“Preserving Michigan” is an ongoing series exploring the history and impact of the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund on the people and communities of Michigan. The series is underwritten by the Michigan Environmental Council. Issue Media Group maintains editorial independence for all of our underwritten content. Please review our editorial underwriting policy for more information.
If you have a park that doesn't look great and hasn't been renovated in many decades, that can be the thing that drags down the entire feeling of the neighborhood. Here's how the city is fighting against time to maintain the city's parks.
Wheelchair-accessible paths and boardwalks, ADA-compliant restroom facilities, and universally accessible kayak launches are just a few development projects that can bring new visitors to parks.
The Joe Louis Greenway is expected to connect 46,000 Detroiters who currently don't have access to a park within a 10-minute walk of their home.
Hollan's Mt. Pisgah sand dune was loved a little too well -- its visitors were causing severe erosion. Then the local community and state partnered to help preserve it for future generations.
Putting together accessible and popular open-spaces can be difficult for cities that have experienced financial setbacks, particularly when dealing with the expensive and complicated tasks of redeveloping once industrial waterfronts.
Keweenaw County is Michigan's least populous county and is defined by sprawling, diverse wilderness.
Throughout most of the Upper Peninsula, white-tailed deer migrate every winter to find sheltered areas to survive months of extreme cold and scarce food. Making sure they have access to the right habitat is critical.
The town of Idlewild was once known as "the Summer Apollo of Michigan.B the 1950s, the community was so packed that it would draw 25,000 visitors in a given weekend. But then the Black Eden entered an era of decline.
“People care about and protect what they know about. And if they have access to it, then they know about it.”
Larger parcels of land can be expensive and complicated, but they also create opportunities to unite communities around unique and impactful recreational amenities.
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