Educational foot soldiers: when it comes to historical preservation, Mackinac Island State Park walks the walk. Literally.

Imagine that you manage a historic site that attracts close to 400,000 visitors a year. Imagine that the site is part of an 1,800-acre free park visited by untold thousands more during the year. In addition, imagine that the park covers roughly 80 percent of an island, and that nearly all of your visitors arrive during a five-month period. Sounds like a lot of work, huh? Oh, one more thing: You have to manage this highly popular park without the use of automobiles.

"That can be a real challenge," understates Daniel Cook, park manager for Mackinac Island State Park, in Mackinac Island, Mich., which is essentially free of motor vehicles. But it's obviously not an insurmountable one. Cook has lost only three staff members in recent years to what he calls the not-what-I-expected factor. The rest, Cook says, "know what a privilege it is to be here." Given the park's reputation and popularity, that's a sentiment shared by staff and visitors alike.

From National to State Park

Mackinac (pronounced "Mack-i-naw") Island's status as a park dates to the 19th century. What in the 1870s was known as Mackinac National Park was the second national park in the U.S. (Yellowstone was the first.) In 1895, the federal government transferred administration of the land to the state of Michigan, and Michigan's first state park was born. Today, Mackinac Island State Park is part of Mackinac State Historic Parks, which also includes Fort Mackinac (located on the island) and, on the mainland in Mackinac City, Colonial Michilimackinac and Historic Mill Creek. Combined attendance for the four living history parks and museums is 1.2 million people each year, and that's with them being open only between early May and mid October. (Those dates apply to Mackinac Island State Park's visitor center; the land itself is open year-round.)

Beyond the obvious reason of beauty--Mackinac Island is where lakes Michigan and Huron meet--the area has such a rich park tradition because of the history associated with it. French missionaries and fur traders came to the region in the late 17th century. They settled first on the north side of the Mackinac Straits in what is now Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and early in the 18th century moved south near today's Mackinac City The area came under British rule when the British took control of Canada in the French and Indian War. During the Revolutionary War, the British retreated to Mackinac Island and built Fort Mackinac. The fort also figured in America's next war, the War of 1812, which began with a surprise British attack on what had become an American outpost.

During the 19th century, the economy of the area shifted from fur trading to fishing, and then to tourism. Also during the 19th century--1898, to be precise--the first automobile appeared on Mackinac Island. It was one of the last. The history of the island's attempts to be car-free is a long and winding road, but the gist of it is that, today, residents, visitors and park personnel get around the island much as they would have in at the turn of the 20th century: by foot, bike or horse-drawn carriage.

Balancing Preservation and Recreation

Mackinac Island State's Park task is to educate visitors about its historical heritage while encouraging them to make recreational use of the island beyond the obvious sites.

Fort Mackinac is the main draw. Featuring 14 original buildings, the fort is staffed by historic interpreters in 1880s military garb. They educate visitors about the fort's military history and lifestyle with period music, antique rifle and cannon firings, and reenactments of historic events (including a court martial). Guided tours add to visitors' knowledge.

As with all exhibits within Mackinac State Historic Parks, the programs at the fort seek to engage all the senses of visitors instead of having them passively receive a lecture. "We've always been hands-on, even when real soldiers were in charge when the park first started," says Katie Cederholm, the park's museum educator. "People would watch them, ask them questions. We want to get across all the history that's happened here, and the way to do that is getting our visitors involved. You can see, you can listen, but when you participate, you remember."

An example is the "Kids' Quarters" exhibit at the fort. There, children play a giant fife, dress up in Victorian clothes, tap out Morse code, play checkers and examine other period artifacts. Cederholm says that school groups from 4th through 10th grade make up the bulk of visitors in the spring. Cederholm, who used to use her degree in secondary education to teach school, works to help the groups get the most out of their visits.

"We try to prepare them throughout the year," she says. "We try to help them avoid the experience of one teacher we heard from, who came here with 80 students and then didn't know what to do. We provide materials the teachers can integrate into their Michigan history lessons, plus we give them background on what they can expect once they get here." The park's Web site offers a sample itinerary as well as instructions on how to obtain a video and educational packet about visiting the island. In addition, costumed interpreters visit more than 11,000 students in 65 schools throughout Michigan each year to teach Mackinac history. Extensive audience surveys and in-depth questioning of group leaders help the education staff evaluate what works in the exhibits and what needs to be changed.

In the summer, traffic switches mainly to vacationing families. Park staff do a lot of work to help these visitors, too, maximize their enjoyment of the island.

"One challenge we have is to move our visitors into our natural areas," says Carl Nold, the park's director. "For a lot of people, it's their first opportunity to be in a managed urban park." Accordingly, the park's promotional materials, as well as the visitor's center, emphasize the miles of woodland trails that lie beyond Main Street, and other recreational outlets. An 8.2-mile road traverses the perimeter of the island; according to Nold, about 500,000 people enjoy its car-free lanes in a horse carriage, on foot or bike, or otherwise. Nold says that, as the goal of dispersing visitors throughout the island is met, etiquette education has become more important.

"A lot of them have never experienced this sort of nature," he says. "So we need to educate them not to pick wildflowers, that they should stay on the trails, about erosion on the bluffs, things like that." The visitors, in turn, have let park staff know that they would like more amenities in the natural areas such as navigational signs and restrooms. Nold says that honoring these requests without ruining the very nature that visitors seek is a balancing job.

Auto-Free Administration

About those restrooms: "One challenge we have is to have things where we need them when we need them," says Nold. Obviously, that's the case for any park, but one that's heightened in an auto-free environment.

The main vehicle for moving materiel throughout the park is a dray, a 6-feet-wide, 10-feet-long flatbed wagon drawn by two horses. "You'd be surprised how much you can carry in one," says Cook, the park's manager.

Yet Cook and his staff must also consider the contents when loading a dray; as Cook points out, anything moved across the island by dray has to be able to be lifted by the park personnel once they reach their destination. The result, Cook says, is "many many small loads."

Cook's plan revolves around the ebb and flow of visitors to the island. "We spend much of the winter, spring and fall getting ready for the great influx in the summer," he says. This means, for example, storing as much cleaning materials, toilet paper, etc. at restrooms throughout the park before peak season. "You have to remember, if you send a guy to clean a bathroom on the other side of the island, that's two-and-a-half miles away, and he's going to get there on foot or bicycle," Cook says. Such considerations are also a permanent factor in planning schedules. "You have to be always looking ahead," is how director Nold puts it.

But Nold, who resides on Mackinac Island half the year and in the state capital the other half, is quick to add this thought about living and working where there are no cars: "People are always surprised how easily we get along. I'm always very happy when I'm here and don't have to deal with cars." Considering Mackinac Island State Park's popularity, that's not an isolated opinion.

RELATED ARTICLE: The park in winter.

When a Mackinac Island hotel stayed open for the Christmas holidays in 1993, it made national news. After all, the island is blanketed by snow and ice at that time of year, and the main way to reach the mainland is by waiting for an ice bridge to form, and then snowmobiling across.

"When I first raised the issue of increasing our winter visitors, people chuckled," says park director Carl Nold. Now, however, the island attracts a growing number of cross country skiers. (There's an airport taxi from the mainland.) In addition to winter maintenance work, park personnel groom miles of trails on the eastern half of the island. (Eight crew members work on the island year-round, compared to the 25 on hand in the summer.) Skiers have recently come from as far away as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The park visitor's center is now open during the Christmas holidays, but Nold doesn't expect the winter numbers to rival those of the summer anytime soon. "There are natural limits on winter visits," he points out. "Depending on the weather, you might not be able to make it off the island when you want."

RELATED ARTICLE: Park governance.

The Mackinac Island State Park Commission was created in 1895 when the park was transferred from federal to state control. Appointed by the governor, commissioners serve six-year terms, and can be reappointed. "They're very committed," says Carl Nold, park director. "It's a great advantage to have community leaders from around the state working with us."

In 1958, the commission obtained authority to issue revenue bonds to finance the preservation and enhancement of the park's historic sites. The bonds have been retired, and park museum operating costs are financed by admission revenues and the proceeds of publication and museum store sales. The park's natural areas are partially funded by a general fund appropriation.