The michigan department of natural resources (mdnr) and saginaw county have a unique restoration opportunity in saginaw county at the confluence of the tittabawassee and shiawassee rivers, where…

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Michigan has been awarded a $312,610 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Project Grant under the Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance program (CFDA 15.608) to support habitat restoration efforts in Saginaw County. The funding will be used to remove invasive species and restore approximately 40 acres of upland habitat and 100 acres of wetland habitat along the Tittabawassee and Shiawassee Rivers near the city of Saginaw. This work aims to rehabilitate critical wildlife refugia and connectivity for a variety of species, including threatened and endangered species as well as migratory birds and pollinators like the monarch butterfly. The project will build upon prior remediation and restoration investments in the area, and Saginaw County will provide ongoing management and maintenance support to ensure the long-term sustainability of the restored habitats. Progress reports with photos will be submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service according to the grant schedule.

The michigan department of natural resources (mdnr) and saginaw county have a unique restoration opportunity in saginaw county at the confluence of the tittabawassee and shiawassee rivers, where over 600 miles of streams and rivers from across michigan join to form the saginaw river, 22 miles from lake hurons saginaw BAY. This critical piece of the watershed features 334 acres, with over 100 acres of wetlands, and was previously impacted by nearly 200 years of industrialization, most recently housing the saginaw malleable iron factory until its decommissioning in 2007. Substantial remediation activities have taken place in the last ten years to bring the property into site-specific passive recreational criteria established by the michigan department of environment, great lakes, and energy. The site sits in the heart of the saginaw basin which is a major stop-over site for migrating birds, a refuge for many species of wildlife, and part of a premier watershed for fish, including a world class walleye fishery. Further, the site is ideally juxtaposed to long-underserved urban communities that would immensely benefit from easily accessible green and blue space, including recreational opportunities such as fishing, biking, and wildlife viewing.due to a long history of shifting anthropogenic use, the natural terrain has been altered, and the vast majority of native habitat has been degraded or lost, including highly reduced capacity for flood control. From a faunal perspective, the goal is to restore essential habitat refugia and connectivity for a wide breadth of arboreal, terrestrial, and aquatic taxa, including state and or federal threatened and endangered species. This project will focus on continuing significant and intentional habitat restoration of the site, including invasive species removal (e.g., phragmites and buckthorn) and establishing native habitat to benefit fish and wildlife, including monarch butterflies, hundreds of species of migratory birds, and reptiles and amphibians. Additional and continuing management and funding support from saginaw county adds a significant level of sustainability to the project through continued monitoring and maintenance of the great lakes fish and wildlife restoration act (glfwra) funded project. Additionally, this project will provide a range of direct and indirect ecosystem services that mutually benefit the environment, animals, and public fitting within mdnrs accelerated efforts towards climate resilience and a national effort towards one health for wildlife conservation.objective: invasive species removal and habitat restoration of 40 acres of upland habitat and an additional 100 acres of wetland habitat, building on initial restoration and reclamation investments that were funded through natural resource damage assessment funds.deliverables: approximately 40 acres of degraded upland habitat restoration and 100 acres of wetland invasive species removal with an emergent wetland restoration focus are expected to be accomplished through this project. Performance progress reports will be completed following the schedule specified by great lakes fish and wildlife restoration act. Reports will include photographs of project areas to illustrate progress and results, along with notes from the field technicians performing the work.