Native Michigan wildlife like the black bear, otter and bobcat need lots of space to find food, water, mates and shelter. While you may not see these animals on your land, your land may be a key corridor for wildlife movement. Managed properly, animals pass through your land on their way to other, larger parcels. Improperly managed, your land may become a roadblock, potentially leading to the deaths of animals or their seasonal movement.

Black Bear habitat should contain unfragmented swamps mixed with upland forests and forest openings. Forest openings are small clearings with plenty of edge and non-forest plant diversity. Bears use these areas throughout the year for feeding.

The Northern Saw-Whet Owl prefers undisturbed mixed swamp conifer forests, such as wet areas along rivers, and large swamps or bogs in the northern Lower Peninsula.

Many reptiles and amphibians are excellent indicators of habitat quality because they are exceptionally sensitive to water quality and atmospheric changes. Most require moist lowland areas that have available water on a seasonal basis at least.

Wetlands are among the most biologically diverse and productive landscape cover types. Acre for acre, the living material produced on marshlands is four times that of grasslands and three times that of cropland.