News Articles

Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent or important events and happenings.

DOUBLE your impact during the Access for All Matching Grant Challenge!

DOUBLE your impact during the Access for All Matching Grant Challenge!

Double is better: If you give right now to the Access for All initiative of Friends of the Apostle Islands, your impact will be doubled by the Matching Grant Challenge offered through the support of the Black Spruce Fund. Double your efforts to create access to the beauty and adventure of the Apostle Islands. Double your efforts to help the one-in-five Americans with mobility concerns, vision, hearing, even cognitive issues that make a national park adventure difficult without your help. Double your donation today with the Matching Challenge Grant and double the difference you can make, for...

Kwik Trip supports Access for All with generous contribution

Kwik Trip supports Access for All with generous contribution

Friends of the Apostle Islands recently received major new support for its Access for All initiative through a partnership with Kwik Trip. “Kwik Trip is very proud to be a corporate sponsor of the Friends of the Apostle Islands and specifically the Access for All Initiative,” says John McHugh, Kwik Trip’s Vice President of External Relations. McHugh saw firsthand the progress made so far in making the park more accessible to people of all abilities during an accessibility tour of Stockton Island this summer.Friends Executive Director Jeff Rennicke discusses accessibility goals with John...

Prescribed cultural burn planned for Stockton Island tombolo this fall, weather permitting

Prescribed cultural burn planned for Stockton Island tombolo this fall, weather permitting

BAYFIELD, WISCONSIN (National Park Service News Release) –The National Park Service, in collaboration with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Tribal partners, is planning a 33-acre prescribed fire on Stockton Island (Wiisaakodewan-minis) between September 13 and October 15, if weather conditions permit. This prescribed fire will be a cultural burn; objectives include restoring globally imperiled pine barrens habitat with an emphasis on increasing blueberry (miin) production. Cultural burns take Indigenous Knowledge, which is a deep knowledge of a place that has been painstakingly...

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore opens applications for commercial uses

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore opens applications for commercial uses

Bayfield, WI – (National Park Service News Release) Apostle Islands National Lakeshore will soon open the application process for Commercial Use Authorizations (CUAs) for the 2024-25 operating seasons. Beginning October 2, 2023, application forms and instructions may be downloaded from the park website at: https://go.nps.gov/APIS_CUA_2024 or an application packet may be requested by calling park headquarters at (715) 779-9103. The application period will run from October 2 through November 30, 2023. The deadline for submitting a completed CUA application with all supporting documentation is...

New Ojibwe educator hired for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore  (Wenabozho ominisan)

New Ojibwe educator hired for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (Wenabozho ominisan)

Bayfield, WI – (National Park Service news release) Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, in partnership with Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, announce Peyton Martinson as the newly appointed park ranger cultural educator for Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. “In her new role, Peyton will work with the park’s visitor service and education team to enhance public and staff understanding of Ojibwe culture and help integrate Ojibwe language, traditional knowledge, and Ojibwe perspectives into park operations,” said Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Superintendent Lynne Dominy. “She...

Meyers Beach Ramp, Little Sand Bay trail network advance through National Park Service environmental review process

Meyers Beach Ramp, Little Sand Bay trail network advance through National Park Service environmental review process

The National Park Service has issued a final environmental assessment decision endorsing plans for an accessible ramp at Meyers Beach and new trails at Little Sand Bay, which include Mashkiig (wetland) Boardwalk, Nelson Cabin Trail, and Minisi (island) Overlook Trail. The Park Service decision, which you can read here, said the project does not significantly impair cultural, historic and ethnographic resources, soils and topography, vegetation, viewsheds and visual Resources or water resources. This decision is another step toward making these projects a reality.Plans for Meyers Beach Ramp...

Wisconsin Sea Grant climate and tourism outreach specialist supports Access for All

Wisconsin Sea Grant climate and tourism outreach specialist supports Access for All

“It’s obvious that there’s a lot of thought and passion that’s gone into the work, and it was really cool to see it personally." That's how Natalie Chin, Wisconsin Sea Grant’s climate and tourism outreach specialist in Superior, Wisconsin describes her reaction to Access for All - a Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore initative to make the park more accessible to people of varying abilities. Chin attended one of four Access for All excursions to Stockton Island, where she saw first-hand the accessibility work that's been completed so far, including an accessible amphitheater...

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore provides $57 million in economic benefits for northern Wisconsin

Apostle Islands National Lakeshore provides $57 million in economic benefits for northern Wisconsin

When you visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, your spending has a positive economic ripple effect in nearby northern Wisconsin communities. A new report says that in 2022, more than a quarter-million park visitors generated nearly $57 million in economic benefits for the region. Nationallly, park visits grew 5% in 2022, to 312 million recreation visits. Researchers say visitation has now returned to pre-pandemic levels. Those visitors spent a record high $50.3 billion, benefitting the nation’s economy and supporting 378,400 jobs. Lodging and restaurants saw the greatest economic...

Annual cruise connects Friends supporters with the islands, accomplishments and what’s next

Annual cruise connects Friends supporters with the islands, accomplishments and what’s next

"This was a trip of imagination. It was a trip of gratitude." That's how Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Executive Director Jeff Rennicke summed up the 2023 annual cruise.60 Friends supporters boarded the Superior Princess in Bayfield for the catered cruise to Stockton Island, where they enjoyed some inspiring conversation and gained first-hand exposure to ongoing efforts to make the park more accessible for people of all abilities, as well as the natural beauty of the island.Rennicke chose the accessible amphitheater at Presque Isle to thank supporters for the progress...

Meyers Beach paddlers, hikers learn about Access for All ramp project during Saturday sessions

Meyers Beach paddlers, hikers learn about Access for All ramp project during Saturday sessions

If your travels bring you to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore this month, stop by the park’s Meyer Beach trailhead. If it’s a Saturday, chances are good that you might find a Friends of the Apostle Islands board member ready and eager to meet you at this popular spot.We’re talking to hikers of the Lakeshore Trail, paddlers launching their kayaks for the sea caves, outfitters and guides, and National Park Service rangers about our organization’s projects and our Access for All campaign.On summertime Saturdays, Meyers Beach is likely the busiest place in the park, because it's the...