Home to hardwood forests, rich wetlands and the entirety of Perch Lake, this landscape is vital to our region’s resilience. It helps keep our waters clean, forests healthy and wildlife thriving. Though it may feel remote, this ecological treasure is closer than you think—and it needs our protection.
We have a rare chance to add 342 acres to Upper Manistee Headwaters: The Milock Family Preserve. This proposed addition would protect all of Perch Lake, rich wetlands and mature forests—safeguarding water quality and preserving habitat for diverse wildlife species.
The proposed Perch Lake addition is part of The Nature Conservancy’s Resilient and Connected Network—climate-resilient sites across the U.S. that, if protected, can sustain biodiversity and ecological functions in a changing climate.
Resilient and Connected Network
Tribal lands excluded (pending review)
GTRLC’s Priority Landscape Atlas uses a thorough analysis to identify the most important lands to protect. Every parcel in the Upper Manistee Headwaters Preserve, including the proposed Perch Lake addition, is ranked tier one, two or three—representing some of the most vital lands for our region’s health and future.
Properties in tiers 1-3 represent the top 20% of all the properties analyzed from a natural lands perspective.
These lands are critically important to ensure our region has clean air and water, healthy habitats for plants and animals and thriving communities for all future generations.
A watershed is an area of land where all water flows into a common body of water, such as a river, lake or ocean. Everyone lives in a watershed, and in Michigan, everything that happens on the land directly impacts the health of the Great Lakes.
GTRLC has long prioritized protecting the Manistee River watershed. The proposed Perch Lake addition is another critical step in ensuring a healthy, thriving region now and for generations to come.
Upper Manistee Headwaters: The Milock Family Preserve is one of 49 GTRLC protection projects to date in the Manistee River watershed. Collectively we’ve protected:
We hope to build on these efforts with the proposed Perch Lake addition:
• Entirety of Perch Lake If protected, this addition would bring the preserve to 1,700 acres—strengthening water quality, wildlife habitat and future recreation opportunities.
The entire area south of Manistee Lake functions together hydrologically. For example, while there’s no direct surface water connection between Perch Lake and the Manistee River, they are both influenced by groundwater as it flows across the landscape. Without protection, changes to the land could disrupt this flow, impacting water levels and habitat health here and downstream.
The exceptional quality of this wilderness is due in large part to its diverse wetlands. Wetlands are some of the world’s most critical ecosystems—they filter water, provide habitat for wildlife, protect communities from flooding, store carbon and more. GTRLC has identified 10 distinct types of wetland habitats at the preserve.
Wetland Habitats by Group Type
