DNR - Winter 2002

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Natural Heritage Program, received a three-year federal endangered species grant of $720,000 to help the Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis). The Natural Heritage Program will be partnering with several other state and federal agencies and private organizations to develop a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for this federally-endangered and state-threatened butterfly.

The Karner blue is small, having a wingspan of about one-inch. They are very specific to the type of plants used for egg laying. The only known larval host plant is wild lupine (Lupinus perennis). In Michigan, lupine is found in oak and pine savannas and barrens, and other communities with dry, sandy soils. While many species rely on stable habitats for survival, the Karner blue depends upon disturbances to maintain the relatively open canopy savanna and barrens systems that promote the growth of lupine.

Once widespread in the western and southern Lower Peninsula, Karner blue populations declined as the amount of habitat available for lupine was reduced. This reduction in available habitat resulted from changing land-use practices like increased urbanization, conversion to agriculture, and fire suppression in a once fire-dominated ecosystem. The former open-canopy habitats have undergone succession to become overgrown or closed canopy systems.

Today the Karner blue persists in remnants of savanna and barrens, degraded openings, old fields, and utility and highway rights-of-way.

The HCP will focus on ecosystem-based management practices that protect, enhance, or restore savanna, barrens, and other community types upon which the butterfly and other species-at-risk depend. Many current activities, such as gypsy moth spraying, right-of-way and private property maintenance, property development, forest management, and grazing all have the potential to result in the “incidental take” or killing of Karner blue butterflies.

The HCPs are authorized under the Federal Endangered Species Act, and through a permitting process, limited take of butterflies will be allowed if the participants in the HCP agree to manage lands under their control to ensure sustainable and persistent populations of the Karner blue. This permit will allow otherwise lawful land management activities to continue with protection for the Karner blue in place, and allow additional proactive management activities designed to enhance and restore habitats.

Initial partners working on development of the HCP include DNR Wildlife Division and Parks and Recreation Bureau, The Nature Conservancy, Consumers Energy Corporation, and the Huron-Manistee National Forest. Other partners have expressed interest and will be included as development of the HCP progresses. In addition, there will be several open information meetings where the public can learn about the HCP and provide review and input.

In 1972, Michigan citizens, legislators, and the Department of Natural Resources joined with Governor Milliken to pass legislation to identify and protect wilderness, wild, and natural areas throughout the state. Now, 30 years later, it's appropriate to not only look back at our accomplishments, but report on the future of the natural areas in Michigan.

What is a natural area? Every natural area, of the 79 we recognize on state land, from the largest, 48,000-acre Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Area, to the smallest one-acre Grand River Woods Natural Area, has something special to set it apart from the rest of the Michigan landscape. Each has a unique quality that has and continues to drive our decision to commit public resources to protect it for today and tomorrow’s generations.

Legally speaking, Wilderness Areas, the largest in size with over 5,000 acres, have spectacular, scenic views, with the least noticeable impacts from mining, logging, farming, and developing over the last 150 or so years. These are the places that speak most to the adventurer in us, to get lost in, and where you have to make an effort to get to and to get into. Wilderness areas evoke landscapes of the past, large unbroken, virgin forests, free flowing streams, and undeveloped lakes. The Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Area, our most well known of the natural areas in the system, was bought for the public as a state park during World War II.

NATURAL AREAS
PROGRAM MISSION:

To identify, establish, maintain, and administer a system of high quality, representative, and ecologically viable natural areas in Michigan.

In 1998, the Natural Heritage Program hosted 600 participants from the United States, Canada, and overseas at the Natural Areas Association’s 25th Annual Conference on Mackinac Island. Over 300 came from all over Michigan. This event succeeded in raising awareness of our natural areas by not only learning from one another at the conference but by attending several field trips to nearby natural areas. Then in April 2000, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources passed the Natural Areas Program Strategic Plan which lays out the Program's vision and mission.

Natural Areas Program Vision:
In Michigan, there exists an extensive system of representative, high quality, and ecologically viable natural areas on public and private lands reflecting Michigan’s rich and diverse natural heritage.

Shadbush Tract Nature Study Area
Recognition:	Legally Dedicated Natural Area
Size:	70 acres
Location:	In Macomb County, along the Clinton River, just northwest of Utica
Management:	Riverbend Park (formerly Rochester-Utica State Recreation Area)
Activities:	Hiking, photography, outdoor education, nature study, bird watching, wildflower viewing
Importance: This area exists in what was once a relatively flat glacial lake plain, which was covered at one point by an extensive river delta. At a later time, a broad valley was deeply cut into the delta by glacial melt waters, creating a steep hillside approximately fifty feet high, with a narrow low terrace at its base. The tamarack swamp and boggy areas of the low ground contain interesting and unusual plants. More than 50 different species of trees and shrubs along are found in the tract. The Clinton River runs along the eastern boundary of the natural area.

Michigan will be cooperating with several other Midwest states in assessing and managing for the eastern massasauga rattlesnake. Funding will support development of a Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) between the states and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Currently, the eastern massa-sauga is a candidate species for listing under the Federal Endangered Species Act. Once found thoughout the Great Lakes region, populations of the snake have declined dramatically. Drainage of wetlands, development of upland grass sites, and human persecution have had the greatest impact. Today, most states have fewer than six identified populations, and most of these are located on public land.

Michigan appears to be the stronghold in the United States for this species with scattered and remnant populations existing across the southern Lower Peninsula and extending as far north as Bois Blanc Island in the Straits of Mackinac.

Michigan will receive over $100,000 as part of the CCA development. The funds will be used to support continued survey work in Michigan to document the status of the massasauga in Michigan. This information will in turn be used to identify and develop management plans on the most significant populations remaining in the state.

The completion of a CCA will establish an agreement on how best to manage and protect the remaining populations of massasauga in the state and ensure their long-term survival.

Kirtland Community College (KCC) has been honored with a prestigious award in recognition of its efforts on behalf of the bird that gave the college its name.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (USDA), Eastern Region, bestowed the prestigious award at a ceremony in November, the latest in a series of honors and awards that KCC has received for its efforts on behalf of the Kirtland’s warbler, a rare bird on the verge of extinction not long ago.

“Kirtland Community College has contributed critical resources to the Kirtland's Warbler Festival, furthering the recovery of the endangered Kirtland’s warbler by educating the public about the warbler and the jack pine ecosystem,” said Jodie Bruckbauer, coordinator of the regional awards program at the Milwaukee office.

“We are delighted that the efforts of so many here at Kirtland Community College have been recognized with this special award from the USDA’s Eastern Region,” Kirtland President Charles Rorie said. “The college and the region it serves remain committed to the preservation of the bird, the ecosystem, the Festival, and most of all, the spirit that celebrates them all.”

By earning regional recognition, Kirtland is now eligible for national recognition from the Secretary of Agriculture, whose honor awards are announced in July.

E-store Opens

Natural Heritage products, books, Living Resources patches, prints, and other items are now on sale over the internet. Customers can visit the Michigan.gov website and link to the DNR E-store.

"E-store will give our supporters much more access to products that support management of nongame programs,” says Ray Rustem, Supervisor for the Natural Heritage Unit in Wildlife.

Keep on visiting to see new items and let us know what types of merchandise you would like to see on the Heritage E-store site.

Spring, “when a young man’s fancy turns to love,” or so the poets wrote. Spring is also the time for most of the courtship behavior among Michigan animals. Animals are especially visible as they dance, sing, and otherwise just act foolish.

The March Hare of Alice in Wonderland was based on the old saying “mad as a March hare.” March is the breeding season for rabbits and hares. Males fight to establish breeding dominance. They often look as if they are dancing or boxing as they spar with each other on their back legs. Their fighting and dashing around led to the popular metaphor. Rabbits are readily seen in backyards and open fields.

Birds offer a variety of opportunities from their various mating songs to head bobbing, wing displays, ground dances, nest building, and food offerings. Some of the most spectacular displays occur during courtship between eagles. They perform pair bonding activities through various flight behaviors. During these bond flights, they will perform a cartwheel courtship display in which the male and female lock talons and tumble towards the ground. Then at what seems the last minute, they release and soar back into the sky. Peregrine falcons also conduct similar courtship activities.

Not to be outdone are the antics of our amphibian friends. The air sac on the throat of male frogs expands to resonate their call through the wetland. It is amazing to see a frog that can puff out its neck almost to the size of its entire body. Male bull and green frogs can often be seen in wrestling matches where one tries to pin the other frog. To the victor goes the spoils or in this case the female.

Spring offers a unique opportunity to see and experience a wide variety of visual and auditory wildlife experiences. Next time you get an attack of spring fever, get out and see what the “wild” side does.

Here’s a way to shed the winter doldrums: celebrate spring by visiting the 9th annual Kirtland’s Warbler Festival scheduled May 18, 2002.

The Kirtland's Warbler Festival offers a variety of birding experiences along with other family oriented activities. Presentations on warbler management, endangered species, and other presentations will highlight the abundance of Michigan's wildlife diversity. Other activities including informational brochures, fishing ponds, art shows, horse-drawn wagon rides, and a craft show round-out the activities and offer something for everyone to enjoy.

The Kirtland’s Warbler Festival is located on the campus of Kirtland Community College, on 10775 North St. Helen Road in Roscommon. Visitors to the Festival frequently spot wildlife on the grounds of the college. The campus is noted for the many walks through forested glens offering glimpses of early spring wildflowers. Plan on spending a day or the weekend and experience Michigan’s wonderful outdoors.

Saugatuck Dunes Natural Area
Recognition:	Legally Dedicated Natural Area
Size:	291 acres
Management:	Saugatuck Dunes State Park
Location:	Approx. 7 miles southwest of Holland in southwest Michigan.
Activities:	Hiking, cross-country skiing, bird-watching, nature study, photography, wildflower viewing
Importance: This area encompasses a complex of Lake Michigan shoreline (approximately 1 mile), open dunes, large blowouts, interdunal wetlands, and wooded dunes. Pitcher’s thistle, listed as threatened by the state and federal governments, occurs within this area. In addition, migrating birds use the red oak dominated forested dunes in the spring and fall.

The tinkling of bells is a popular description of the spring peeper's spring mating call. Spring peepers are one of the earliest callers among the dozen frog species found in Michigan. During the first warm evenings of spring in late March or early April, their distinctive single note “peep” is considered a harbinger of spring. The intensity of calling increases and can become quite loud during humid evenings or just after a warm spring rain.

Only the male frogs call. They establish territories near the edge of permanent or ephemeral wetlands. They may call from elevated perches of submerged grass or shrubs near the water. The faster and louder a male sings, the more likely he is to attract a mate.

The female will lay between 750-1,200 eggs. The strings or clumps are attached to twigs and aquatic vegetation. Depending on the temperatures, eggs may hatch within four days or may take up to two weeks during cooler periods. After another two months, young tadpoles are fully transformed into young frogs and leave the pond.

They resemble their parents with the most distinctive mark being a dark brown “X” on their lighter brown back. They begin feeding on small food items like spiders, mites, ticks, pill bugs, ants, and caterpillars. By the end of the summer, they have reached the adult size of about one inch or larger. As the days cool, the peepers dig into the soft mud near ponds for the winter. Still, during warm spells into the fall they can be confused and emerge to give their spring mating call.

While the spring peeper is the most abundant of Michigan’s singing frogs, they still need protection. Local populations around small ponds and wetlands can be highly susceptible to surface water runoff. These waters can carry chemicals, pesticides, or silt that can kill adults, eggs, or tadpoles. Good soil erosion practices and the careful application of pesticides and fertilizers are good for spring peepers.

It is our responsibility to make sure that we will always be able to open a window on a warm spring night and fall asleep to the tinkle of the spring peeper.

Survival tactics used over the winter months means using many different strategies. Once winter has spread her blanket of snow, the meadow vole spends the winter constructing a labyrinth of snow tunnels. The tunnels provide a steady environment protecting these animals from the normal fluctuations of cold and wind. The temperature is often several degrees warmer in the tunnel.

Voles feed on the grasses and seeds they find as they tunnel through the snow. The uneaten grass often covers the tunnel floor like a hallway carpet. As temperatures warm, these tunnels can be easily seen and followed.

Following the tunnels may lead you to the dining area where food was readily available. It may lead you to a bedroom where you will find a ball of fine grass and maybe some cattail fuzz for warmth. Following it further may lead you to the backdoor used for escape.

The vole’s tunnels provide a certain amount of safety. All their needs are provided under the cover of snow. They seldom travel out of the tunnel. To deal with this safety, predators have developed keen hearing. Fox and coyotes will stand above the snow with their ears pointed forward listening for a vole running through its tunnel. When they have located one, they will leap trying to catch the vole between their paws. This tactic may be attempted several times, but in the end they will either enjoy a tasty meal, or if the vole is lucky, just a mouthful of cold snow.

Next time you are out walking in the winter, think about who may be just beneath winter’s blanket.