Climate readiness on Lake Superiors North Shore Perspectives

Climate readiness on Lake Superior’s North Shore: Perspectives on preserving place in a changing climate Karen Katz, Graduate Student, University of Minnesota Mae Davenport, Ph. D. , Associate Professor, University of Minnesota Erin Seekamp, Ph. D. , Associate Professor, North Carolina State University

Climate Change Vulnerability “The degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change, including variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude and rate of climate change and variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity and its adaptive capacity. ” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2001, p. 6 Fat Tire Snow Biking (boundarycoutnry. com) September 2011 Pagami Creek Fire (Hans Martin, inciweb. org) June 2008 Flood Grand Marais (bwcaboard. com) June 2012 Flood Gooseberry Falls State Park, MN (dnr. state. mn. us)

Who are community leaders and how were they involved? • Someone who is familiar with and knowledgeable about natural resources, recreation, and tourism resources in the area. • 25 one-on-one interviews and 3 focus group discussions Occupation of participants 2 Business owners 3 14 5 2 2 23 Years lived in community Government employess Non-profit employees (environment) Non-profit employees (other) Tourism professionals 5 6 1 2 0 -5 7 Finland 3 Grand Marais 1 5 -10 11 -15 15 16 -20 21 -30 8 5 8 31+ Missing Data Self-employed 5 Retired Self-Identified Community of Interview Participants 6 North Shore Region Cook County Gunflint Trail 5

What did we ask? • Asked about community assets, participants’ concerns about natural, recreation, and tourism resources, and the community’s preparedness for climate or ecological change • Data was analyzed using standard qualitative thematic analysis procedures.

What are community members concerned about?

Photo: Elias Anoszko “…places and their names, the kinds of things they sell, or their little symbols might be about moose…that’s the ‘Up North’ symbol. And that may have to change. At some point we may not have moose up here anymore…Birch tree is another kind of iconic symbol of the North Shore…so I think that may change. And the way that businesses associate themselves with this North Shore…those things may evolve. ”

“This was the first year where I actually felt fear from climate change…It could literally put this place out of business…Am I setting my kids up for this really bad experience, trying to keep up with this family tradition…[to] just have it blown away by one big wind storm? It’s scary. ”

“If we don’t take care of things and start worrying about how this climate is going to change these forests…if these trees go then what’s going to happen to your woods that you love so dearly? And it’s that understanding. And what’s going to happen to tourism. How are your kids going to make it here? So it’s finding a way to connect everything…”