Preserving the Keweenaw

The Nature Conservancy, in a unique partnership, ensures the future of a Michigan treasure
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The Keweenaw Heartlands features part of the world’s largest lava flows, which fueled the region’s copper boom. // Photo courtesy of Devin Leonarduzzi

A one-of-a-kind conservation partnership spearheaded by The Nature Conservancy guarantees that about 32,000 acres of unique forest, Lake Superior shoreline, wetlands, and inland lakes will remain available for all to enjoy in the Upper Peninsula’s Keweenaw Peninsula.

The effort is seen as a possible model for similar partnerships throughout the country.

In 2022, the Conservancy purchased 32,500 acres, named the Keweenaw Heartlands, from an investment company when concerns arose that the property, which had just come up for sale, could be broken up, sold, closed to the public, or become off-limits for recreational use, severely affecting local tax revenue and tourism.

Within that $39.1 million buy was some of the oldest rock in the world, including a portion of one of the world’s largest lava flows, which had fueled the U.P.’s copper boom that lasted 120 years and is celebrated throughout the peninsula by the Keweenaw National Historical Park.

What a save! The Nature Conservancy purchased 32,500 acres in the Upper Peninsula from an investment company. All users, from sustainable lumbering companies to birders, can enjoy the protected area. // Photo courtesy of Devin Leonarduzzi

The Conservancy developed a plan to hold only temporary ownership. It is working with state and local governments and other groups to create a special governmental entity to ensure, as TNC Keweenaw Peninsula project manager Julia Petersen explains, that all users — from sustainable commercial lumbering companies to hunters, ATV and mountain bike riders, birders, and local residents — can enjoy the protected natural and cultural features within its boundary, while making sure the land continues to provide tax revenue.

“The Conservancy was founded in 1951, and our mission is focused on conserving lands and waters on which all life depends, including the human component,” Petersen says. “This is all of those things. We have a footprint in the region already, with about 3,000 acres of preserves. We purchased this with the understanding that we were an interim owner. Working with our partners, including the DNR, local townships, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, and other groups, we were buying them time.”

An aerial view of the stunning expanse of Keweenaw Peninsula in autumn. // Photo courtesy of Mark R. Upton Photography

Time to preserve, plan, and make sure the land remains as it is: useful to all. Once the future Heartland entity is authorized by state statute and local governments, and the governing body is created, TNC’s job will be on the way to being finished.

“Our overall goal is a healthy, intact forest, so we have a better ecosystem so people can enjoy a beautiful place. The scope is large. We hope this can be replicated elsewhere, so people who are facing the same challenge of large tracts of forest coming up for sale can learn and bring their local forests into local control,” Petersen says.


More details!

Keweenaw Heartlands Project
keweenawcommunityfoundation.org


 

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