An installment in the Michigan Green Communities Community Sustainability Profile Series
What does climate change look like in Marquette County?
In recent years, climactic shifts have become more evident across Michigan, particularly in the Upper Peninsula. The U.P.’s largest county by land area, Marquette County is leading the way in climate adaptation planning for the region. Marquette County is primarily rural, with a third of the county’s population living in the City of Marquette.
According to GLISA, the Great Lakes CAP/RISA team, Michigan’s western Upper Peninsula region, which includes Marquette County, has warmed an average of 2.6 degrees year-round (1880–2023). This temperature increase has been more pronounced in the winter season, with a 3.9-degree total increase in temperature. These temperature changes—accompanied by shoreline erosion, droughts, heavy storms, and flooding, and overall, less snow in the Marquette area—have significant consequences for a region whose economy and culture are closely tied to outdoor recreation.
What does climate change mean to Marquette County as a U.P. community?
More unpredictable weather events can make planning and recovery challenging. Marquette’s snow season is typically over by around mid-April. However, in late April to early May 2023, a historic snow event swept the U.P. late in the season, with a record 26 inches of snow falling in Marquette.
Heavy, wet snow combined with high winds meant dangerous road conditions, roads losing access, serious tree damage, and power outages. Following the snow, uncharacteristically warm weather led to widespread flooding. The unpredictability of changing weather patterns exhibited by this storm has been eye-opening for the community, showcasing the need to strengthen climate resiliency.
Marquette County’s Climate Adaptation Journey
Marquette County has recognized the potential impacts climactic changes could have for the region and has engaged in climate adaptation planning since the early 2010s. Collaborative planning has been at the core of these efforts. The County published their first Climate Adaptation Plan in 2013 in partnership with the Model Forest Policy Program, the Cumberland River Compact, and the Superior Watershed Partnership. Later in 2018–2019, Marquette County worked with the Michigan Climate Health and Adaptation Program (MICHAP) to publish a three-volume guidebook exploring how the County can incorporate public health into its existing community and climate adaptation planning.
Beyond this planning, the Marquette County Climate Adaptation Task Force (CATF) was formed over 10 years ago to assist local leaders and stakeholders in designing mitigation and adaptation strategies to make the U.P. more resilient to climate change. CATF is a partnership in cooperation with the Superior Watershed Partnership, Marquette County, City of Marquette, Northern Michigan University, and numerous local stakeholders.
In 2022, Marquette County began participating in Michigan Green Communities (MGC). Emily Leach, Marquette County’s senior planner and the chair of CATF, explains that it’s helpful to have cohorts (like MGC’s Accelerator Cohort and the Catalyst Leadership Circle) to be able to network, share, and maintain connections with other communities. These opportunities help the County to keep a finger on the pulse of what’s happening around the state.
The importance of responding to climate change was formally recognized by the Marquette County Board of Commissioners in March 2023 through the passage of the “Supporting Measures to Respond to a Changing Climate” resolution. The resolution called for the creation of a future Marquette County Climate Adaptation Plan and a commitment “to an effort to eliminate the County’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.” Marquette County’s history of climate planning has positioned the County well to continue adaptation efforts in a new Climate Adaption Plan (CAP) and has allowed them to take advantage of opportunities like hosting a MI Healthy Climate Corps Fellow.
Case Study Highlight: MI Healthy Climate Corps
The MI Healthy Climate Corps, a partnership between The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, & Energy Office of Climate and Energy (EGLE) and the Michigan Community Service Commission, connects emerging climate leaders with state/local governments, universities, and nonprofits around Michigan.
Marquette County applied to be a host partner for the program’s first cohort, which launched in early 2024. Their Climate Corps member, Quinn Thibault, acted as their Climate Adaptation Coordinator. Thibault’s role was to help implement the county’s Climate Resolution, work with low-income households to help them finance home repairs and energy efficiency, and prepare their Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP). In November 2024, the County welcomed another Climate Corps member as part of the program’s second cohort.
Marquette County’s New Planning Process
As of fall 2024, the County found itself deep into the process of creating a new County CAP with their MI Healthy Climate Corps member, Quinn Thibault. To organize the planning process, the County has regularly held meetings with a subcommittee of the County Planning Commission. The CAP is divided into two parts: one section focusing on operations and the other on community engagement and regional climate trends. Keeping the plan short and actionable, collecting relevant data, and engaging with the community are central to the plan’s success.
Past community engagement for county climate adaptation planning focused primarily on the City of Marquette. However, for the creation of their new CAP, engagement was more dispersed around the county. Phases of community engagement included diverse populations—whether it be residents of urban or rural areas, students at Northern Michigan University, or County staff. The County was able to hear more perspectives and voices through this planning process.
To engage with staff, the County hosted two formal “Lunch & Learn” events as well as a “Snack & Chat” get together for its staff. These took place adjacent to an employee survey aimed at gauging attitudes and identifying potential opportunities for action within the County. Additionally, County staff organized four dialogue dinners to engage with communities around the county, each taking place in a different “region” as laid out in their most recent comprehensive plan, Marquette County 2040. One of the events took place in Gwinn (in the “Blueberry Farms” region), another in Ishpeming (the “Iron Core” region), a third in Champion (“Moose Hills” region), and the final in Marquette (“Borealis Beach” region”). In attendance were representatives from local governments and community organizations/nonprofits, county commissioners, Northern Michigan University students and professors, and general community members passionate about the subject of climate adaptation. These community engagement events focused on expanding resident knowledge through brief presentations with local examples, as well as facilitating group conversations. They offered food and childcare to encourage people to attend. Emily Leach emphasizes the importance of finding common ground among everyone’s perspectives at these types of events and taking the time to listen to what residents have to say.
Preparing the Plan – Data Collection
While preparing the CAP, staff relied on a variety of internal and external resources. For internal data collection, the County performed energy audits on its building and conducted a GHG inventory. These projects were funded by a grant from EGLE’s Community Energy Management program. In developing the plan, the County also referenced past planning guides and reports.
In terms of outside resources, the MGC Challenge framework helped to inform the organization of strategies in the plan. Looking through other local climate action plans also came in handy to see where those plans pulled data from and how they were structured. (see here: ) Climate projection data came from GLISA and the local National Weather Service climatologist. A connection through CATF helped staff to interpret climate data and trends that are available online. The County plans to complete and have their plan approved in early 2025. Their second Climate Corps member is charged with finalizing the plan.
To further increase resident engagement in resiliency planning, in parallel with the creation of Marquette County’s CAP, CATF organized the Marquette 2049 Learning Circles Series. This series involves hosting community conversations that will provide educational content on relevant topics like food systems, trash and recycling, healthcare, housing, transportation and public services, economic development and diversification, energy power, and water and land use. The first two events CATF hosted were dedicated to deriving topics for the Learning Circle events. Between the two events, 150 community members participated, including community members, educators, students, and municipal staff.
Conclusion
What’s next for Marquette County? Implementing their CAP, which will involve working with their facilities department to improve recycling and composting programs at County facilities. The County is also exploring how using direct pay could fund solar and EV projects.
Thibault’s vision is for the CAP to create an equitable and resilient community that strengthens local systems and does not rely on fossil fuels. She also looks forward to CATF engaging more residents through its event series and Northern Michigan University contributing to community education and climate knowledge. She envisions the community to be one that can look at the facts and have a conversation to meet challenges as they arise.
Leach hopes to keep the momentum they have catalyzed going into the community. The region’s climate work is building a solid foundation while there is extra funding so that they can keep moving forward even when the funding runs out. As the federal funding influx will not last forever, she would like to ensure that the County contributes to sustain the enthusiasm for climate adaptation in the Marquette area as long as they can.
Key Takeaways:
-Rely on other internal plans and data when forming a climate adaptation/sustainability plan. This will help you to align goals and strategies across plans.
-Research what peer communities have included in their climate adaptation/sustainability plans. Learn from the hundreds of other communities that have already put time and effort into creating similar plans.
-Ground climate adaptation/sustainability plans in data, using resources like GLISA.
-Incorporate education into community engagement so that residents develop a better understanding of the subject being discussed (like climate adaptation).
-Be creative about finding ways to increase staff capacity. Consider hosting a MI Healthy Climate Corps member to help with climate adaptation/sustainability planning.
