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2016: An Assessment of the Development of a Sustainable Ecotourism Alliance Organization for Munising
Co-Learning Plan - 2016
Authors: Scott Jordan and David Kronk, Northern Michigan University
Summary
An Assessment of the Development of a Sustainable Ecotourism Alliance Organization for Munising (2016)
This Co-Learning Plan examines the economic effects and sustainability potential of the creation of a Sustainable Ecotourism Alliance Organization (SEAO) in Munising to establish a fully functioning and recognized "Ecotourism" community in the state of Michigan. Munising is located in Michigan's North Central Upper Peninsula on the South Shore of Lake Superior and directly adjacent to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Hiawatha National Forest. With summer visitation up 97% from 2011, there is an urgent need for more local service providers (lodging and food) and policies to limit harmful impacts on the local environment (USFS 2015). SEAO, a highly successful model originally used in Costa Rica, is meant to better organize the industry by setting sustainable standards that benefit the local community.
Project Updated As Of September 30th, 2016
Author Information
Scott Jordan, Northern Michigan University
Dr. Jordan currently is employed as an Assistant Professor at Northern Michigan University in the Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Management degree program, and has a seventeen year history of working as a professional in the field of Outdoor Recreation. An aspect of Dr. Jordan’s experience is the operation of a private challenge course and zip line canopy tour construction business. As a professor, Dr. Jordan teaches several courses including an upper level business based leisure services management course, and an evaluation and assessment course. He has also aided in the development of a course named Entrepreneurial Thinking in Outdoor Recreation and an Adventure and Ecotourism course with the hope of developing curriculum that will aid in the development of an ecotourism job market in the Upper Peninsula. When not teaching, Dr. Jordan is an avid cyclist who has an awareness of the impact of the mountain biking industry on local economies and the development of successful trails systems.
David Kronk, Northern Michigan University
David Kronk is currently employed as a Contingent Instructor at Northern Michigan University (NMU) in the School of Health and Human Performance and has thirty five years of experience working as a professional in the field of environmental education and outdoor recreation. Two of the courses David has taught at NMU are Protected Area Management, and The Ecology and Ecotourism of Costa Rica. Mr. Kronk has considerable tourism and ecotourism knowledge and experience from his work as an education specialist with the National Park Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. While employed by the National Park Service, Mr. Kronk was invited to visit Costa Rica in 2011 through an exchange program with the Costa Rican National Park Service and the U.S. State Department. In Costa Rica he demonstrated climate change activities to education professionals and researched an ecotourism management program in Costa Rica called Certification for Sustainable Ecotourism (CST). Mr. Kronk also has considerable experience writing and developing materials for organizations and coordinating group projects. While employed by the National Park Service he was a part of a curriculum development team writing education training modules for the agency. He assisted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in developing guidelines for school visits to Corps Reservoirs. Mr. Kronk is also a video producer and has made several educational training television shows for the National Conservation Training Center, and DVD's for the National Park Service: Kids Explore the Everglades (1990), The Outdoor Classroom (1992), and Voices for Nature and History (1994), a documentary about an organization of professional outdoor educators called the National Association for Interpretation (NAI). David's hobbies include outdoor photography, fishing, hunting and canoeing. He is very familiar with the natural attractions of the Upper Peninsula.
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