Public can review Michigan’s plan for rare wildlife conservation

A Kirtland's warbler in its natural habitat. (Michigan Department of Natural Resources photo)

Michigan is among the only strongholds for some of North America’s most unique and vulnerable wildlife.

Whether it’s the Kirtland’s warbler nesting in young jack pine forests, piping plovers scurrying across sandy Great Lakes beaches or the Karner blue butterfly flitting among wild lupine in oak savannas, these species rely on rare habitats that exist almost exclusively here. Their survival depends on conservation actions, and Michigan’s State Wildlife Action Plan, or SWAP, is the roadmap that helps make that possible.

The SWAP is a guiding conservation strategy to protect the state’s rare and declining species and the habitats they depend on. Now, Michiganders have an opportunity to weigh in o