior, even those seeing it for the first time, mix their admiration of the big lake with just a trace of fear. All visitors soon learn how quickly it can change from placid to storm and wind-driven madness. 

“I would implore the Park Service to ask themselves how many water access-only parks there are within the nation and whether restricting one of the only and most beautiful ones fulfills its Congressional mandate,” Myers states. “Consider also that Lake Superior is by far the least developed, largest and potentially least hospitable of the Great Lakes. There are few comparable destinations on Lake Superior available to boaters that offer safety from the elements. Further, Isle Royale attracts boaters from throughout the Great Lakes. Just review your visitor records. You’ll find boaters all the way from New York, Ohio and Illinois, in addition to Canadian, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota boaters.

“Our enjoyment of this treasured resource would be dramatically impacted by the proposed restrictions on its use,” he adds. “Many of the proposed no-access areas are prime anchorages, and setting no-wake zones only seeks to governmentally regulate what reasonably courteous boaters already observe around other small boats or environmentally sensitive areas.”

Myers makes clear what almost all Isle Royale boaters know well - some from sad experience. “Smart boaters don’t run their boats fast around all the shoals and rocks that typify the island’s inlets.”

Having been an Isle Royale visitor for more than 34 years, I can attest to Myer’s next statement.

“I feel compelled to challenge the notion that hikers’ and boaters’ use of the island should be separated, with hiking trail access to waterfronts limited and boaters’ access by foot to the inner island restricted,” he says. “This, quite honestly, is ridiculous! Many boaters’ principal use of the island is to explore its interior and hike its trails, while hikers walking the interior for hours look forward to the waterfront contact that the trails provide at key locations. As boaters, we have had dozens of wonderful conversations and campsite sing-alongs with hikers over the years, always feeling drawn to others.... Are we children, here, that we need to regulate human interaction by reconfiguring this island park?

“Let’s be serious. Everyone who visits the island feels a kindred spirit by its majesty, and this should be fostered - not regulated!

“Finally, as an outdoorsman and a lover of the natural world, I respect our environment tremendously and recognize that it is our collective charge to protect our resources for future generations and for the other natural denizens with whom we share this world.

“However,” he says, “I cannot help but be cynical when I hear the sweeping allegations repeated by self-proclaimed environmentalists who argue that restricting access for power boats will protect the fragile inner-water ecosystems that exist on the island.

“If this specious argument is to be given any credibility, then it is incumbent upon the Park Service to commission a comprehensive environmental impact statement by a reputable, objective firm that gives a true assessment of what impact, if any, power boats are having on the local environment and how the proposed restrictions would mitigate any such effects. Anything short of that research would result in an important policy change that is based on incomplete analysis.” 

In his final paragraph, Philip Myers, who gave permission for me to use his letter in this manner, summed up the feeling that lovers of this island treasure. 

“Isle Royale is one of the most treasured resources for boaters in the Great Lakes region,” he states. “It is of even greater significance to Lake Superior boaters, for whom there are few boater-friendly safe destinations. Restrictions on boaters at this water access-only island is clearly inimical to its very island nature. I suggest that our energies be devoted to educating all users to be kinder to our precious resource, so we can ensure that this beautiful park will be preserved for generations to come. I suggest further that, rather than devoting precious financial resources to enforce no-wake zones and restricted access areas as is proposed, we allocate these resources to replacing the hiking trails that crews recently dismantled and to improving the park’s docks, so those who make the effort to enjoy the island can enjoy it more.” 

He concludes that more regulations are not compatible with the enjoyment we should expect to derive from our national parks.

It seems that the intent of the new regulations is to discourage visitation, not encourage it.

Apparently, the Isle Royale National Park GMP is almost a done deal, but my feeling is that it’s never too late to voice your opinion, just as Philip Myers has done. I encourage all readers to express their thoughts about the process to the NPS either to the planning team in Denver, or directly to the superintendent at the park. 

Feedback: jrm@lakesuperior.com