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Managing visitors

Park service seeks public input on new plan

Kayaking along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is one of the area’s prime activities. According to a recent National Park Service report, nearly 800,000 people visited the lakeshore in 2017. Lakeshore and park service staff held a meeting at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette Wednesday evening, updating the public on overall goals and implications for future park management decisions, as well as gathering feedback on the proposed lakeshore visitor use management project. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Interior)

MUNISING — In recent years, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore has observed a dramatic increase of visitors from all over the globe. Nearly 800,000 people visited the lakeshore during its peak seasons, spending around $33.1 million in local gateway regions, according to a 2017 National Park Service report.

With the influx of visitors, complaints pertaining to significant congestion and crowding at beaches during the summer season have been frequent. In order to implement a visitor management plan for the lakeshore, particularly at Sand Point, and Miners and Chapel beaches, the NPS is soliciting public feedback before a plan is set.

“Visitation has doubled over the last five years,” said PRNL Superintendent Dave Horne. “We’ve been soliciting public input through open houses and trying to develop ideas because we don’t want the beaches and other areas overcrowded.”

According to the NPS, visitors — on their own or with commercial outfitters and commercial guided kayak groups — are drawn to these areas during the summer. In some areas, use is exceeding the capacity of the beach parking areas and restrooms, and degrading visitor experience and safety, and the quality of the shoreline, trails and roads.

This week, NPS staff members held meetings in Munising and Marquette, updating the public on its overall goals and implications for future park management decisions, as well as gathering feedback on the proposed lakeshore’s visitor use management project.

The project, which focuses on analyzing visitor use issues at high visitation areas from Sand Point to Spray Falls, began in 2017 and will continue through 2019.

The goal is to improve the experience for visitors while preserving the resources and values of the lakeshore, according to Scott Babcock of the NPS.

“We’ve been doing surveys, listening to people’s perceptions to find solutions and additional strategies to address the issue. We’re collecting comments on our website to help us develop a management plan. We’ll hopefully have something started by 2019,” Babcock said, adding that before any plan is finalized, the NPS will make sure the public is comfortable with the ideas.

Some possible solutions the NPS has been considering is designating areas for commercial and public use, providing changing stations, adding and managing parking, creating a park visitor center and establishing a possible bus route from downtown Munising to Sand Point, Miners Beach and Mosquito/Chapel Beach between Memorial Day and Labor Day — possibly through a partnership with Alger County, the city of Munising, and ALTRAN — to save parking spaces and give people more options to visit.

Greg Scott is general manager of Uncle Ducky Outdoors/Paddling Michigan, a company based in the Munising area that offers guided kayak tours and other outdoor adventure services.

To address congestion issues, Scott said his company has been working with the NPS for years and wants to make sure the public is satisfied with the management plan.

“We want to leave as small of a footprint as we can, and we’ll continue to work with the park and hopefully come up with a plan to alleviate some of that congestion,” Scott said, adding that designating a separate area for commercial use would be key.

The public is invited to comment online at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/PIRO_VUMplan until June 6.

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