Options For Future Management,
or Instrument Of Surrender?

Review and Comments:

Options For Future Management
Of The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

September 22, 2006

Introduction To The Web Edition:

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, where I worked from 1992 through 2005, is currently in the process of preparing a new General Management Plan: the document that will guide park management and operations for the next twenty years or so.

In July 2006, the park released a booklet titled Options For Future Management, which, in the words of Apostle Islands superintendent Bob Krumenaker, "highlighted several issues that we believe are appropriate for the general management plan to address, and outlines several different approaches to each of the issues."

Many concerned readers were dismayed by a pervasive air of pessimism that seemed to suffuse the "options" presented. As the booklet's authors wrote,

A basic issue, which underlies and affects all of the (other) issues, is: how can the National Park Service effectively and effficiently manage the park in an era of tightening budgets?

Sadly, it seemed that the focus of the alternative approaches presented as Options For Future Management involved retreating from previous commitments to preserve the resources of the islands, and deciding which might be preserved and which would have to be "sacrificed." Comments made by the park representatives at public information meetings, discussing the need to "perform triage," and the possibility of "mothballing" historic buildings, added to this dispiriting impression.

Too much emphasis, many park advocates decided, was placed on casting off responsibilities; not enough on finding ways to overcome the challenges and living up to the goals set for Apostle Island National Lakeshore when it was created in 1970.

Presented here are my comments submitted in response to the Options booklet, adapted slightly for the Web medium. For readers interested primarily in historic preservation, these chapters will be of greatest relevance:

• The Future of the Light Stations

• The Future of the Life Estates and the Expired Use and Occupancy Properties

• Questions of Ways and Means

The final decision on the General Management Plan is still at least a year away. Until that time, park officials say, all "realistic" options, from mothballing to prioritized maintenance, will be carefully studied. When the draft plan with its "preferred alternative" is issued- most likely in spring, 2008- citizens will have one last opportunity to comment on future plans for one of the nation's true treasures. As news on the process becomes available, I will post it on this site.

Contents

• Executive Summary

• The Basis For Planning

• The Future of the Light Stations

• The Future of the Life Estates and the Expired Use and Occupancy Properties

• Options For the Management of the Nonwilderness Areas and the Waters Within the Park Boundary

• Three Additional Issues

• Future of the NPS Operational (Administrative) Facilities On The Mainland

• Questions of Ways and Means

• Conclusion

Home

About the Author

Veteran NPS employee Bob Mackreth served as District Ranger (1992-1998) and Cultural Resource Management Specialist (1998-2005) at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

The Document Under Review

Options For Future Management
(PDF format; 2.8 Mb)