Linking Culture and the Environment

R.J. Payne et al. 97
Ottawa, Parks Canada was seen to be far removed from the day-to-day concerns
of life on the north shore of Lake Superior. Furthermore, the fact that
national parks administered by Parks Canada were not available for the
hunting or snowmobiling activities important to some of the residents suggested
that a NMCA would institute the same set of regulations, barring
them from using an area they traditionally used. Another group of local people
saw in the proposed NMCA an ideal management structure which would
ensure that tourism development would be regulated and managed, that
environmental quality would be maintained and that local involvement in
decision making would be assured.
Residents pointed out that, if senior governments were to be involved at
all in managing tourism in the region, then those governments would have
to be accountable for their promises and actions. Far too often in the past,
local people claimed, governments promised jobs and other benefits that
never materialized from various forms of development.
Local people showed themselves to be very knowledgeable about the
north shore and islands of Lake Superior during the discussions. Their
knowledge covered such matters as safe anchorages, sites of natural
beauty, land ownership and wildlife. Many indicated that they had visited
a large number of the islands during the previous 20–30 years. Such knowledge
substantiates their wishes to remain involved, at the least, in decision
making along the north shore and in the islands. Moreover, it adds credibility
to their desire to establish local control over tourism development in
the region.
These findings illustrate several common issues confronting sustainable
tourism. Local people exhibit a high degree of customary knowledge about
the shore zone and islands. Perhaps most important, however, is the adamant
belief among local people that they should have a voice in whatever
tourism development takes place on the north shore of Lake Superior.
Moreover, if they could find a suitable management structure, they would
strongly favour not only a voice but also control over such development.
Local people also feel strongly that any future tourism development must be
appropriate, in their terms; by this, they mean that tourism development
ought to be small in scale, sensitive in its environmental effects and considerate
of their established way of life.
Prospects for Sustainable Tourism in the Region
What then might we say about the prospects for sustainable tourism on
Lake Superior’s north shore and islands? There seems little doubt that,
despite some disagreements over the role of tourism in the regional economy
or the relative importance of consumptive versus non-consumptive
forms of tourism, forum participants favoured the expansion of tourism.
However, they took care to qualify their response by emphasizing that any
new tourism development should be small in scale and should not occur on
the islands. Furthermore, they maintained that a measure of local control