People build communities everywhere.
In the Great Lakes, natural beauty, abundant resources and water-based
industries draw people to live near the coast. Some take that a step further
and choose to live surrounded entirely by water in an island community.
More
than 30,000 islands rise out of the waters of the Great Lakes, and just a few
dozen are home to year-round communities. These unique communities face similar
challenges and can learn from each other’s triumphs and struggles.
Drawing inspiration from an existing network of coastal Maine islands,
the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, Northland College of Wisconsin, Island Institute, Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and other partners are supporting an emerging, voluntary network of Great Lakes islands communities.
Lake Michigan’s largest island, Beaver Island, hosted an
inaugural summit in 2017; in October 2018, the newly-minted Great Lakes Islands Alliance moved
north to Lake Superior for a second gathering. Community members from 13
islands traveled by plane, car, and ferryboat to reach Madeline Island, located
in the Apostle Islands Archipelago of northern Wisconsin.
Last year’s summit sparked the idea of the Great Lakes
Island Alliance. Now, with an official charter and volunteer steering
committee, it’s beginning to fledge into a working network. Members will use
their collective knowledge and connections to develop solutions to universal
challenges of island life.
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