The Keweenaw Land Trust, partner and custodian of the Rabbit Island consevation easement, forwarded an interesting biodiversity report jointly published in August, 2010, by the US and Canadian governments titled Islands of Life: A Biodiversity and Conservation Atlas of Great Lakes Islands. What a nice surprise. The report is a professionally organized multinational effort between a few big hitters in the conservation world: the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, and the US Environmental Protection Agency. It offers general information on the state of Great Lakes island ecosystems as well as specific detail regarding each and every biologically important island in the watershed. According to the biodiversity ranking criteria Rabbit Island is ranked as the second most important island in terms of biodiversity in the Keweenaw Peninsula region of Lake Superior due to its location, unique habitat for rare migratory birds and rocky underwater spawning grounds for native Lake Superior fish. A fine distinction.
From a global perspective freshwater islands are themselves very rare and those that have been left undeveloped and un-subdivided, remaining in their native state, are real gems. Fresh water in general is scarce as well. Consider this: fresh water represents only three percent of the Earth’s water and about two-thirds of this is frozen in glaciers and polar ice caps, while the remaining third is mostly underground. In all visible surface freshwater represents a mere 1.3% of the total fresh water on Earth, and the majority of this is contained within the Great Lakes. Rabbit Island is blessed to be surrounded by Lake Superior, the largest and purest of these mighty bodies of water.
The report is very well done and quite specific, offering a wealth of information. Overviews can be found at both The Nature Conservancy’s website, nature.org, and it’s Canadian sibling site, natureconservancy.ca, and the full report can be found by clicking the above link and then downloading the .PDF file. Specific information regarding Rabbit Island (aka “Traverse Island” in the report) is found on page 62. The Introduction is worth a read too.
California Stars – Billy Bragg & Wilco
No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
-Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, John Donne, 1624
Mr. Donne’s writes that we are all in this thing together; connected, communal by definition, sharing our experiences as a group of people impossibly intertwined. No doubt.
Historically the imagery of remote islands repeatedly proves itself to be a powerful symbol lending inspiration to art and literature. (Mr. Donne’s quote, for example, went on to inspire Hemingway’s famous novel about the Spanish Civil War). It will be interesting to see the symbolism of Rabbit Island develop as human nature and wilderness evolve together on a 91 acre rise of land in the middle of Lake Superior (with full rear view of 400 years of American frontier experience in hindsight).
The 2011 Rabbit Island Summer Games:
+ Kayak Race (Circumnavigation)
+ Surf Comp
+ Wood Chopping
+ Point-to-Point Swim
+ Log Roll (Coed)
+ Rock Skip
+ Island Marathon (five laps)
+ Laser Sailing Regatta
+ Rabbit Hunt
Rabbit Island’s ecosystem has persisted without experiencing subdivision, forestry or industry and retains objective characteristics conducive to well-controlled study of nature. In light of this historical circumstance science will be supported on the island in any subdivision under the broad umbrella of science–biology, botany, forestry, ornithology, ecology, geology, sustainability, etc.
Following in the footsteps of other regional wilderness areas–Huron Mountain Club Wildlife Foundation, Isle Royal National Park Research, Apostle Islands–the new Rabbit Island Science Foundation will encourage in-depth study of the natural systems of the Lake Superior terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Goals include broadening the understanding of natural cycles in the native lake environment, defining the influence of human activity and industrial byproduct on nature, and paying homage to the American frontier experience. Rabbit Island will provide a unique setting for researchers to perform serious scientific inquiry.
Researchers from local institutions including Michigan Technological University, Northern Michigan University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and other interested institutions are encouraged to submit proposals. Cataloging the natural data of Rabbit Island is central to the understanding of the island’s natural cycles over large spans of time. Scientific research is encouraged for its own sake.
Examples of possible research topics include (but are not limited to):
+ The annual measurement of Mercury found within various size classes of native Traverse Island strain Lake Superior lake trout.
+ The effect of annual air temperature on breeding success of the Rabbit Island blue heron colony.
+ Water quality pre and post-Keweenaw stamp sand remediation efforts.
+ The life cycle and habits of the resident island bald eagles.
+ Lake Superior island forest composition and succession in the absence of large browsing mammals and climax community definition.
+ Genetic diversity specifics of native Rabbit Island lake trout populations.
+ Annual Lake Superior water level and relationship to regional climate.
+ Population dynamics of competing nesting gulls and cormorants over several generations.
Research access will be provided to the island with little bureaucracy in the hopes of encouraging scientific discourse and the systematic knowledge of the natural world gained through observation and experimentation. Multi-year proposals will be entertained as will projects of short duration.
In all cases proposals should have scientific merit and be based on sound scientific reasoning. Priority will be given to projects according to the following broad standards:
+ Use of the unique and unusual features of the island ecosystem in study design is encouraged.
+ Studies addressing the merits and consequences of climate change or other large-scale environmental change are encouraged.
+ Projects potentially leading to long-term research with funding will be looked upon favorably. (We can’t afford to fund this ourselves at this point).
All projects will be considered and researchers should not hesitate to inquire!
Contact Rob Gorski at rob@rabbit-island.org for further information.
Final Wooden House by Sou Fujimoto. Japanese designers are really something. Per capita they just might have more aesthetic sensibility and restraint than anyone else. With this project Sou Fujimoto takes the idea of a simple wooden block and brings it to life on a large scale with nice results. Though perhaps more sculpture than house (i.e. lacking function in some practical senses) he has done a nice job of rethinking enclosed living space. An idea like this might fit nicely with a rethink of the traditional Finnish sauna. Logs from the island could be sourced locally, chosen according to our forest management plan, and milled in the rough using an Alaskan Sawmill, for example.
I came across the artist Lew French while searching online for stone construction techniques. He made this house and has a nice portfolio of interesting work. He has devoted his life to working with stone in traditional ways, yet is liberated from the strict requirement of function. Very inspiring.
This piece is the introduction to the Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. It brings to mind arrival of the spring in the Upper Peninsula which is tentative and at times confused, coming in fits and spurts, though ultimately received with joy by the weary after a long season of darkness, cold and snow. The music’s innovative complex rhythmic structures, timbres and use of dissonance have made it a seminal 20th century composition. Conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein said of one of the passages, “That page is sixty years old, but it’s never been topped for sophisticated handling of primitive rhythms…” In a sense that is what we are going for out on Rabbit Island… primitive ideas arranged interestingly.