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Priority Landscapes

Great Lakes

A scenic landscape captures a hiker on a path overlooking one of the Great Lakes during the golden hours of the day. The foreground is filled with softly blurred purple wildflowers and tall grasses, while evergreen trees and mixed vegetation occupy the midground. Warm sunlight bathes the entire scene in golden tones, highlighting the textures of the plants and trees. Beyond the forested ridge, calm blue water stretches across the horizon under a clear sky. The image conveys the beauty of a natural coastal landscape and the experience of exploring it on foot.
Explore the Great Lakes With cooler temperatures and trees bursting with color, fall is the perfect time to explore the Great Lakes. © Michael George 2023

Making a Difference in the Great Lakes

For more than 65 years, people like you have helped The Nature Conservancy protect the serene waters of the Great Lakes. We’re building on that legacy by bringing folks together from across the region to help solve tough conservation challenges, from climate change to keeping our water clean.

TNC & Partners

Working Together to Restore Sandusky Bay

Rebuilding a Refuge (3:52) For years, parts of Sandusky Bay have been barren of vegetation due to erosion and poor water quality. Now, the bay and its water quality are seeing a resurgence due to TNC and partner work all along the watershed.
Colorful illustration of a person kneeling and planting a sapling in a forest landscape. Mature trees with extensive root systems fill the scene. Birds perch in the trees, while a deer, rabbit, butterflies, bees, and wildflowers appear throughout the habitat. The roots of the trees are prominently shown below ground, emphasizing how a single planted seedling can contribute to a larger, interconnected and thriving ecosystem.

Seed to Scale in the Midwest

Small, place-based efforts through land protection, partnerships, or innovation grow over time into solutions that shape entire systems and influence work far beyond the Midwest.

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Explore the Great Lakes

A turkey vulture with its wings up and pulled back in black and white.

The Top 10 Spookiest Species in the Midwest

Discover 10 of the spookiest species haunting the Midwest—from creepy creatures to freaky fungi—and learn how they keep Midwest habitats healthy.

A sweeping overhead landscape captures a northern lake bordered by forests at peak fall color. The shoreline and islands are covered with a mix of evergreen trees and deciduous trees displaying brilliant reds, oranges, yellows, and greens. Dark, glassy water winds between the islands and peninsulas, creating distinct shapes and inlets throughout the scene. Layers of forest continue into the distance, forming a colorful horizon of rolling hills. The elevated perspective highlights both the scale of the lake and the mosaic of autumn foliage, creating a striking view of a forested wilderness landscape in fall.

Top Places to See Fall Colors

Plan your leaf peeping adventure at TNC preserves around the Great Lakes and the Midwest.

Small cluster of brown Indiana bats cling to cave wall.

Indiana Bats

Information on the endangered Indiana bat and what The Nature Conservancy is doing to save it.

Monarch butterflies on yellow flowers.

Wisconsin’s Top 5 Must-See Fall Migrations

It’s fall in Wisconsin, and monarchs, green darner dragonflies and other wildlife are heading south for the winter. We highlight our top five must-see fall migrations.

A tranquil lakeside landscape showcases a forest glowing with fall color. Tall deciduous trees with golden-yellow and deep orange leaves stand along the shoreline, catching the warm light of the sun. Their reflections ripple gently across the lake, creating an abstract pattern of amber, orange, and gold on the water's surface. Grasses and wetland vegetation fringe the shoreline, while darker evergreen and shadowed trees add contrast among the bright foliage. The image captures the peaceful beauty of an autumn day at a forested lake.
Fall in the Great Lakes With the trees bursting into color and migrating birds moving south, autumn is the perfect time to explore the Great Lakes and their surrounding habitats. © Richard Hamilton Smith

Visit a Great Lakes State

The Great Lakes region consists of a variety of critical ecological systems. Each chapter works both individually and in tandem to protect and sustain these habitats for future generations.

A tranquil lakeside scene shows three common loons floating on still water beneath a hazy sky. The loons' striking black-and-white plumage contrasts with the subtle gray and blue tones of the lake. Two birds remain close together while a third swims farther away, creating a sense of space across the open water. The lake's surface is smooth except for the circular ripples trailing behind the birds. Along the horizon, a distant tree-lined shoreline is partially veiled by low-lying fog, giving the image a soft, atmospheric quality. The composition highlights the quiet beauty of a northern lake and the iconic waterbirds that inhabit it.
Common Loons In fall, common loons begin to lose their summer feathers, replacing them with a much more muted set of gray and white feathers for better camouflage during the winter. © Christine Loose-Randall/TNC Photo Contest 2022

See the Places We Protect in the Great Lakes

The Nature Conservancy has helped protect more than 100 sites throughout the Great Lakes, including prairies, savannas, forests, wetlands and rivers.

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