The region receives a large amount of funding from the Michigan government based on tax revenue from the Lower Peninsula. There are also questions about Superior's viability as a separate state. Secession from Michigan would require approval from the state legislature, and there is little support for it in the Lower Peninsula. The construction of the Mackinac Bridge in 1957 created a direct highway connection to the rest of the state, and tourism by Lower Michigan residents has grown substantially, creating greater economic and social connection. Later, as the mining industry declined, Yoopers came to feel that their concerns were ignored by the state government, which was dominated by the populous cities of southern Lower Michigan. Travel between the two peninsulas remained difficult (especially in winter), and the people of the Upper Peninsula developed a distinct cultural identity as " Yoopers" (derived from "U.P.-ers"). The Lower Peninsula developed an economy based on agriculture and manufacturing, while the Upper Peninsula's became based on forestry and mining. The Upper Peninsula is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, and was not included in initial proposals to form the state of Michigan, but rather added by the federal government in the settlement of the Toledo War with Ohio. The idea has gained serious attention at times, but faces substantial practical obstacles. government, Thomas Jefferson proposed a state which he named Sylvania, including the Upper Peninsula and territory that is now northern Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota. When the Northwest Territory was being organized by the fledgling U.S. The proposals are spurred by cultural differences, geographic separation from Lower Michigan, and a belief that the problems of the "Superior Region" are ignored by distant state governments.
Some proposals would also incorporate territory from the northern Lower Peninsula, northern Wisconsin, and even Minnesota. The State of Superior (or State of Ontonagon) is a proposed " 51st state" that would be created by the secession of the Upper Peninsula from the rest of Michigan, named for adjacent Lake Superior.
Map of proposed state of Superior, indicating areas consistently included (darker), and those included less commonly (lighter).
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