The Challenge
Northern Michigan’s heritage landscapes are changing as invasive species, urban development and climate change alter, damage or destroy familiar plant and animal communities on the land and in our waters. These are big challenges to volunteer conservationists, natural resource professionals and the organizations working to manage, protect and preserve the forests, uplands, wetlands, streams and lakes of Northwest Lower Michigan. As observers of the natural world, they know that our region’s renowned natural beauty and most productive ecosystems are at risk.
Responding to the Challenge
First launched in March 2016, Nature Change ceased posting new media in the Fall of 2022. The essays and videos published here were created in cooperation with regional nonprofit organizations involved in protecting and managing the lands and waters of Northwest Lower Michigan. The essays and videos published here inform a regional public discussion about options for the sustainable management of natural resources during this time of increasingly rapid change. The pages of this website help build conservation literacy among citizens and local officials to inform the choices we all must make in preserving, protecting, adapting and re-locating both plant and animal species.
A Legacy and an Archive
All of the content published on Nature Change over the years was intended to fuel public discussions about natural resource management and adaptation in response to climate change, invasive species, changing Great Lakes water levels and other environmental challenges. Focused on Northwest Lower Michigan, this essays and videos collected by Nature Change have been retained here as a publicly available archive by the Traverse Area District Library. Nature Change provides beautifully illustrated text-based articles, photo-essays, and short video presentations that bear witness to the on-going changes in our natural resources, document the responses of volunteer conservationists and natural resource organizations, and grapple with the challenges of adapting to change.
Participating Organizations
Nature Change was developed by the Conservation Resource Alliance (CRA) with the support of five other regional nonprofit organizations, including LIAA. In October 2016, LIAA and Traverse Area Community Media took over the management and operation of Nature Change with the continuing support of CRA and the other participants.
Nature Change was founded with support from the Americana Foundation (Novi, MI), the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation (Traverse City, MI) and the Petoskey-Harbor Spring Community Foundation (Petoskey, MI).
The nonprofit organizations that sponsored Nature Change are:
