Governor Snyder kayaks Pictured Rocks

MUNISING — Several local leaders and entrepreneurs in the Munising area joined Governor Snyder this morning as he kayaked around Pictured Rocks.

The tour, which was hosted by Pictured Rocks Kayaking, had several enjoyable purposes, but was aimed primarily at hearing the problems plaguing the area.

A large concern on the minds of those in attendance was the failing infrastructure that, not only affects Munising, but the entirety of the Upper Peninsula.

“Energy needs, water and sewer needs, that’s important,” said Governor Rick Snyder. “The other area we want to emphasize is things like broadband and cellular service. So when you talk about infrastructure, there’s a wide array of things that we’ve gotten a lot done, but there’s a lot more to do. Let’s do it together.”

While Munising does field a high volume of tourism during the summer months, townspeople did express interest in finding ways to expand tourism into the less popular times of year.

“What we’re hoping to do is promote really popular places like Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore area, maybe promote that more in the spring and fall,” said Vice President of Travel Michigan, Dave Lorenz. “And then in that really busy time, not do as much promotion in this area and get people to other places in the Upper Peninsula that are less known but still offer a great experience.”

Governor Snyder said tourism is important not only for the increased revenue it yields, but because it attracts people to the area, which may entice people to move up here permanently.

Snyder enjoyed his morning out on the lake, calling Pictured Rocks “a great asset of the world.”

“I had a lot of people ask me what I was going to do in the U.P,” Governor Snyder said. “So I mentioned how I was going to go kayaking at Pictured Rocks and I had tremendous questions about that saying, ‘Wow, let me know how it goes. I want to go do this.’ So the good part is, I told them I’m going to help be marketing Pictured Rocks and kayaking up here.”