Challenging Choices

Northwest Lower Michigan is well known across the nation for its natural beauty – Great Lakes shorelines, clean cold water streams, lakes, forests, farms and heritage landscapes. However, these natural resources are under increasing pressure from the advance of development, invasive pests and diseases, and a changing climate. The immediate impacts of these drivers of change may not be clear, but most observers of the natural world can describe dramatic shifts that have occurred in just the last decade or two, from the loss of ash and beech trees from our forests to the appearance of disease bearing ticks.

Nature Change is all around us and rapidly advancing. The people of Northwest Lower Michigan are being challenged to size up the drivers of change and make choices now about the future of our treasured natural resources and heritage landscapes.

The multimedia stories presented in this section help answer the question: What are the challenges and choices we need to consider if we want to preserve, protect or re-build the natural beauty and heritage landscapes of our region?