Connecting people to nature has never been more important.
Big or small, Michigan land trusts increasingly are meeting the needs of their communities through partnerships, engagement and outreach.
That’s about 588,796 football fields!
Land trusts have already conserved 61 million acres of private land across the nation — more than all of the national parks combined. Help us conserve another 60 million acres by the end of the decade.
Together, let’s keep Gaining Ground.
Michigan land trusts are community-led and supported and protect lands and waters that help the entire state.
22,964
1,582
118
42
347
70 years old (1952)
13 years old (2009)
30 years old
Acre by acre, land trusts are helping to conserve Michigan lands, waters and ways of life.
Disclaimer: Land trusts conserve land in many different ways and every project is unique. Category totals may change depending on how acres are reported by survey respondents to reflect the most current data and minimize double-counting. In some instances, the total may be greater than the sum of the separate categories due to organizations that provided total acres not broken down by category.
This information reflects data collected in the National Land Trust Census, the longest-running comprehensive survey of private land conservation in America. Learn more about the Census and see which land trusts participated in the 2020 National Land Trust Census.
Land trusts across the state are helping find solutions to some of Michigan's most pressing issues.
Addressing community needs: After Kim de Bruin developed muscular dystrophy at 17, she thought she would never again take in the views from Old Baldy, a sandy summit towering over Aracadia Dunes in northwest Michigan. Thanks to a universal access trail to Old Baldy built by the accredited Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, she was able to visit again 43 years later. "Today, I ‘walked’ in the woods in one of my favorite places,” wrote de Bruin after using the new Overlook Trail. “I sat on top of the world, enjoying all the beauty of the greatest lake. After I stopped crying, I could see again.”
Read moreTackling climate change: Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy is incorporating climate change considerations into comprehensive and far-reaching plans for its 365-acre Wau-Ke-Na preserve. The property, which is open to the public, includes numerous ecosystems, ranging from forests and fields to streams, ponds, bluffs and beaches — all critical to rare bird species, such as sedge wrens, bobolinks and eastern meadowlarks. Specific strategies include reintroducing native flora and fauna and disabling on-site drainage ditches, for example.
READ MORELand Trust Alliance member land trusts, listed below, commit to adopting Land Trust Standards and Practices as their guiding principles.