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The Nature Conservancy in Michigan Michigan About Michigan Contact Places We Protect Science Field Trips Volunteer Ways of Giving In The News Slide Show Events |
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View the regional CARL database online Get CARLFill out the form below for details about the Conservation and Recreational Lands Project or email Steve with specific questions. Go DeeperThe Future of Conservation: Expanding Impact through Collaboration During the conference, participants from various government, non-profit and private organizations discussed the future of Michigan's landscape and how new technologies like CARL help organizations protect Michigan's resources. Read our follow-up to the Conference. |
How much conservation and recreational land exists in Michigan?
a) 4.1 million acres b) 6.4 million acres c) 8.7 million acres
*see answer below
In an attempt to answer this question, Ducks Unlimited and The Nature Conservancy have been collecting data for nearly three years from federal, state and local agencies, plus more than 40 land trusts. In Michigan, the CARL database maps and describes land owned by public entities, private land protected by conservation organizations, and public and private land with conservation easements, long-term contracts and similar efforts.
*Current information reveals that at least 8.7 million acres, or 23% of Michigan, is presently designated conservation or recreational lands.
Michigan Lands
Click on each image to view a PDF of lands in the CARL database for the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.
How will CARL be used?
The CARL database presents an essential foundation for the design of greenways, conservation areas, wildlife corridors, and recreational areas by providing comprehensive spatial data on existing conservation and recreational lands. CARL will also help guide policy decisions by providing current and accurate information on the location of existing conservation and recreation lands. Land trusts and their partners can better integrate and coordinate planning and conservation efforts with a comprehensive picture of the distribution of protected areas within the Great Lakes. CARL provides a baseline measure of conservation successes and gaps, thereby enabling conservation organizations to monitor and measure the effectiveness of their activities. Ultimately, CARL strengthens the collective voice of Michigan conservation organizations by providing a wealth of statistics and information that can influence important decision makers and leverage greater resources for our work from public and private funds. The improved coordination among organizations that CARL can provide will lead to more effective conservation efforts within the Great Lakes.
CARL: A regional perspective
Across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, the CARL project is an initiative of the Great Lakes and Atlantic Region Office of Ducks Unlimited. In Michigan, The Nature Conservancy has partnered with Ducks Unlimited in acquiring and compiling these data. Our ultimate goal is to use CARL to guide conservation planning efforts within the state of Michigan and across the Great Lakes region.
Partners
Development Partners:
Ducks Unlimited
Funding Partners:
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Lakes Coastal Program
Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network
Land Trust Alliance
Easement and Sensitive Information
Access to information on some conservation lands may be restricted due to private landowner rights or sensitive species information. Therefore, the CARL database is maintained in two versions. All non-sensitive parcel records for Michigan are freely available to the public as an ESRI shapefile in zipped format from The Nature Conservancy in Michigan or downloadable from our partner, Ducks Unlimited. A copy of the full CARL database, including sensitive sites, is only available upon special request. Please complete the above form for more details.
