The Paw Paw River Watershed

You did it!

THANK YOU!

JANUARY 2023 UPDATE

You did it! You knocked our year-end appeal to create critical conservation corridors in the Paw Paw River Watershed out of the park!

SWMLC members, donors and supporters donated a total of $177,464 to protect nature in the Paw Paw River Watershed!

Our supporters never cease to amaze us with your generosity and your passion for conserving the beautiful places we all love here in southwest Michigan. Thanks to you, we are now well-positioned over the next year or so to protect the most imperative conservation lands in this significant watershed and to leverage these funds for the greatest impact . . . helping to protect and steward miles of river frontage and hundreds of acres of land, along with the species who live there. Protecting and connecting these critical conservation corridors give our plant and animal species the best chance of surviving, and even thriving, amidst expected changes in climate, and future human development.

The investment you made today will reap endless rewards into the future. We’ll keep you posted on our progress toward completing these important conservation projects . . . thank you for protecting nature in southwest Michigan!

Click map for larger image.

Intact, naturally diverse watersheds like this are disappearing rapidly, so we must protect them while we can!

We can do it, with your help.

Intact, naturally diverse watersheds like this are disappearing rapidly, so we must protect them while we can!

We can do it, with your help.

Click map for larger image.

SWMLC currently has the opportunity to protect, acquire and steward a combination of parcels that, combined, make up almost 600 acres and nearly 3 miles of waterways in two different parts of the Paw Paw River Watershed.

The first project is a partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to assist in acquiring a 350-acre property that has been identified as a major conservation priority for over 15 years due to its exceptional biodiversity, 1.4 miles of frontage on the Paw Paw River Mainstem, and its proximity to existing conserved land. Protecting this one parcel will add to the 650+ acres that has already been conserved in this stretch of the river, resulting in over 1,000 acres of conserved land and over 4 miles of frontage.
The second project involves the acquisition of multiple parcels of land totaling about 230 acres along the East Branch of the Paw Paw River, including one with a significant population of Eastern box turtles – a species of Special Concern in Michigan. If we can acquire these parcels, we can create nearly 500 acres of conserved land within a 3 mile stretch of the East Branch that will be protected for wildlife like Eastern box turtles, and for people for generations to come.
If we’re successful, we will be able to create two separate, critical conservation corridors exceeding 1,500 acres and 6.5 miles of river frontage in the Paw Paw River Watershed that will be protected forever . . . so that our great, great, great grandchildren might someday catch a glimpse of some shy and secretive critter making its way down the river in search of habitat to call home.