Apostle Island Scenario Planning Exercise

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This project focused on re-using the NPS scenario planning processes originally conducted at Isle Royale National Park for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. GLISA investigated whether the localization of information conducted for Isle Royale could be reused at Apostle Islands to accelerate the incorporation of climate-change knowledge into adaptation planning. Our prototype problem-solving environment, GLISAclimate.org, was the platform for the information reuse.

A report was produced to summarize the process and outcomes of the scenario planning process and can be found here.

Project Accomplishments

GLISA completed their second round of scenario planning using the NPS template, and sustained engagement with the Apostle Islands after the workshop. We are currently researching topics that came out of the workshop in order to develop additional usable information for Apostle Islands.

Workshop Report:

2016 Climate change scenario planning workshop summary

Research Findings

Although the localization of climate data and information for Apostle Islands was not a straightforward reuse of the information collected for Isle Royale, many of the Lake Superior climate change impact summaries (i.e., lake level, and lake ice trends) could be reused, and the overall process of data collection and synthesis moved more quickly. Our experience with reusing relevant climate data and information for a new, nearby location was encouraging from a human capital and adaptation standpoint—less time is required to deliver the same level of resource, and practitioners can more quickly use that information to make decisions.