Northern Michigan peninsula

What do people do up thier for a living seems alot of swamp land and low value trees so logging didnt look to big! Just curious!

About the same as below the bridge. Everything.

Some mining. Used to be a lot of logging, I don't know now.

As a life-long troll (one who lives below The Bridge) who has made many trips to the UP, I often ask that same question. Our snowmobiling group was quite close with a gal who ran a breakfast/lunch bakery/restaurant. Eating with the locals was the only way in her little Spot. Some timber, pulp wood mostly now a days. Many government workers- prison guards, highway dept, etc. Some small businesses to keep the locals going- grocery, hardware, fuel.

Most are geared for the tourists, either in support like lodging or hunting/fishing or fleecing at the omnipresent casinos. We ride through and around a few farms- looks like tough going with a short growing season and thin soils. One of my former college professors has a quarter section up there they truck their sheep in for Summer pasture while they grow seed corn back home.

Most everyone is super friendly and go out of their way to help, especially the motel keepers and fuel/food folks. One friend started to buy his sleds from the dealer up there to foster the relationships. We've had repair shops open on Sunday morning to get us back on the trails and gas stop owners come open up at all hours of the night when we missed "normal" operating hours.

It would be a great place for me to live and farm, but it will have to wait until I'm a widower- or I'll become a divorcee. She'd rather gather seashells by the equatorial seashore...

We went riding motorcycles for 3 days around Houghton/Hancock, that is a prosperous area, big college, lots of logging, don't think there are any mines open anymore.

Medical marijuana and social security disability.

I forgot about the meth labs and Indian gaming.

Well, one thing they have done is figured out how to make it on less. They (for the most part) don't require all the frills of life like many do. They have chosen to live there, no one forces them to. I'm sure around the larger towns with Universities you have your upper income level people but that is not what most who travel through there see. Northern lower MI isn't much different. Just a different lifestyle. No cruises to Bahamas or world travel. just people that would rather "smell the roses" as apposed to "flying/driving over the roses". Lots of "living" going on up there, you just won't see it from the tourist road trip. ....and they like it that way!

Logging, mining, casinos, tourism. There's 3 universities up there, a big hospital in Marquette, a few paper plants and a lot of smaller businesses to support the residency. Used to be some manufacturing, especially in the Western UP (Iron Mountain/Iron River), but it has slowed down. In Menominee there is a foundry, paper mill, valve seat manufacturer and a shipping/logistics company(wait they may be in Marinette, across the river in Wisconsin). There are prisons and numerous state facilities and offices. Used to be 2 Air Force Bases but they're gone, some folks are making a living picking over the bones of the Air Bases. Actually they log some of the Cedar Swamps. Quite a few retiree, some folks make a living taking care of property for absent owners and a few tribal enterprises other than casinos.

I served at K.I. Sawyer Air Base from 1985 until 1988. I applied for Yooper citizenship but was turned down under the "no trolls" clause, seems the 10 years I spent below the bridge was being held against me. I was going to mention that I was actually born in Lake County Illinois but figured the penalty for being a FIB/FISH might be death so I didn't mention it. I however was granted "Trooper" status after only three winters due to outstanding service to the community (Served as the Scoutmaster for a non-base troop, helped rebuild Bart's monument).

I lived there in late 60's. Got my degree in biology from Northern, commuted from Munising every day. I worked at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore as summer Ranger. Learned to love the area, even the winters (although I could not afford a snowmobile).The UP is one area of US that, I hope, will not be ruined by overdevelopment and environmental degradation. That being said, the strip mining of sulfer? on the Yellow Dog Plains is disturbing. Also the paving of the road through the Pictured Rocks sure detracts from the experience of driving through the sand road "tree tunnel" for 40 miles is now but a fond memory. It was once possible to drive nearly all the way across the UP on sand roads, if you knew your way around. regarding the growing season, when I first moved to Munising in 1967 I planted a very small garden in my back yard. My neighbor had a good laugh when I put in some sweet corn! (I later settled on peas). BTW, any Yoopers or Yooper wanna-bes should get the movie "Moonlight on Escanaba", a cult classic that sorta explains Yoopers.

Mining is starting to get going again in the up.. The copperwood project is looking at starting up the old white pine mine and smelter. A gold mine near stephenson is a few years out.. and the mine in ishpeming is chugging along despite low mineral prices. A underground mine got going last year around marquette.

People find a way to live on less but enjoy gods country. Just something about it that you dont understand if you dont live there!!!