This past winter did not go easy on Marquette. And two of the city’s most-loved parks took the brunt of it.
If you’ve made the drive out to Presque Isle lately — “the Island,” as everybody around here calls it — or rolled through Tourist Park, you might’ve noticed things looked a little different this spring. After a winter bookended by two major storms, both parks were left littered with downed trees, some big enough to block the roads entirely.
But by the time summer rolled around, both were cleaned up and open. And the story of how the city pulled it off is about as Yooper as it gets.
The Damage Was Worse Than a Normal Winter
According to The Mining Journal, Andrew MacIver — assistant director of Community Services for the Marquette Parks and Recreation Department — said the damage went well beyond a typical year. There were significantly more downed trees than usual at both Tourist Park and Presque Isle.
A mess that big was more than the department could take on alone. “We don’t have the capabilities to do (a cleanup) on that scale,” MacIver told the paper.
So Marquette Got Resourceful
Instead of throwing up its hands, the city teamed up with Sara Kelso, the district forester from the Marquette County Conservation District. She connected them with PotlatchDeltic — a forestry company out of Gwinn — to bring in a logging crew to handle the job.
Here’s the clever part. Rather than landing the city with a giant bill, the work got rolled into an educational program, with support from the U.S. Forest Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The cleanup that had to happen anyway became something more.
And the Kids Got the Best Part
This is where it goes from practical to heartwarming. Area third graders got to come out, meet the loggers, climb around the equipment, and learn firsthand how the Upper Peninsula’s logging industry actually works — right in their own backyard.
Think about that for a second. A pile of storm damage turned into a field trip these kids will probably remember for years, and a hands-on lesson about one of the U.P.’s signature industries. Win-win doesn’t quite cover it.
Open Just In Time
The crew started work around May 15 and wrapped up by the 21st — quick enough that neither park’s opening was delayed at all. So whether you’re pitching a tent at Tourist Park or making the loop around the Island this summer, both are ready and waiting for you.
The downed trees are gone now. The stumps, though, are still standing — a quiet reminder, as The Mining Journal put it, of just how punishing this past winter really was. Give it a season or two and even those will fade back into the landscape.
But the parks? They’re back. Right on time.
For more stories about U.P. communities looking out for their own, check out our Community section on Yooper Hub.
Original reporting by Annie Lippert of The Mining Journal — read her full story here.
Yoopers — what’s your first stop now that the parks are open: a lap around Presque Isle or a campsite at Tourist Park? Drop it in the comments 👇
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