National Park Service releases Final Environmental Impact Statement for Wilderness Stewardship Plan at Isle Royale National Park

Posted by Isle Royale National Park August 2, 2024

HOUGHTON, Mich. -- A Notice of Availability for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Wilderness Stewardship Plan at Isle Royale National Park is now available online at ParkPlanning - Wilderness Stewardship Plan - Final EIS (nps.gov). 

The Wilderness Act of 1964 requires wilderness to be managed in a way that preserves its character. In keeping with the law, the Wilderness Stewardship Plan and EIS identify three options, or alternatives, the park could take to manage wilderness areas.

Alternative A is the "no-action alternative," describing existing management practices in the park’s 1998 General Management Plan (GMP) and as implemented through the Superintendent’s Compendium. Under Alternative A, the park would continue to address the needs of wilderness stewardship in accordance with the GMP, which generally addresses how the park conducts activities within wilderness. The GMP does not include an overarching stewardship component designed to enhance wilderness character. There are no formal priority or treatment distinctions for historic structures or installations in wilderness.

Alternative B is the park’s preferred alternative, focusing on enhancing wilderness character with specific emphasis on improving visitors’ wilderness experience while maintaining Isle Royale’s natural wilderness quality and opportunities for solitude and primitive and unconfined recreation. This alternative would provide additional access opportunities consistent with the public purposes of wilderness.

Alternative C focuses on enhancing wilderness character by improving solitude. Solitude is generally preserved or improved by management actions that reduce visitor encounters, signs of modern civilization inside wilderness, installations, and management restrictions on visitor behavior. This alternative would emphasize solitude by decreasing day use group size, reducing the number of campsites within campgrounds, eliminating trails, and proposing a campsite reservation system. The alternative proposes eliminating commercial use within Isle Royale wilderness, which would enhance solitude by reducing visitor encounters with large groups. This alternative would also remove shelters and structures in wilderness to improve primitive and unconfined recreation qualities as well as natural and undeveloped qualities of wilderness.

The final EIS evaluates the impacts of all alternatives considered in the plan and responds to substantive public and agency comments received on the draft plan/EIS during the 60-day comment period which began in August 2023.

The Notice of Availability allows the public and stakeholders to review the Wilderness Stewardship Plan before the National Park Service takes action. A final decision on the final plan/EIS will be documented through a Record of Decision signed by the Midwest Regional Director at least 30 days from today’s publication of the plan in the Federal Register. Notice of the decision will be announced through press release and on www.nps.gov/ISRO.

Planning documents, including the Draft and Final Wilderness Management Plans/EISs are available online at the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website.

www.nps.gov