We wish to extend our deepest and most heartfelt gratitude for the incredible love and generosity you’ve all shown for our little friend, the endangered Mitchell’s satyr butterfly.
Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy has received partial funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service to help purchase habitat that will protect the second-largest of the few remaining breeding populations of endangered Mitchell’s satyrs in the world. We needed to raise enough funds to match that grant and provide for long-term stewardship of the satyrs’ prairie fen habitat (which helps maintain area water quality and benefits many other species from orchids to sundews), so in November 2018, we asked the community for help.
And you far-exceeded our $35,000 goal, donating a total of over $47,000 to date!
In fact, your overwhelming generosity will enable us to cover some unexpected expenses at closing that could have otherwise derailed the project.
We’re still working out the final details, but with your support we now have the financial resources needed to protect this Mitchell’s satyr habitat in perpetuity, so these butterflies will be around for many future generations to enjoy. And any funds we don’t need to use to acquire the property will go directly toward keeping it healthy over the long-term.