Browsing by Subject "Taking Stock - Shorelands"

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    Erosion Forum Summary and Resource Guide
    (2009) North Shore Management Board (NSMB)
    This document gives a brief history and background to soil and bank erosion along the north shore of Lake Superior. It summarizes presentations made during the forum, and gives examples of erosion control projects near Two Harbors. The report gives practical examples and suggestions for planners, local governments and developers.
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    Hazards of Living on the Edge of Water: The Case of Minnesota Point, Duluth, Minnesota
    (1989) Rasid, Harun; Hufferd, James
    This peer-reviewed article summarizes an opinion survey of property owners on Minnesota Point and their views about the causes of water level fluctuation in Lake Superior. The study found that residents attributed lake level fluctuation on manipulation by the International Joint Commission, rather than other limnological, hydrologic or climate-related factors. Abstract: "Based on a systematic sample among the residents of Minnesota Point, a freshwater spit/baymouth bar on the southwest shore of Lake Superior, this study tests a number of hypotheses related to the perceived causes of lake level fluctuation and shore property hazards. The study found that despite significant differences in property setting and the nature of flood and erosion hazards between the lakeside and bayside of the spit, the majority of the residents perceived that their property hazards were induced by the manipulation of lake levels by the International Joint Commission (IJC). Consequently, one in every two respondents would like to lower the lake level by amounts ranging from 30cm to more than one m. The study points out the physical limitations of controlling water levels and recommends that greater attention should be given to shoreline management, which provide guidelines for protecting existing coastal structures and for developing minimum standards for future encroachment of the remaining unused sections of the shoreline. "The popular misperception of current levels of high water levels in the Great Lakes is an example of misplaced blame for natural phenomena. The regulation of lake levels by the IJC is postulated as the main cause of lake level fluctuation and very little attention is given to more important natural causes. Such an attitude is pervasive among coastal residents on the Great Lakes who tend to absolve themselves of any responsibility for occupying the hazardous edge of water by resorting to this explanation. “To cope with flood and erosion hazards, many property owners have made use of a range of protection measures, but most of them perceived lower lake levels as a higher priority than providing shore protection measures. Consequently, very few respondents would like to bear full responsibility for shore protection measures, despite the fact that they made the choice to live on the hazardous edge of water."
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    Scale-dependent Response by Breeding Songbirds to Residential Development Along Lake Superior
    (2010) Ford, Michelle T; Flaspohler, David J
    This is the first study to examine the influence of Great Lakes shoreline residential development on forest breeding bird communities on any of the Great Lakes. This study took place near Houghton Michigan but may be relevant for Minnesota’s coastal areas given that migrating birds utilize common flyways, and their habitat and movements have trans-boundary characteristics. For these reasons it is included in the study. The abstract and key points are reproduced below. Abstract: “We examined the influence of shoreline residential development on breeding bird communities along forested portions of Lake Superior and hypothesized that anthropogenic changes related to housing development would alter bird community structure compared to areas without human development. We used point counts to compare relative abundance of bird species in relation to residential development at coarse (along 1 km shoreline stretches with and without housing/cottage development) and fine (developed and undeveloped sides of a shoreline access road) spatial scales during the 2005 breeding season. More species had development related differences in abundance at the finer-scale analysis than at the coarse scale. American Crows and American Robins were more abundant on the developed, shoreline side of shoreline access roads. Red-breasted Nuthatches, Blackthroated Green Warblers, and Red-eyed Vireos were more abundant on the undeveloped, inland side of shoreline access roads. Several species were detected exclusively in developed or undeveloped forest areas. The pattern of development-related differences in relative abundance of bird species depended on the scale at which data were analyzed, suggesting that many species may respond to habitat differences within the 100 m scale quite distinct from how they respond to differences at the scale of thousands of meters.”