Editorʼs Message

Craig Rademacher, Ph.D.

Editor, PIRO Journal

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Pictured Rocks (PIRO) Journal. The PIRO Journal is a new way to experience and learn about Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. As a digital only publication this new interpretive magazine incorporates the very latest publishing technology to bring you, our readers, writing, audio and video that conveys the stories of Americaʼs first national lakeshore. In these pages you will find contributors who share their meaning of place by communicating with us through their respective discipline. It is through each contributorʼs unique experiential lens that we learn about this wondrous place.

It is my hope that this makes the Pictured Rocks Journal as diverse and interesting as the tangible landscape it attempts to describe and understand. All public lands hold diverse meaning for those who visit, wish to visit, or appreciate from afar. As you explore this digital experience you will begin to shape your own view of the lakeshore. Then, when you get the chance or the urge, come visit. You will find this place grows on you, and captures your imagination, like all good ideas.

I hope you find the PIRO Journal interesting and will share it with friends who would like to learn more about this very beautiful and compelling place known as Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

A Word of Thanks

The Pictured Rocks Journal project has been underwritten by a Scholarship Grant provided by the College of Professional Studies at Northern Michigan University. I would like to thank Dr. Paul Lang and Dr. Harvey Wallace for their ongoing support of this project.

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Photos: Craig Rademacher Cover: Wild Columbine by Craig Rademacher