Linking Culture and the Environment

R.J. Payne et al. 79
inland and includes areas actively exploited for timber and minerals. On the
other, the edge of settlement – not more than 10 km from the shore – offers an
alternative; such an edge would represent a ‘bio-regional’ (World Resources
Institute, 1992) boundary. The latter best describes local people’s views.
The imprint of settlement in the region is most visible along the coast,
where the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 17 in Ontario) and the main
line of the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway join the communities of
Terrace Bay, Schreiber, Rossport, Pays Plat, Nipigon and Red Rock. Apart
from these communities and isolated pockets of shoreline development,
most land in the region is in public hands as Crown land that, in Ontario, the
provincial Ministry of Natural Resources is charged with managing in a sustainable
manner. Several of these communities were home to large pulp mills,
testifying to the importance of the forest industry as employer and as influence
in the region. However, several mills have recently closed and another
was destroyed by fire, but not rebuilt. As the forest industry struggles with
ageing mills, the high Canadian dollar (relative to the US dollar) and higher
energy prices, other economic activities such as tourism are increasingly seen
in a positive light, although it should be noted that the high dollar and higher
energy costs also have negative implications for tourism. The region has an
identity (‘the north shore’) that is recognized by those living there as well as
by other northern Ontario residents.
The region has been recognized as possessing both outstanding natural
beauty and ecological integrity by several organizations. Attention from outside
the region has come from Parks Canada which selected a candidate
National Marine Conservation Area (Parks Canada, 1995, p. 85) centred on
the region. Environment Canada and the US Environmental Protection
Agency have identified the region, and especially the islands, as a ‘Shoreline
Biodiversity Investment Area’ (Reid and Holland, 1997, p. 58). Both recognitions
will contribute to the growing tourism promotion of the natural heritage
aspects of the region.
Purpose and objectives
This chapter has two general goals:
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to investigate residents’ views of tourism along the north shore of Lake
Superior; and
to compare those views with accepted criteria for social sustainability.
The first section of this chapter introduces the study area – the north shore
and islands of Lake Superior – within the context of northern Ontario. Then,
the concept of sustainability, focusing on its social dimensions, is discussed
and a position developed. A discussion on methodology explains the nature
of the data as well as the quantitative and qualitative methods employed in
collecting and understanding them. The presentation and discussion of the
results follows. Finally, in a concluding section, the lessons learnt about sustainable
tourism in the region are presented.