Press Kit

In response to wolves accessing human food and garbage in and around Rock Harbor and campgrounds located on the east end of the island, Isle Royale National Park is implementing new food storage guidelines to ensure the safety of visitors and wildlife. Campgrounds currently affected are Rock Harbor, Three Mile, Lane Cove, Daisy Farm, Moskey Basin, Duncan Bay, Duncan Narrows, and Merritt Lane. The park compendium provides park-specific regulations and will be updated and available online the week of July 15. Visitors are reminded that feeding wildlife is prohibited.

From the unique ecosystem of Isle Royale to the historic lighthouses of the Apostle Islands, Lake Superior’s five national parks boast natural and cultural resources cherished by generations. Starting in 2023, the parks began modeling how to reduce carbon emissions through net-zero strategies.

As part of a larger effort to streamline and modernize the National Park Service (NPS) Commercial Use Authorization (CUA) Program, Isle Royale National Park is launching an online system to process CUA applications and collect required CUA reports.

The National Park Service announces an Environmental Impact Statement for a Wilderness Stewardship Plan at Isle Royale National Park. With this announcement, the National Park Service introduces a broad range of actions for managing wilderness and cultural resources within wilderness inside the park boundary, as well as preliminary issues and potential impacts associated with wilderness management.

The National Park Service announces the release of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Isle Royale National Park Cultural Resource Management Plan/Environmental Assessment (CRMP/EA). The plan provides a long-term comprehensive strategy for managing the non-wilderness cultural resources of the park.

The National Park Service announces a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a Wilderness Stewardship Plan at Isle Royale National Park. With this announcement, the National Park Service introduces a broad range of actions for managing wilderness and cultural resources within wilderness inside the park boundary, as well as preliminary issues and potential impacts associated with wilderness management.

Over the past two days, favorable weather conditions slowed the spread of the Mt. Franklin Fire, allowing firefighters to lay hose line around the fire’s perimeter. While significant progress suppressing the fire has occurred, the fire is not yet considered contained. The current fire acreage is estimated at 6.0 acres, reduced from initial estimates of 11 acres. Initial estimates are based on first-responder reports and are often adjusted as firefighters respond. There are currently minimal impacts to visitors with the exception of closures, and fire managers expect that to continue over the next few days.

Early in the afternoon on Saturday, August 13, park staff received reports of a plume of smoke coming from an apparent wildfire burning in the area of Three Mile campground. Isle Royale firefighters responded to the area and discovered a small fire burning at the junction of the Tobin Harbor trail and Mt. Franklin trail.

Park rangers closing Isle Royale in late October took one last look at the Horne Fire before heading back to Houghton for the winter.

Work continues on the approximately 200-acre Horne Fire, which ignited on August 10 near the Duncan Bay/Tobin Harbor Portage Trail on Isle Royale National Park. The cause of ignition is suspected to be lightning. The fire is now 15% contained.