The Great Turtle Is Drowning: the Effect of Climate Change on Mackinac Island
Many Michiganders close the summer with a family road trip to Mackinac Island, located in the Straits of Mackinac in vast Lake Huron. The tiny island, only about eight miles long, rose to local appeal as a tourist hub during the Victorian era and has attracted summer travelers ever since (“Stats and Facts — Mackinac Island”). While the island certainly is home to an abundance of tourist traps and attractions (including typical souvenir shops brimming with mass-produced t-shirts and a seemingly out-of-place but always busy “haunted” theater), the families that make the trip year after year return for its old-world charm and calming ambience. Cars are banned on the island (with the exception of emergency vehicles) and travel occurs either by foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage. The landmark Grand Hotel, which was built in 1887 and has hosted Mark Twain, Esther Williams, and multiple U.S. presidents, sits atop a grassy, landscaped hill and welcomes visitors with billowing American flags stretched across its porch, which is the longest in the world. Guests enjoy afternoon drinks from rocking chairs that overlook the Straits of Mackinac, postcard-perfect Round Island Light, and passing freighters carrying iron and copper ore to and from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The hotel still requires a dress code for dinner service and is a sanctuary of bygone times in an increasingly fast-paced world. Guests loll in its eclectically classy lobby, decorated with custom carpets and furnishings by renowned interior designer Carleton Varney before falling asleep at night to the sound of waves on the shore, the clip-clop of horses, and live jazz music and dancing at the upstairs cupola bar. With its astounding natural landscape and calming atmosphere, Mackinac Island draws guests and visitors across multiple generations season after season.
Yoder, Emily. Downtown Mackinac Island. 3 August 2020. JPEG.
Yoder, Emily. Freighter in the Straits of Mackinac. 7 August 2020.
Yoder, Emily. Mackinac Island shoreline. 5 August 2020. JPEG.
However, if one visited the island during the past summer of 2021, pushed off on their bicycle, and headed to M-185 (the world’s only car-less highway, which encircles the perimeter of the island in a loop), their trip would have been cut short by construction crews, loose gravel, and a cracked roadway that is slowly being consumed by the pristine waters of Lake Huron. A reconstruction project budgeted at $6 million closed M-185 for much of the summer 2021 tourism season after the roadway was partially destroyed by rising water levels and storms during the winters of 2019 and 2020 (Kessler, “Portion of M-185 on Mackinac Island to Be Closed to Continue Repairs from Erosion Damage”). Rising water levels and the erosion that they have caused during the twenty-first century have threatened lakeside communities throughout the entirety of the Great Lakes. Water levels have risen by as much as six feet, causing sand dunes, stone, plant life, and entire houses to slide into the water, destroying both residential communities and the natural landscape (Rising Waters Threaten Great Lakes Communities). Although water levels in the Great Lakes rise and fall cyclically, the changes of the past few years have been unprecedented and historic. During the summer of 2019, water levels in Lakes Superior, Erie, and Ontario hit historically high levels and those in Lakes Michigan and Huron came within one inch of their highest recorded levels in recent history (December 13 and Cosier). These rising water levels are the results of higher amounts of rainfall, which are caused by climate change as higher temperatures allow more moisture to be held within the atmosphere, leading to more severe rain and thunderstorms (December 13 and Cosier). While overall precipitation in the U.S. increased by 4% from 1901 to 2015, precipitation in the Great Lakes region increased by nearly 10% (“Impacts of Climate Change on Great Lakes”).
Yoder, Emily. Construction markers on M-185. 5 August 2021. JPEG.
Yoder, Emily. Erosion on M-185. 4 August 2020. JPEG.
While rising water levels and erosion have threatened nearly all lakeside communities on the Great Lakes, Mackinac Island’s continued existence as an essential part of Michigan’s tourist economy, residential areas, and an incredibly beautiful natural landmark and State Park is particularly threatened. Due to its small size, Mackinac is especially at-risk for substantial damage caused by erosion. M-185 was partially underwater during the winters of 2019 and 2020 and is not only a heavily-frequented tourist attraction but also an important route of transportation for the island’s 500–600 year-round residents (“FAQs · Mackinac.Com”). Although Mackinac Island exists purely as a destination in the minds of most Michiganders, it does have a permanent residential community that is threatened by climate change. Many of the island’s houses (including historic, Victorian mansions) lie perched on limestone cliffs that are susceptible to erosion and breakage as a result of rising water levels, as well as decreased accessibility as M-185 has become damaged. Furthermore, rising temperatures as a result of climate change threaten permanent residents’ mobility and quality of life in the winter. Ferries are the main means of transport to and from Mackinac Island (there is a small airport on the island, but it does not run commercial flights and is limited to private charters) and service ceases when the Straits of Mackinac freeze in the winter. During the winter, residents remain on the island until the “ice bridge” (strong enough ice on the surface of the lake to traverse via snowmobile) forms with subzero temperatures mid-winter (“Ice Bridge To Mackinac Island A Winter Phenomena”). The ice bridge gives residents some freedom during the isolated season to leave the island by snowmobiling to St. Ignace in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. However, warmer temperatures prevent the bridge from forming, so while it may be too warm for residents to cross the lake on snowmobiles, ferries are not running as an alternative. A state of thermal limbo occurs in which it is too cold for ferries to run, but too warm for the ice bridge to form.
Although Mackinac Island’s downtown center and landmarks such as the Grand Hotel certainly attract tourists, its rich natural beauty and status as a preserve are arguably its main source of allure. Mackinac Island was the nation’s second national park (established in 1875) and since then has become a state park, but nevertheless is a biodiverse location and attracts hikers, kayakers, rockhounds, birdwatchers, and many other visitors seeking to admire its natural wonders (“Mackinac Island State Park”). The island is filled with limestone formations and its rocky shores are covered by limestone pebbles, Lake Superior agates, and many fossils. Over 600 plant species live on the island and it is covered by dense, coniferous forests as well as by marshes, bogs, and open fields (Environment). The island is inhabited by bats, beavers, toads, migratory birds including hawks, seagulls, and eagles, blue jays, woodpeckers, cardinals, red foxes, raccoons, and many other species of wildlife, all of which are threatened by climate change (“Mackinac Island State Park Natural Wonders”). The Environmental Law and Policy Center’s 2019 report asserted that rising temperatures throughout the Great Lakes region will drive species out of their native homes as temperatures rise and precipitation patterns change (“Impacts of Climate Change on Great Lakes”). While the exact impact will vary from species to species (some will flee north, others will flee west; some may not survive), Mackinac Island’s species will all be threatened. Fish will be at risk as well; warming water temperatures have already begun to push fish into the cooler waters of Lake Ontario (“Impacts of Climate Change on Great Lakes”). Furthermore, the report predicts that shifting water levels and temperatures will increase diseases in fish (due to bacteria growth) such as botulism, which will, in turn, kill bird species that consume fish, many of whom spend the summer on Mackinac Island before migrating (“Impacts of Climate Change on Great Lakes”). Mackinac Island’s wildlife populations, natural landscape, and natural resources are at risk as a result of climate change.
Yoder, Emily. Wildflowers on Mackinac Island. 3 August 2020. JPEG.
Yoder, Emily. Forests on Mackinac Island. 4 August 2020. JPEG.
Yoder, Emily. Sugarloaf Rock on Mackinac Island. 6 August 2020. JPEG.
The Odawa and Ojibway indigenous tribes first inhabited Mackinac Island, which they referred to as “Michilimackinac”, meaning “great turtle”. According to their creation story for the island, their ancestors watched a giant turtle surface out of Lake Huron and settle on the surface of the water. This turtle became the island and Mackinac’s topography arose from its shell (Native Americans). Mackinac Island is a key genesis point for the Anishnaabek (the Odawa, Ojibway, and Potowatomi peoples) and curators of the island’s historical communications have only recently given publicity to its rich indigenous history, despite the story of the great turtle being an integral part of state lore for multiple centuries (“The Garden of Eden for Multiple Michigan Tribes, Mackinac Island to Honor Native Heritage”). Eric Hemenway (Anishnaabe/Odawa), the Director of Archives and Research for the Little Traverse Band of Odawa Indians, collaborated with Mackinac State Historic Parks staff to create a trail of Native history markers on the island in 2015 (“Native American Cultural History Trail”). Hemenway also collaborated with the Parks to restore the house of Agatha Biddle, an indigenous woman who lived on the island and observed the forced relocation of Michigan’s indigenous tribes firsthand (Armitage). Biddle was also a pillar of the island’s community during the nineteenth century and housed foster children while conducting fur-trading from her family’s home (which would have been quite unusual for a woman at the time as well) (Armitage). Ironically, the timing of this overdue honoring of Native history coincides with rising water levels and climate change of the twenty-first century that threatens the island’s existence. Without drastic action to mitigate climate change and fight rising water levels, the great turtle may sink beneath Lake Huron’s waves once more, as it did before the tourists, before the Victorian visitors, and even before the Anishnaabek, the original islanders, designated Mackinac Island as their ancestral home.
Bibliography
Environment. http://mackinacislandlbh.weebly.com/environment.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2021.
Native Americans. http://mackinacislandlbh.weebly.com/native-americans.html. Accessed 24 Oct. 2021.
Rising Waters Threaten Great Lakes Communities. https://pew.org/2SncxPT. Accessed 24 Oct. 2021.
