It’s been said that Michigan’s native sedge meadows and fens may be rarer than the tropical rainforests. The natural cycles of fire that once kept these areas open are now often suppressed. As a result, over time, trees and shrubs take over these open spaces, completely altering the habitat.

Because these fragile habitats become rarer over time with development and with the suppression of fire, the plants and animals that call these habitats home are also rare.
Conservation groups in Michigan are partnering to help protect this type of habitat.

This summer, a grant from the Defenders of Wildlife helped develop a permanent conservation agreement to protect a western Washtenaw County fen, home to the endangered Mitchell’s Satyr butterfly (Neonympha mitchellii mitchellii). Under the terms of the agreement, the land will remain protected and undeveloped forever.

The project partners that made this possible are: Defenders of Wildlife, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Washtenaw Land Trust.

The Mitchell’s Satyr butterfly is one of the world’s rarest butterflies. It is a small, dark-brown butterfly with black, yellow-ringed “eye spots” on the bottom wing surfaces. Its wingspan is approximately 1½ to 1¾ inches wide. Despite an original range that spanned the Midwest, the butterflies are now known to inhabit less than 20 sites in Michigan and only two sites in Indiana.
Now the butterflies will always have a home in Michigan.

—Washtenaw Land Trust