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A Nature-Based Tourism Initiative in the Eastern Upper Peninsula
By Glenn Lahti
 Community based efforts have been a feature of planning in the Eastern Upper Peninsula for the last several years. The current manifestation of this is the Eastern Upper Peninsula Nature Tourism Alliance. The Alliance is a collaboration of concerned citizens, business people, public and private organizations and agencies interested in utilizing the natural assets of the region to attract visitors, particularly in the shoulder seasons, with the long-term goal of developing a sustainable nature-based tourism market.
The major premise of nature-based tourism is that it offers a basis for economic development within a framework of acceptable change. This is of particular importance within a region which, while it has been a destination for decades, has been dependent upon traditional pursuits and attractions. Contemporary ecological, social, and economic circumstances have created tremendous external pressures for change, the cost of which is often assessed against the very qualities of nature and tradition which have made, and continue to make, the region attractive. The issues inherent in these circumstances are complex but the Eastern Upper Peninsula Nature Tourism Alliance has undertaken to respond to the issues they raise.
The origins of this community based effort go back to October 1996 and a project undertaken by the Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce which was called the Les Cheneaux Economic Forum. Focused upon protecting and improving the quality of life in the Les Cheneaux, the project is guided by the following principles:
- Long-term economic prosperity depends upon protecting natural resources.
- Inappropriate development poses serious threats to local ecosystems and our way of life.
- Protection will only succeed with support from local people.
- Economic development compatible with environmental protection is important and possible.
A series of Task Forces were organized and meetings over the following years resulted in the creation of a broad plan, including strategies for a sustainable community. Chief among these was the goal of expanding the shoulder season through ecotourism, spreading visitors out over the year instead of rather than packing them into a three-month summer. This goal was also recognition of the need to appeal to more environmentally conscious visitors whose low impact tourism is an environmentally compatible activity.
Support for these activities was provided by the Great Lakes Region of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Fund, and the Michigan Environmental Council. The Nature Conservancy, the first to admit it has a vested interest in helping to steer the Les Cheneaux economy along a preservationist path, put the Economic Forum in touch with a subsidiary, the Center for Compatible Economic Development, which helps communities with economic planning. All of this, and more, led in the year 2000, to the commissioning of an assessment by FERMATA, Inc., funded by a US-EPA Community Development Challenge grant and issued as a report in May 2002.
General Motors funding supported the planning which resulted in the creation of EUPNTA, the Eastern Upper Peninsula Nature Tourism Alliance, which became a reality on June 12, 2002 at a Tourism Summit sponsored by the Les Cheneaux Community Forum and the Les Cheneaux Chamber of Commerce. This meeting brought together tourism business owners, travel and support agencies, nature preserve and public land managers, government officials and planners, economic developers, outdoor writers, and local stockholders. The agenda was broad, but concluded with the creation of a regional working group.
EUPNTA is self-identified as a collaboration to develop, promote, and sustain nature/culture tourism. Its guiding principles are to:
- Collaborate, keep the larger picture in mind;
- Find the fit between the community and tourism;
- Make sites and programs come alive;
- Focus on quality and authenticity; and
- Preserve and protect resources.
It is in this spirit that a large number of collaborators have been meeting regularly to flesh out the recommendations from the FERMATA proposal, which continue to guide their efforts.
This proposal also provided the basis for a grant proposal to the USDA Rural Community Development Grant program by Northern Initiatives. Originally established by Northern Michigan University, Northern Initiatives, a not-for-profit community/economic development corporation, supports entrepreneurs, businesses, manufacturing firms, banks, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations in a common effort to strengthen the economy of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The proposal was funded and matching monies were secured through the General Motors Fellowship, Phase II, and Design Michigan grants. Northern Initiatives is acting as intermediary for this grant.
A purpose of this grant is to further community and economic development through assisting recipients to execute a nature tourism strategy that will assist in the growth of local businesses and create more opportunities.
Project recipients will be located in the five eastern-most counties of the Upper Peninsula: Alger, Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac, and Schoolcraft. Within this region, three trails, or strategic itineraries, have been identified. These are the Southern Lake Superior Nature Trail, the Northern Lake Michigan Nature Trail, and the Northern Lake Huron Nature Trail (East and West). Each of these trails is defined through a series of waypoints which focus the visitor on a theme, on what makes this destination unique and worthy of visitation. It is in this focus that the basis for a marketing strategy is found.
The first goal of this marketing strategy to be addressed through the support afforded by the USDA RCDI grant will be two-fold and based on input developed by EUPNTA. Both a Branding Workshop and an Interpretive Planning Workshop resulted in the identification of Social, Cultural, Natural, Recreational, and Historical dimensions of the Eastern Upper Peninsula "Brand" and in the identification of general and specific topics which need to be "Interpreted."
In a Request for Proposals issued to potential providers selected from among responders to a Call for Interest, EUPNTA defined the scope of the web site proposal as including help in building a World Wide Web site and developing a "Brand" identity consisting of phrases, images, and graphic designs that could be "dropped into" the web site. The "feel" of this brand should be incorporated throughout the site and be easily adaptable for use with hard copy media. Additionally, the web site should provide for direct contact with sites, communities and amenities providers and should be based on architecture that can be maintained by untrained personnel.
A similar RFP was issued for the Interpretive Plan development, including broad themes, stories and components that facilitate education, regional branding, visitor orientation, signage, and physical site development. Selection of web site and interpretive plan developers will be made early in July from among the proposals received.
Anyone interested in helping or assisting in the EUPNTA effort should contact Bonnie Holland at bonnieh@chartemi.net, Linda Hudson at hudson@cedarville.net, or Glenn Lahti at archetcltd@lighthouse.net.
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