ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT IN THE EASTERN UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN - A CASE-HISTORY

In 1992, a group composed of state and federal government agencies, a non-government organization, and industrial land holders formed to coo rdinate management efforts in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan (EUP). The EUP landscape, characterized by a variety of glacial landfo rms, encompasses 1.6 million ha. Members of the group represent organi zations that manage two-thirds of the land in the EUP. The group's mis sion is to facilitate complementary management of public and private l ands for all appropriate uses, using an ecological approach to sustain and enhance representative ecosystems, globally significant communiti es and landscapes, and threatened and endangered species. Several fact ors make this a challenging mission. First, the EUP contains a wide va riety of ecological units, each with a unique suite of species and man agement considerations. Second, the management goals of the stakeholde rs are diverse, ranging from preservation of natural and cultural reso urces to economically profitable timber production. Finally, the group has to deal with many of the issues that have recently received natio nal attention: threatened and endangered species management, forest fr agmentation, old growth, deer browsing, fire management, forest conver sion, effects of management decisions on local and regional economies, and maintenance of ecosystem function. This paper chronicles the effo rts and group dynamics of the eastern Upper Peninsula Ecosystem Manage ment Group. The complexity of managing a large and diverse area is ill ustrated by describing the area's ecology and biological significance, ownership patterns, and management goals of stakeholders. Partners wo rk together informally, making decisions by consensus, stressing commu nication, understanding, and cooperation, rather than formal procedure s and protocols. Working this way, the group communicates openly and h onestly and has established working relationships built on trust. We a lso highlight accomplishments to date including the development of an ecological classification system that serves as a foundation for our e fforts. We conclude with a discussion of the direction and projected a ctivities of the group and obstacles the group faces. (C) 1997 Elsevie r Science B.V.