Summit Schedule

Wednesday, May 20 – Arrival & Community Kickoff

4:00–6:00 PM - Travel / Hotel Check-In
6:00–8:00 PM - Early Registration & Welcome Reception – Small Craft (welcome remarks + networking)

Thursday, May 21 – Education & Leadership

Located in the McArdle Theatre, 2nd Floor of Walker Building on Michigan Technological University Campus at 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931

9:00–10:00 AM - Registration, Coffee Networking
10:00–10:45 AM - Keynote: Give 'Em What They Want
- Presenter: Matt Schneider (Leave No Trace)
- Description: Most people want to be more sustainable, but they don't know how. Visitors to the outdoors - locals and newcomers alike - are your greatest asset for protecting forests, waters, trails, and other wild spaces. With clear, community-wide messaging and education, land managers, destination marketers, and local stakeholders can build a coalition of people who are informed and inspired to care for their environment - protecting the natural resources that drive tourism and strengthening local economies.
11:00–11:45 PM - The Keweenaw Heartlands Project: Conserving a Forest Resource to Protect Ecology, Economy, and a Community’s Way of Life.
- Panel Facilitator: Julia Petersen (The Nature Conservancy)
- Description: The Keweenaw Heartlands Project is a 32,500-acre forest protection project in Keweenaw County, Michigan. When a private timber investment management organization (TIMO) put these acres on the market in 2021, local and regional community members pulled together to find a solution that kept the forest unfragmented, publicly accessible, and an ongoing contributor to the local economy.
  In partnership with The Nature Conservancy (currently the interim owner) and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, community members—through a Heartlands Community Advisory Committee (CAC)—have designed and are now implementing a governance and management model for a future ~21,000-acre Keweenaw Heartlands Community Forest, the first of its kind in Michigan. Join moderator Julia Petersen (The Nature Conservancy) and four panelists from the Heartlands CAC as they discuss this community-driven conservation project; the challenges and successes along the way; and its environmental, social, and economic impact.
- Panelists:
  - Tori Irving, Public Lands Specialist, Office of Public Lands, MI Department of Natural Resources
  - Curt Pennala, Sheriff, Keweenaw County
  - Wyndeth Davis (Retired), Previous Superintendent (2016-2026), Keweenaw National Historical Park
  - Adam Yeoman, Executive Director, Copper Harbor Trail Club
12:00–1:00 PM - Lunch + Michigan Audubon Presentation: Bird City Houghton
1:00–1:45 PM - Session: Community Engaged Network Building for Tourism Destinations
- Presenters: Jessie Hook (Taos Destination Stewardship Network) and Dylan Cox (Taos County Lodging Tax Coordinator)
- Description:
  A good place to live is a good place to visit — but the other way around is not always true.
  This collaborative presentation explores how Taos, New Mexico is moving destination stewardship from plan to action through community engagement, reinvestment, and equity-centered economic development. Grounded in community concerns around tourism’s impact on culture and quality of life, the session highlights how local organizations, governments, businesses, and residents are working together to shape a more balanced visitor economy. Participants will learn about initiatives such as Taos MainStreet’s Cultural Events Fund, the SEED program, and the Taos County Lodger’s Tax Grant Program, which are helping align funding and economic development with community-driven values and priorities. Through real-world examples and honest conversation, this session explores the tension between Taos as a home and Taos as a destination — and how communities can move from skepticism to inspiration through incremental action, cross-sector collaboration, and integrated stewardship strategies. Attendees will leave with practical ideas, examples, and tools to help inform stewardship and equity-centered development efforts in their own communities.
2:00–2:30 PM - Session: A Roadmap for Sustainable Tourism Development: How Strategically Placed Spaces Reduce Community Strain
- Presenter: Jeremy Johnson (Kona Hills Campground)
- Description: This presentation explores how purpose-built visitor spaces such as strategically located campgrounds, trailheads, and public amenities can convert visitors into low-impact users and high-value economic impacts. Examples will include how campgrounds can function as demand buffers during peak events, and how adding new public access points such as additional trailheads or beach access can relieve strain on existing popular areas by spreading users more evenly across the landscape. Additionally, we will look at how the increase of these public spaces designed for tourists can drive huge benefits for locals through economic development, revenue generation for infrastructure, and additional access to recreational opportunities.
2:30–3:15 PM - Your Destination, Our Home: Fostering Partnership & Stewardship Through Respect Marquette County
- Presenter: Anna Solberg (Travel Marquette)
- Description: Following the surge in visitation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marquette County faced growing tension between residents and visitors. In response, Travel Marquette brought together a countywide coalition to launch Respect Marquette County, an initiative designed to inspire both residents and visitors to care for and protect the region’s cultural and natural assets. Join this session to learn more about the coalition’s development and discover practical insights you can apply in your own destination.
3:30 PM–4:15 PM - Session: Michigan First Impressions Team (FIT)
- Presenters: Dr. Dan McCole + Will Cronin (MSU Extension)
- Description: First Impressions Tourism (FIT) uses structured, first-time visitor assessments and facilitated public forums to catalyze local place action, strengthening collaboration, surfacing assets, and converting insight into strategy. The Rural Tourism Assessment (RTA) scales this approach regionally, aligning multiple municipalities through shared data and phased planning. This session explores how visitor perspective, facilitation, and evaluation tools drive measurable rural outcomes including infrastructure investment, entrepreneurship, and cross-sector coordination.
4:30 PM–5:30 PM - Leave No Trace Communications Workshop
- Workshop Leader: Matt Schneider
- Description: An interactive session for tourism professionals, land managers, and partners focused on applying Leave No Trace principles in real destination settings. This workshop will guide participants on identifying existing and emerging impacts to natural and cultural resources, and begin to outline a plan to address them through community engagement and visitor education. Participants will leave with:
  - Simple ways to measure success beyond awareness
  - Examples of behavior-change campaigns
  - Tools for partner activation and coalition-building
  - Messaging frameworks that work with visitors and locals

Friday, May 22

Morning Sessions

Located in the Advanced Technology Development Complex

10:45 AM–12:00 PM - MSU Michigan Tourism Training & Engagement (MITTEN) Overview and Destination Stewardship Workshop
- Description: Join MSU Extension Community and Tourism Development Expert Will Cronin as we workshop best practices learned from Thursday's education sessions. This will be a practical, hands-on workshop intended to generate ideas on how attendees can "bring home" some of the key learnings from the Summit.
12:00--12:30 PM - Lunch

Afternoon Field Immersions

Keweenaw Heartlands*

1:30–4:30 PM: Tour the Keweenaw Heartlands* (The Nature Conservancy)

Adventure Mine Group Hike & Bike Ride + DNR Bat Talk*

6:30–8:00 PM: Grab your headlamp and hike or ride through a former copper mine! Located at the Adventure Mine in Greenland, MI, this ride is epic and part of the Ride the Keweenaw series hosted by the Copper Harbor Trails Club and the SöKē Trails Club. Get more details and sign up.

*Both field excursions require pre-registration. Group transportation is provided but space is limited.

Field Excursions

Saturday, May 23 – Closing