Isle Royale Seeks Public Input on Draft Cultural Resources Management Plan

HOUGHTON, MICH – Isle Royale National Park (ISRO) announces the release of the draft Cultural Resource Management Plan and Environmental Assessment (CRMP/EA) for public review and comment. The purpose of the plan is to develop a long-term comprehensive strategy for managing the non-wilderness cultural resources of the park. The document provides specific guidance and sets priorities for the management of cultural resources within non-wilderness areas. Other elements of cultural resource management, including the treatment and use of historic structures, historic districts, and cultural landscapes in wilderness and potential wilderness, will be part of the park’s upcoming wilderness stewardship plan. 

The draft CRMP/EA evaluates three alternatives:  a no-action alternative (Alternative A) and two action alternatives (Alternative B and Alternative C).  Alternative B is the National Park Service (NPS) preferred alternative. It seeks to preserve and provide proactive stewardship of the full range of cultural resources at Isle Royale through development of a vibrant program of partnerships intended to help the National Park Service preserve historic properties that reflect the entire scope of human history at Isle Royale. Alternative C emphasizes research and provides for stabilization and preservation of historic and cultural resources in the park. Alternative C has many commonalities to Alternative B in terms of proposing action that will aid preservation and understanding of cultural resources, but fewer opportunities for interpretive enhancement and adaptive reuse. Alternative C is also not as reliant upon the assistance of partners for success as Alternative B.

The draft planning document will be open for public review and comment for 30 days, beginning August 6 and concluding September 6, 2019. The document is available for download at the park’s planning website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ISROcrmp  A limited number of hard copies are available at the park headquarters and by request.

Comments may be submitted online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ISROcrmp or by mailing or hand delivering comments to Superintendent Phyllis Green, Isle Royale National Park, CRMP/EA, 800 East Lakeshore Drive, Houghton, Michigan 49931-1896.

Isle Royale National Park will host a public meeting to discuss the draft CRMP/EA on August 26 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm Eastern time at Bonfire Bar and Grill on the 7th Floor of the Magnuson Franklin Square Inn in Houghton, Michigan. An online, live webinar will be hosted on August 27 at 7:30pm Eastern time.  Visit http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ISROcrmp for information on how to join the webinar. Any updates to the dates and times of the meeting and webinar can be found at the park planning website, http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ISROcrmp.