Picture this: An inflatable raft anchored near the Lake Michigan shore, a book, a beverage and a beloved dog.
Those are the ingredients for Donna Batdorff ‘s perfect summer day. She usually gets a few like it during her annual camping trip on the Lake Michigan shore in the Upper Peninsula’s Delta County. (That is as specific a location as she would disclose — Batdorff said she can’t risk the crowds finding out about “my spot.”)
This year, smoke has her stuck inside her RV, which she named “The Rolling Poodle Palace” after her 8-year-old poodle and traveling companion, Georgie.
“It’s just really weird because you don’t feel any immediate effects of it, really, but you’re thinking about the long-term effects,” Batdorff said. “If I stay out here, what am I doing to my lungs? What am I taking in? It’s no fun just sitting in a small trailer all day. If I’m going to stay inside, I might as well go home to Grand Rapids and stay in my air-conditioned house.”
Wildfire smoke drifting southeast from Ontario — where large swaths of the northern boreal forests are burning out of control, fires fueled by dried-out soil, trees and vegetation — has sent air pollution levels skyrocketing this week in Michigan. It started in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula on Wednesday, and on Thursday made the air in much of southern Michigan dangerous to breathe.
Air quality is expected to remain unhealthy on Saturday. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy issued an air quality alert for Saturday, warning that concentrations of wildfire smoke will be unhealthy for sensitive groups, such as people with asthma, in southern Michigan, while they will be very unhealthy in northern parts of the state.
The smoke has put a damper on tourism and outdoor activities in Michigan. Some campers are abandoning their sites and ending vacations early, while others tough it out in tents, cabins or recreational vehicles.
Event planners and travelers have had to decide what level of air pollution is too much to risk hosting or attending events, including those involved in the Ann Arbor Art Fair, one of the nation’s largest outdoor art fairs that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Sailors embarking on the Bayview Port Huron to Mackinac Race on Saturday will have to navigate poor visibility, poor air quality and changing conditions on Lake Huron.
DNR waives cancellation fees because of smoke
There were thousands of camping cancellations at Michigan state parks and harbors between Wednesday and Friday, said Jeremy Spell, the Department of Natural Resources’ Parks and Recreation Division reservation system analyst. Cancellations rose 60% in that three-day window compared with the same time last year.
The DNR waived fees for cancellations and early departures from Wednesday through Sunday. That includes the fees usually charged when people cancel the day of their arrival, modify their stay or leave early.
The department is reviewing cancellations to issue refunds, so people don’t need to call to request one, Spell said. He warned that the process could take some time.
It was clear to the division leadership that the smoke was a statewide emergency and that a waiver was appropriate, Spell said. He said it’s the first time in his 30-plus year career that he’s experienced anything like this week’s smoke or the fast-paced change to the reservation fee policies.
“We’ve never experienced anything like that, and we’ve never done any type of fee waivers for air quality just because we’ve never had any situation this long and extensive,” Spell said. “We knew it was just way too bad, and it impacted the whole entire state.”
This won’t be the last time DNR officials and other campground owners have to think about poor air quality, according to climate scientists. As climate warming causes the conditions that make fires more frequent and intense, smoke plumes are likely to keep rolling through.
“We have to figure out what’s the most sensible duration and sensible coverage” for future fee waivers, Spell said. “This covered the whole entire state. Say the Thumb has bad air quality and none of the rest of the state does, and there’s options for people to move their reservation without penalty. That’s something we would consider.”
‘Even inside, my eyes were watering’
There are so many reasons to visit Rapid River, the community on Lake Michigan where Yvonne Pittman owns Vagabond Resort Cabins and Campgrounds. It’s close to the Upper Peninsula State Fair in Escanaba, the natural spring wonder of Kitch-iti-kipi, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and the Mackinac Bridge. Monarchs will stop over soon on their migration from Canada to Mexico.
But Pittman wasn’t going to make anyone follow through on their vacation plans this week. She gave full refunds to campers who decided to cancel their reservations because of the smoke, which was so bad on Wednesday that “even inside, my eyes were watering,” she said.
One family left to protect their son with asthma, Pittman said, and some others canceled and promised to reschedule.
“Obviously the health of our campers is much more important than a few dollars,” Pittman said. “It’s not worth it. We want them to come back for years to come. We don’t want to sacrifice their health.”
Crowd visits Ann Arbor Art Fair despite smoke
Ann Arbor Art Fair organizers allowed vendors to close their booths early Thursday and open late on Friday because of the wildfire smoke.
“It was very slow yesterday, and even the food trucks shut down because they weren’t getting enough people to stay open,” said Peggy Slattery of Grand Rapids, who sells oil paintings with her husband, who kept her booth open all day Thursday and Friday. “Our eyes burned, but the Canadians are having it so much worse than us. We’re sitting from a very privileged perspective. Our house isn’t going down. We just have less customers.”
Some visitors wore masks to protect themselves from the smoke. Sarah Gelsanliter had one with her, but decided not to wear it because the weather was so hot.
“It’s like a trade-off of how uncomfortable I want to be,” said Gelsanliter of Milan, who sells ceramics. “A little bit of itchy eyes, a little bit of a low-grade headache. Not super fun, but you can’t control it. We’ve been doing the art fair for so long, and it’s notorious for really hot weather or storms. We’re always expecting something.”
ckthompson@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Campers and tourists deal with a Pure Michigan covered in smoke
Reporting by Carol Thompson and Alyssa Tisch, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Carol Thompson and Alyssa Tisch, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
