What makes the Keweenaw Heartlands Project So Special?—PART II
All that flora and fauna—oh my!
It’s easy to overlook—with so much that makes the Keweenaw Heartlands Project special—that protecting the Keweenaw Heartlands 32,500 acres means protection of plants and wildlife, and the habitats that support them. The forest is home to state-threatened Ross’s sedge, state-threatened woodland everlasting, and special concern blue wild rye, all of which offer cover and food for small animals. The Heartlands also includes at least 38 “element occurrences” (areas with rare natural communities or species as identified by the Michigan Nature Features Inventory). For example, the Gull-Medora Complex and the Cedar and Spruce Swamp element occurrences together comprise 209 acres of old growth forest, including 300 to 400-year-old white pine and a canopy of spruce aged 290-350 years.
Six hundred square miles of trees provide shelter for the wildlife that make the Heartlands’s forests home. State-threatened little brown bats thrive among the trees and in some of the property’s many historic mine shafts. Endangered Northern long-eared bats, confirmed at sites nearby to the Heartlands forest, likely access the property’s benefits as well. Beyond bats, the forest offers habitat for numerous wildlife species including moose, gray wolf, white-tailed deer, black bear, bobcat, fisher, American marten, red fox, beaver, river otter, and ruffed grouse.
The Keweenaw Heartlands also includes portions of the Keweenaw’s iconic “spine”, the result of a 1.1-billion-year-old lava flow that is the largest in the world by volume. Geological processes have created what are today state-ranked “critically imperiled” northern balds and “imperiled” volcanic cliffs and volcanic bedrock glades. Upwards of 25,000 raptors migrate through in spring, stopping to rest at these elevated ridges before continuing their journey across Lake Superior.
Beyond trees, the Heartlands’s water features are many. Fifty-four miles of rivers and inland lake shoreline support populations of brook and brown trout, yellow perch, walleye, lake whitefish, and smallmouth bass. The southernmost portion of the Heartlands contains roughly 900 acres of undeveloped, wooded dune and swale complex and 3 miles of Lake Superior shoreline. Sand hill cranes are frequent visitors to this area. A pair of bald eagles nest nearby: their chicks, hatched in 2024, are now banded and studied by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and partners as part of a broader study on contaminants in wildlife.
As we continue to plan and fundraise for the future of the Keweenaw Heartlands forest, it is important to keep our sights on the flora and fauna that make the Heartlands so special. Once the land transitions to public ownership, governance, and management, these plants and animals, and the habitats on which they depend, will be protected—forever!
Save the Date
The Keweenaw Heartlands Project’s next public update meeting will take place Thursday, April 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Allouez Community Center (388 Bumbletown Rd, Allouez, MI 49805). We hope to see you there!