Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge

Protected area in Michigan, United States

Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)

Location	Lake Michigan: Gull, Hat, Pismire, and Shoe islands Lake Huron: Charity, Little Charity, Scarecrow, and Thunder Bay islands
Area	744.39 acres (3.0124 km)
Established	1943
Governing body	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Website	Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge

Scarecrowclass=notpageimage| Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge

The Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for nine Michigan islands in the North American Great Lakes. Owned by the United States federal government, they were set aside for ecosystem protection purposes by President Franklin D. Roosevelt 1943.

Charity, Little Charity, Scarecrow, Crooked, and Sugar islands form the Lake Huron division of the refuge. Gull, Hat, Pismire, and Shoe islands, which are part of the Beaver Island archipelago, form the Lake Michigan division.

No single one of them is large enough to rate a full-time site staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and they are widely separated from each other in two separate Great Lakes. In an unusual administrative decision, the Fish and Wildlife Service, as of 2007, has divided up management responsibilities over the Michigan Islands NWR between two larger, full-time-staffed wildlife refuges. The four Lake Huron islands are managed by Shiawasee National Wildlife Refuge, based in Saginaw, Michigan, and the four Lake Michigan islands are managed by Seney National Wildlife Refuge, based in Seney, Michigan. Scarecrow and Thunder Bay islands were also designated part of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge islands were set aside as resting places for migratory birds flying over the Great Lakes, but have drawn increased attention in the following decades for their Great Lakes ecosystem plant life, including the Dwarf Lake Iris, the state wildflower of Michigan, and Pitcher's thistle, both classified as threatened species within the United States.

There are automated lighthouses on Charity and Thunder Bay Islands.

Michigan Islands Wilderness

Pismire, Scarecrow, and Shoe islands were designated as wilderness in 1970. The three islands totaling 12.5 acres (0.05 km) make up the Michigan Islands Wilderness Area.

References

"National Wildlife Refuges - Acres by State and Unit" (PDF). US Fish and Wildlife Service. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
"Michigan Islands Wilderness". Wilderness.net. Retrieved January 30, 2010.

External links

Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge

Protected areas of Michigan

National

Parks	Isle Royale Keweenaw (Historical) River Raisin (Battlefield)
Lakeshores	Pictured Rocks Sleeping Bear Dunes
Landmarks	Au Sable State Forest Dukes Research Natural Area Grand Mere State Park Haven Hill State Natural Area Newton Woods Porcupine Mountains Roscommon Virgin Pine Stand Strangmoor Bog Tobico Marsh Toumey Woods Warren Woods State Park Waterloo State Recreation Area
Forests	Hiawatha Huron–Manistee Ottawa
Wildlife Refuges	Detroit River Harbor Island Huron Kirtlands Warbler Wildlife Management Area Michigan Islands Michigan Wetland Management District Seney Shiawassee
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Au Sable Bear Creek Black Carp Indian Manistee Ontonagon Paint Pere Marquette Pine Presque Isle Sturgeon (Delta County) Sturgeon (Houghton County) Tahquamenon Whitefish Yellow Dog
Other Protected Areas	Father Marquette National Memorial Grand Island National Recreation Area Saint Helena Island National Scenic Area Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

State

Parks	Albert E. Sleeper Algonac Aloha Baraga Bay City Belle Isle Bewabic Brimley Burt Lake Cambridge Junction Cheboygan Clear Lake Coldwater Lake Craig Lake Dodge No.4 Duck Lake Fayette Fisherman's Island Fort Michilimackinac Fort Wilkins Fred Meijer White Pine Trail Gete Mino Mshkiigan Grand Haven Grand Mere Harrisville Hart–Montague Trail Hartwick Pines W.J. Hayes P.H. Hoeft P.J. Hoffmaster Holland Indian Lake Interlochen Kal-Haven Trail Lake Gogebic Lakelands Trail Lakeport Laughing Whitefish Falls Leelanau Ludington Mackinac Island Maybury F.J. McLain Charles Mears Meridian-Baseline Mill Creek Wm. Mitchell Muskallonge Lake Muskegon Negwegon Newaygo North Higgins Lake Onaway Orchard Beach Old Mission Otsego Lake Palms Book Petoskey Porcupine Mountains Port Crescent Sanilac Petroglyphs Saugatuck Dunes Seven Lakes Silver Lake Sleepy Hollow South Higgins Lake Wm. C. Sterling Straits Sturgeon Point Tahquamenon Falls Tawas Point Thompson's Harbor Traverse City Twin Lakes Van Buren Van Buren Trail Van Riper Warren Dunes Warren Woods Watkins Lake and County Preserve J.W. Wells Wilderness William G. Milliken Wilson Young
Recreation Areas	Bald Mountain Bass River Brighton Fort Custer Highland Holly Ionia Island Lake Lake Hudson Lime Island Menominee River Metamora-Hadley Ortonville Pinckney Pontiac Lake Proud Lake Rifle River Rockport Tippy Dam Waterloo W.C. Wetzel Yankee Springs
Forests	Au Sable Copper Country Escanaba River Lake Superior Mackinaw Pere Marquette
Underwater Preserves	Alger De Tour Passage Grand Traverse Bay Keweenaw Manitou Passage Marquette Sanilac Shores Southwest Michigan Straits of Mackinac Thumb Area Whitefish Point
Other	Agate Falls Scenic Site Bond Falls Scenic Site Douglass Houghton Falls Scenic Site Michigan Islands Wilderness Area Ocqueoc Falls Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center Wagner Falls Scenic Site

Category
Commons
Detroit
Grand Rapids
Michigan Department of Natural Resources

v t e National Wildlife Refuges of the United States
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming American Samoa Guam Puerto Rico U.S. Minor Outlying Islands U.S. Virgin Islands

National Wildlife Refuges of the United States

This Alpena County, Michigan location article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

This Arenac County, Michigan location article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

This Charlevoix County, Michigan location article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

This article related to a protected area in Michigan is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

Categories: