RAD Decisions in Rad Landscapes: Minong, Isle Royale National Park

Climate change is contributing to unprecedented rates of ecological transformation worldwide. Shifts in species composition and habitat have implications for ecosystem function and human relationships. The 1964 Wilderness Act was passed to preserve undeveloped large landscapes in their “natural” condition and for the continued use and enjoyment of people. Nevertheless, wilderness is still vulnerable to the direct and indirect impacts of climate change. Using active management to respond to climate change challenges in wilderness is complicated by the very protections afforded to wilderness that limit human impacts. Scientists at the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute (ALWRI) worked with land stewards of Isle Royale National Park to apply the Resist–Accept–Direct (RAD) framework to illuminate a decision space surrounding ecological transformation. Isle Royale National Park is a 40-mile-long archipelago situated within Lake Superior that is experiencing shifts in forest structure driven by changing climatic conditions. Ninety-nine percent of Isle Royale is designated wilderness, which makes addressing forest transformation particularly complex. The overarching goal of the RAD Decisions in Rad Landscapes: Minong, Isle Royale National Park case study was to provide National Park Service (NPS) staff and partners from the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe; herein, GPLSC) with knowledge and tools to support intentional and transparent decision making for forest communities on Minong through climate change-driven ecological transformation. Scientists from ALWRI investigated potential ecological consequences of climate change for forests on Minong as well as managers’ perceived ability to respond to ecological change. Additionally, scientists from ALWRI facilitated a 2-day workshop that engaged NPS and GPLSC staff in an adaptive management-based process to clarify values and desired conditions, generate decision alternatives using the RAD framework, and evaluate the potential social, legal, and ecological implications of various decision alternatives for forests on Minong.