Business & Economy
Outdoor activities can boost tourism economy, influence Great Lakes restoration, study says
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By COLLEEN OTTE & ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING — Ecosystem assets in the Great Lakes region, such as sport fishing, boating, beach use, park visits and birding, contribute significantly to the tourism economy of shoreline communities and can help shape restoration priorities for the lakes, according to a new study that incorporates highly detailed maps. Such “cultural ecosystem services” are valuable to society and have “great potential for benefiting natural resource management and conservation,” it said. Those services or activities vary in where they take place, and so do stressors, threats, to the Great Lakes, said the lead author of the study, David Allan, a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. He said, “There might be better decision-making afforded by our looking at both threats and benefits together instead of just identifying threats and trying to combat them.”
The study said the public takes advantage of recreational activities differently in each part of the region. For example, sport fishing is most popular on the U.S. side of lakes Erie and Ontario and in south-central Lake Michigan.