Little Traverse Conservancy Inc

ST. MARYS RIVER BIRD MIGRATION CORRIDOR III

NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN GREAT LAKES WATERSHED

LAND CONSERVANCIES OPERATE THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF MICHIGAN AND ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANAGING 134,409 ACRES, HOLD EASEMENTS ON ANOTHER 131,315 ACRES, AND STEWARD SOME OF MICHIGANS MOST TREASURED NATURAL BIODIVERSITY. REGIONAL LAND CONSERVANCIES ARE SMALL NON-PROFITS WITH LIMITED STAFF CAPACITY. THEY FORMED WITH AN INITIAL CONSERVATION FOCUS ON LAND ACQUISITION AND PROVIDING PUBLIC ACCESS TO NATURE THE CAPACITY TO ADDRESS THE ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION OF THESE LANDS HAS BEEN LIMITED. HOWEVER, MANY OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE NOW GROWN IN CAPACITY TO BETTER ADDRESS FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NEEDS. HOW THESE ORGANIZATIONS MANAGE THEIR LANDS CAN HAVE CONSIDERABLE IMPACT ON THE CONSERVATION OF A REGIONS NATIVE BIODIVERSITY. WORKING FROM THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF MICHIGAN, AROUND THE STRAITS OF MACKINAW, AND TO THE SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR, THIS PROJECT DIRECTLY INVOLVES 25,000 ACRES MANAGED BY THE LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY (LTC) AND 5,000 ACRES MANAGED BY SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN LAND CONSERVANCY (SWMLC). THE INTENT OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AN ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT PROGRAM TO SUPPORT AND INFORM CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES. PROJECT PARTICIPANTS WILL TAILOR EXISTING, VETTED-METHODOLOGIES AND METRICS FOR APPLICATION BY LAND CONSERVANCY STAFF IN ASSESSING MICHIGAN ECOSYSTEMS. BOTH LTC AND SWMLC WILL WORK CLOSELY WITH THE MICHIGAN NATURAL FEATURES INVENTORY (MNFI) STAFF TO GATHER ECOLOGICAL DATA AND BUILD THE PROGRAM DATABASE. THE MNFI ECOLOGISTS WILL TRAIN CONSERVANCY STAFF IN THE COMPUTER AND FIELD-BASED INVENTORY PROCEDURES SO THAT THAT CONSERVANCY STAFF ARE EQUIPPED FOR LONG-TERM PROGRAM MANAGEMENT AND CAN IMPLEMENT SUSTAINED CONSERVATION ACTIONS OVER TIME. INVENTORY RESULTS WILL BE SHARED WITH THE PUBLIC AND GUIDES FOR DEVELOPING A SIMILAR ECOLOGICAL INVENTORY PROGRAM OR FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM S PROCEDURES WILL BE SHARED WITH THE CONSERVATION COMMUNITY A PRIORITY OF THIS PROJECT IS TO SHARE THE PROGRAM PROCESSES DOCUMENTS THAT RESULT FROM THIS PROJECT AND BE A RESOURCE FOR OTHER CONSERVATION PROFESSIONALS. THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH A DEEP REPOSITORY OF ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE FOR PRIVATE LANDS AND ACCESS TO THIS KNOWLEDGE WILL LEAD TO IMPROVING HABITATS AND INCREASED CROSS-JURISDICTIONAL COLLABORATION TO CONSERVE FISH AND WILDLIFE POPULATIONS.THIS PROGRAM WILL EQUIP TWO CONSERVANCIES WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THEY NEED TO CONSERVE SPECIES OF GREATEST CONSERVATION NEED (SGCN), INCLUDING FOR THIS PROJECTS MODEL TARGET SPECIES, THE EASTERN MASSASAUGA RATTLESNAKE (SISTRURUS CATENATUS CATENATUS) (EMR). ALONG WITH EMR,SECONDARY SPECIES, SUCH AS THE FEDERALLY ENDANGERED HINES EMERALD DRAGONFLY (SOMATOCHLORA HINEANA) (HED) WILL BENEFIT. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE IS A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIMITING FACTORS IN HED HABITAT AFFECTING POPULATIONS. SETTING UP BASELINE HABITAT QUALITY ASSESSMENTS, TRACKING CHANGES OVER TIME, AND COMBINING THAT DATA COLLECTION WITH RARE SPECIES INVENTORIES MAY ELUCIDATE SOME OF THOSE FACTORS AFFECTING HED SUCCESS. ACQUIRING THAT KNOWLEDGE WOULD AID LTC AND SWMLC IN MANAGEMENT OF HED, BUT IT WOULD ALSO BENEFIT OTHER LAND MANAGERS SEEKING TO CONSERVE HED POPULATIONS.OBJECTIVES: 1) PROVIDE LTC AND SWMLC WITH CRITICAL INFORMATION FOR MAKING WELL-INFORMED DECISIONS ONTHE MANAGEMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE SPECIES AND THEIR HABITATS FOUND ON CONSERVANCY LANDS 2) IDENTIFY THE HABITATS OF HIGH ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY AND AT-RISK HIGH-QUALITY HABITATS 3) TRAIN LTC AND SWMLC STAFF IN PROTOCOLS TO ENSURE THE PROGRAM IS INSTITUTIONALIZED AND CONTINUED INTO THE FUTURE 4) CREATE A FRAMEWORK FOR CONSERVANCY STAFF TO COMMUNICATE TO THEIR BOARD AND THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE SPECIAL NATURAL HERITAGE THEY MANAGE AND 5) TRANSFER PROGRAM INSIGHTS AND PROCESS TO OTHER INTERESTED CONSERVATION PROFESSIONALS IN MICHIGAN.UPON COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT LTC AND SWMLC WILL HAVE AN ECOLOGICAL DATABASE OF THEIR LANDS AND AN ESTABLISHEDPATHWAY TO CONTINUED DATA COLLECTION. RARE SPECIES DATA WILL BE ENTERED INTO MNFI DATABASE.

LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY (LTC) SERVES AS A REGIONAL LAND CONSERVANCY FOR FIVE COUNTIES CENTERED AROUND THE STRAITS OF MACKINAC IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN (CHARLEVOIX, CHEBOYGAN, CHIPPEWA, MACKINAC, AND EMMET). OF THE 70,000 ACRES THAT LTC HAS HELPED TO PROTECT, JUST OVER 26,000 ACRES ARE OWNED AND OPERATED BY LTC AND AS NATURE PRESERVES OR FOREST RESERVES. ALMOST 60% OF THE LTC SERVICE AREA FALLS WITHIN THE USFWS COASTAL PROGRAMS STRAITS FOCAL AREA AND THE BULK OF THE ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THIS PROJECT PROPOSAL WILL OCCUR WITHIN THIS FOCAL AREA.IT IS THE MISSION OF LTC TO PROTECT THE BEAUTY AND DIVERSITY OF THESE PRESERVED LANDS THROUGH STEWARDSHIP. GIVEN THE REALITIES WE FACE TODAY WITH CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE PRECIPITOUS DECLINE IN NATIVE BIODIVERSITY, JUST PRESERVING LAND ALONE IS INADEQUATE FOR CONSERVING SPECIES AND THEIR HIGH-QUALITY HABITATS. THE STEWARDSHIP OF NATURE PRESERVES REQUIRES, AT A MINIMUM, A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC FACTORS EXIST IN THAT SYSTEM. THIS POINTS TO THE NEED FOR A ROBUST DATABANK AND DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF THE LANDS THAT ARE BEING CARED FOR. THUS, THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO ADDRESS THIS CRITICAL NEED FOR MORE KNOWLEDGE AND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LANDS LTC MANAGES.IN THE STRAITS OF MACKINAC FOCUS AREA, LTC WILL IMPLEMENT HABITAT CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES THAT TARGET MANY OF THE COASTAL PROGRAMS MIDWEST REGION FOCAL SPECIES. MONITORING AND INVENTORY ACTIONS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED TO PUT THE CONSERVANCY IN A BETTER POSITION TO CONSERVE AND PROTECT THESE SPECIES FOR THE LONG TERM. THE GOALS ARE TO 1) DEVELOP A GREATER DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE HABITATS AND SPECIES WITHIN LTC PROPERTIES TO CONDUCT MORE TAILORED CONSERVATION EFFORTS AND TO MONITOR THE STATUS OF OUR CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES, 2) IMPLEMENT CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES TO MAINTAIN OR IMPROVE EXISTING HABITAT FOR KNOWN OR POTENTIAL SPECIES OF CONSERVATION CONCERN (PROGRAM FOCAL SPECIES), AND 3) PROTECT AND PRESERVE MORE LAND FROM DEVELOPMENT WHILE DEVELOPING STEWARDSHIP STRATEGIES TO CARE FOR LANDS UNDER LTC OWNERSHIP. THE RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT WILL INCLUDE SEVERAL ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENTS OF HIGHER QUALITY LTC HABITATS THAT LTC CAN INTERPRET FOR PRIORITIZING FUTURE MONITORING AND CONDITIONS EVALUATIONS. PROJECT RESULTS WILL INCLUDE THE REMOVAL OF INVASIVE SPECIES AS PART OF A COMPREHENSIVE PROCESS-ORIENTED RESPONSE TO CONDUCT HIGH LEVEL CONSERVATION. ANOTHER SPECIFIC OUTCOME OF THIS PROJECT WILL BE HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS AIMED AT IMPROVING HABITAT CONDITIONS FOR LITTLE BROWN BATS AND CANADA WARBLERS AND THE MANY OTHER SPECIES THAT SHARE HABITATS WITH THOSE TWO SPECIES. THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN THE PERMANENT PROTECTION OF TWO SIGNIFICANT COASTAL PROPERTIES. FINALLY, THE SURVEY ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THIS PROJECT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IDENTIFY NEW POPULATIONS OF SEVERAL COASTAL PROGRAM PRIORITY SPECIES OR OTHER SPECIES OF FEDERAL OR STATE SPECIAL CONCERN.

NORTHERN LAKE HURON COASTAL PRESERVATION

FUNDS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL PERMANENTLY PROTECT 675 ACRES OF LAND AND 3,000 FEET OF FRONTAGE ON LAKE HURON IN CHIPPEWA COUNTY, MI. THE ACQUISITION WILL PRESERVE WILDLIFE HABITAT AND CORRIDORS, IMPORTANT MIGRATORY BIRD STOPOVER HABITAT, AND BREEDING BIRD HABITAT.

HAILAND NATURE PRESERVE

THE POUPARD BAY PROTECTION PROJECT S GOAL IS TO PERMANENTLY PROTECT 22 ACRES WITH 950 FEET OF FRONTAGE ALONG LAKE MICHIGAN WEST OF ST. IGNACE IN MACKINAC COUNTY, MICHIGAN. PROTECTING THIS ACREAGE WILL BENEFIT WATERFOWL, WATERBIRDS, AND SHOREBIRDS DURING MIGRATION THROUGH THE MACKINAW STRAITS AREA, A MAJOR MIGRATORY CORRIDOR OF THE GREAT LAKES. THE ACQUISITION OF THE POUPARD BAY TRACT WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC IN PERPETUITY FOR QUIET, NATURE BASED RECREATION INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, BIRDWATCHING AND HIKING. THE GRANT AMOUNT REQUESTED IS 80,000 WITH THE MATCH BEING 80,000 WITH FUNDS COMING FROM BOTH A PRIVATE DONOR AND LITTLE TRAVERSE CONSERVANCY.