Featured Research Project (May - July 2002)

Upper Manistee River Watershed Conservation Plan

Jon Kazmierski, Megan Kram, Elizabeth Mills, Dave Phemister,
Nick Reo, Chris Riggs, Ryan Tefertiller
Advised by Professor Donna Erickson 

Project Origins

The Manistee River watershed in northwestern Lower Michigan contains important ecosystems and a number of valuable natural features. Unfortunately, development and changing land use threaten the ecological integrity of much of the watershed. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC) and other conservation organizations and agencies have recognized the importance and vulnerability of the region and have begun to push for larger scale protection efforts in the watershed. As GTRLC looked to expand its own efforts in portions of the watershed, it recognized the need for a plan that evaluated the relative conservation value of the entire area and prioritized the best lands for protection. In the spring of 2001, a group of seven graduate students at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment contacted the GTRLC and agreed to develop such a plan for the upper portions of the Manistee River watershed as their Master's project. Both parties stressed the importance of developing a plan that had immediate on-the-ground utility for GTRLC in its efforts to protect significant tracts of land in the region.

Ecosystems and Hydrology of the Upper Manistee River Watershed

The evaluation and analysis of the study area's ecology is based on a three-tiered hierarchy of ecosystems developed by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory. The largest of these is the climatically unique northern half of Lower Michigan. The smallest of these is the Grayling Outwash Plain, which covers over 4,000 square miles. The study area falls within the boundaries of each of these ecosystems. Within the study area, there are 17 unique local landscape ecosystem types at the Landtype Association ecosystem-scale. Groundwater inputs dominate the hydrology of the Manistee River watershed, and the river is characterized by cool, stable flows. In fact, the Manistee is considered one of the most stable rivers in the country. The primary reason for groundwater's driving role in the system is that the watershed's soils consist primarily of highly permeable sands. These sandy soils increase infiltration rates and minimize surface run-off.

Mission, Goals, and Objectives

To guide its work and provide an intellectual and conceptual framework for the overall analysis, the team first developed a mission statement, goals, and specific objectives. The project's mission statement is as follows: To guide future work and investment of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy in the upper Manistee River watershed, this project will identify areas of high conservation value and, within those areas, prioritize privately owned land parcels for protection efforts. Building on this mission, the team established three overall goals for the project.

• Conserve Areas of High Ecological Importance - This goal establishes that the team judges a land area's conservation value based on its ecological value relative to the surrounding landscape. In the simplest terms, this goal is based on the premise that some lands possess certain characteristics and features that make them more ecologically valuable than other areas in the surrounding landscape.
• Promote Spatial Integrity of the Landscape - Spatial integrity is based on principles of landscape ecology and refers to the idea that the context of the landscape is as important as its composition. The shape, size, and spatial relationship of all components of the larger landscape affect the ecological value and associated conservation importance of those components. While the project's first goal identifies important lands, this goal evaluates the spatial context of those lands - how they relate to one another within the larger matrix.
• Identify and Delineate Threats to Ecological Systems and Processes - An analysis of threats is a highly valuable part of any conservation effort. Indeed, if the landscape and its associated biotic and abiotic features and physical processes were not threatened by some human activity or agent, no conservation effort would be necessary. This goal seeks to present the extent, severity, and location of key threats, and where possible, illustrate their geographic and causal relationships to identified areas of conservation importance.

Results

The team delineated a total of 18 different Conservation Focus Areas, all of which it ranked according to the criteria outlined above. These CFAs total over 39,770 acres, or roughly 12 percent of the study area. The largest CFA, North Branch, is located in central Kalkaska County and covers nearly 8,000 acres. The smallest, Deward, covers less than 600 acres and is located in western Crawford County.

For the parcel analysis, the team examined all privately owned parcels 40 acres or larger in the top three CFAs in Kalkaska County - North Branch, 28 Lakes, and Black Creek. Ultimately the team identified 63 parcels totaling over 12,000 acres within these three CFAs. These parcels can serve as immediate conservation priorities for the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy's efforts in the Manistee River watershed. Additional detail on prioritized parcels is not available due to privacy issues associated with the data.

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