Coastal Resource Inventories

Visioning a Sustainable Future for Northeast Michigan:
Connecting Great Lakes Coastal Access, Tourism, and Economic Development

Michigan Sea Grant organized the Northeast Michigan Integrated Assessment to foster a regional planning process related to economic development and coastal resources. The project included a series of stakeholder workshops that brought together community leaders, such as town planners, county park staff and tourism professionals from Alcona, Alpena and Presque Isle counties. Participants crafted the following question to be the focus of the project:

How can coastal access be designed, in a regional context, for sustainable tourism that stimulates economic development while maintaining the integrity of natural and cultural resources, and quality of life?

Two resources inventories of interest to coastal businesses from this report include:

• Ecological resources – What natural features need greater protection and which could be better utilized? See: NEMIA – Ecotourism Project
• Cultural Assets – What are the key coastal cultural assets of the region? See: NEMIA – Cultural Resources Inventory

For more information about this project see: NEMIA website