West Michigan Forests and Savannas

By purchasing Camp Swampy, the conservancy stitched together 10,000 acres of federal forest

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site
In the Conservancy's 25-year history in Michigan, we have played a direct role in protecting nearly 13,000 acres of important natural land in West Michigan. But in one of the state's most rapidly growing regions, that's not enough. The once extensive savannas found alongside the White and Muskegon Rivers now sputter through an archipelago of protected areas. Roads and subdivisions cut through land where fields of lupine once grew.

Threats
Invasive species like spotted knapweed and St. John's wort compete against native plants for water and sunlight, and the invasives are winning the fight, depleting food sources for turtles and rare insects that are food sources for other species. While helping to reseed, restore, and return fire to some of these places, we are racing against time to battle invasives and other threats like incompatible land development.

Conservation Assets
The west side of the state harbors many natural gems like the Karner blue butterfly, the prairie tiger moth, bald eagles, red-shouldered hawks, Hill's thistle, meadow-beauty, eastern massasauga rattlesnakes, oak-pine forests and savannas, dry sand prairies, and coastal plain marshes.

Our Conservation Strategy
While West Michigan's goal may be extraordinarily ambitious, the rare butterflies, turtles, and plants that live here would not survive any other way. We know our plan works, and we know we need to spread our conservation efforts further. We have joyfully watched one of America's most endangered species, the Karner blue butterfly dance upon leaves of lupine, the caterpillar’s only food source, after a prescribed burning which over the years has regenerated the plant. We have seen native wildflowers return to carpet prairie floors as they did hundreds of years ago.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
Some of the very reasons that motivate people to move to the sunset side of the state may be quickly fading, and with that, the quality of life overall declines. Grand Rapids area leaders formed the West Michigan Strategic Alliance to address these concerns and have adopted a series of regional goals that includes preserving 18,000 acres of "green infrastructure" that gives the area its character and charm. The Nature Conservancy's recent acquisition of Steelcase Inc.'s former employee retreat known as "Campy Swampy" gets us 1,017 acres closer to that goal, but protection beyond that property is critical to the long-term preservation of the oak-savanna and barrens complex.