r Flintsteel Restoration Association Inc. Creek Photography

During 1997-2000, The Nature Conservancy’s Great Lakes Program conducted an ecoregional planning process for the entire Great Lakes Ecoregion. The Ontonagon and Presque Isle Rivers, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, the Trap Hills, and the headwater lakes were all identified as conservation sites worthy of further action.

In the fall of 2001 TNC initiated a partnership with the Flintsteel Restoration Association to continue to build upon the assessment and strengthen the potential partnerships necessary for landscape level management and conservation. As a result of that partnership a Preliminary Assessment of the Presque Isle and Ontonagon River Watersheds was developed. The Assessment identifies key systems and species within the watersheds that are ecologically significant and provides a basis for discussion to frame future restoration and conservation strategies for the region.

The Ontonagon and Presque Isle Watersheds present a rare opportunity in the United States for protecting nearly the entire forested watersheds of two coldwater rivers within the Lake Superior Basin. The Ottawa national forest has also recognized the value of the systems in their respective designations under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The Presque Isle and Ontonagon River watersheds cover over 1,250,000 acres (2750 sq. miles), extending from northeastern Wisconsin, across the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the Lake Superior shoreline. The vast, continuous forest matrix provides excellent habitat for large-ranging mammals such as wolf, bobcat, fisher, and moose, plus restoration possibilities for extirpated or rare species.

The Ontonagon River is also the site of an ongoing sturgeon (a Michigan Threatened Species) restoration effort.

Within the forest matrix, the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park and Sylvania Wilderness Area contain some of the largest and highest-quality old growth northern hardwood and hemlock forests remaining in the Midwest. More notably, the Presque Isle River supports globally imperiled dragonflies. The system is also home to the state threatened red side dace (a rare species of fish).

Conservation goals for the protection of water quality and quantity include:

· Improve forest management, landscape level planning and water conservation efforts

· Identify stressor sources and assist in remedial design

· Design and implement a preservation, monitoring and restoration plan for the Presque Isle River

· Assist State and Local Government Units – Planning and Zoning, in developing effective land use conservation tools

· Identify local stewards and engage in conservation design and implementation

· Prevent the spread of invasive exotic species through source abatement and education

· Improving, implementing and preserving sustainable forest management areas

· Development of a landscape level strategy

· Conservation, acquisition and protection of priority lands and aquatic systems.