Typically, when conservationists talk about old-growth forests, they focus on protecting forests that have already reached that stage. In Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a new conservation easement takes a different approach by protecting a forest so it can naturally develop old-growth characteristics.
Backed by more than $20 million in federal, state, and private funding, the easement protects 73,000 acres of working forest across three counties, including Mt. Arvon, Michigan’s highest peak. The easement establishes a permanent no-cut buffer around the summit to allow the forest to mature naturally, while allowing sustainable timber harvests elsewhere on the property.
The forest will continue to provide timber and local jobs, permanent public access for recreation, and protected habitat for species that include moose, coaster brook trout, and the northern long-eared bat. At the same time, the summit of Michigan’s highest peak will be left to grow into an old-growth forest.
