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Michigan Wildlife Conservancy Milestones Back to About Us
1982 Russ Bengel and supporters launch the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy and announce plans for the Milli-Ander Wetland Restoration.
1984 The Conservancy kicks off a major annual fundraiser, the Michigan Wildlife Art Festival, in Southfield.
1984 MWC completes the Milli-Ander Wetland Restoration Project.
1985 The Conservancy launches the Michigan Trout Stream Restoration Project, a catalyst for stream habitat work throughout the state.
1986 MWC publishes a research paper on genetics issues in wild turkey management that is endorsed by the Technical Committee of the National Wild Turkey Federation. The technical paper causes considerable controversy, but the DNR follows its recommendations.
1987 The Conservancy’s featured project, the Southern Michigan Wild Turkey Restoration, helps bring wild-strain turkeys to our state.
1988 The organization’s Rights-Of-Way For Wildlife Program begins restoring critical wildlife habitat along Michigan’s powerlines, gas pipeline corridors, and highways. The Conservancy receives national recognition for its innovative effort.
1989 MWC receives the Michigan Outdoor Writers Association’s “Clean Waters Award” for its innovative Rouge River Fish Habitat Restoration Project in Oakland County.
1990 A major effort by the Conservancy to restore Michigan’s wetlands continues to gain momentum with the help of major partners including the U.S. Forest Service.
1992 The Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service explore ways to restore wetlands on private lands. The resulting partnership, the Michigan Private Wetlands Program, sets new standards for cost-efficiency in restoring drained basins for wetland wildlife and trains volunteers to help in a wide variety of ways.
1992 The Conservancy starts training drain commissioners on ways to reduce their impact on the environment.
1994 The Conservancy purchases land for its Bengel Wildlife Center from the City of Lansing.
1996 The Conservancy launches a major effort to restore wetlands, prairies, and other habitats on nature centers in southern Michigan.
1998 The organization launches an Urban Wildlife Initiative, and conceives and organizes the Nature Education Sites For Tomorrow Program (NEST) which develops fish and wildlife habitats and outdoor education areas on school grounds throughout Michigan. The Conservancy later hosts a workshop for 120 teachers and administrators involved in the program to teach them how best to use natural resources on their school property for education.
1999 The Conservancy begins advocating planning for Farmland and Open Space Preservation.
2000 The Bengel Wildlife Center is formally dedicated.
2001 The Conservancy announces the initial results of its research on the cougar in Michigan including DNA evidence of the presence of the endangered species in the state.
2002 MWC gains national recognition for its field studies of the cougar and its innovative methods for detecting large predators.
2002 The Conservancy uncovers more evidence of cougars in both peninsulas of Michigan, and forms a partnership with Central Michigan University to gather genetic information on the endangered species.
2003 The MWC hosts "Annie's BIG Nature Lesson," at the Bengel Wildlife Center. This multi-year effort is aimed at teaching elementary students about nature, animals and the environment.
2003 The Conservancy installs water control devices to restore 42 acres of wetland at the Bengel Wildlife Center's Priggooris Lake. The long anticipated project restores part of the historic Chandler Marsh, where ironically, the use of drain tiles was advanced more than 100 years ago.
2004 The MWC steps up efforts to educate and train citizens to combat the spread of invasive, exotic plants.
2004 The Conservancy and its partners continue to demonstrate cost-effective ways to help brook trout through the Northwest Michigan Brook Trout Habitat Initiative.
2006 The Conservancy begins work to restore trout habitat in the Rogue River and two of its tributaries in Kent County. The Rogue is considered one of the foremost urban trout streams in the country.
2006 Part of the evidence on cougars collected by the Conservancy is published in a scientific paper in the American Midland Naturalist. "Detection and Classification of Cougars in Michigan Using Low Copy DNA Sources," by Dr. Brad Swanson of Central Michigan University and Dr. Patrick Rusz, Director of Wildlife Programs for the MWC, contains the first-ever, peer-reviewed evidence of multiple cougars east of the Great Plains, outside Florida.
2007 The MWC teams with the Michigan Nature Association to remove exotic plants from six MNA sanctuaries where invasives threaten rare native plants.
2007 The Conservancy joins with multiple partners to tackle a massive slope stabilization project near the mouth of the Ford River in the Upper Peninsula's Delta County. The project is one of the largest erosion control projects on a Michigan river in recent years.
2008 The Conservancy publishes a series of five articles on major problems in the Great Lakes and steps-up efforts to combat water pollution and invasive species as a member of the Healing Our Waters Coalition.
2008 The Conservancy releases recommendations for localized deer population control to help cities, townships and private landowners cope with deer damage.
2008 The MWC and many partners complete a historic sturgeon spawning reef in the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. The project is the first to be jointly funded by U.S. and Canadian partners. The Conservancy is the only American private non-profit to make a major contribution and play an important role in the project.
2010 The Conservancy develops the Michigan Wild Hog Removal Program--an innovative partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services branch to train citizens to detect and trap wild hogs and to raise funds for purchasing traps. The aim is to build a network of volunteers who can work with biologists in a widespread program to eliminate the destructive exotic animals.
1984 The Conservancy kicks off a major annual fundraiser, the Michigan Wildlife Art Festival, in Southfield.
1984 MWC completes the Milli-Ander Wetland Restoration Project.
1985 The Conservancy launches the Michigan Trout Stream Restoration Project, a catalyst for stream habitat work throughout the state.
1986 MWC publishes a research paper on genetics issues in wild turkey management that is endorsed by the Technical Committee of the National Wild Turkey Federation. The technical paper causes considerable controversy, but the DNR follows its recommendations.
1987 The Conservancy’s featured project, the Southern Michigan Wild Turkey Restoration, helps bring wild-strain turkeys to our state.
1988 The organization’s Rights-Of-Way For Wildlife Program begins restoring critical wildlife habitat along Michigan’s powerlines, gas pipeline corridors, and highways. The Conservancy receives national recognition for its innovative effort.
1989 MWC receives the Michigan Outdoor Writers Association’s “Clean Waters Award” for its innovative Rouge River Fish Habitat Restoration Project in Oakland County.
1990 A major effort by the Conservancy to restore Michigan’s wetlands continues to gain momentum with the help of major partners including the U.S. Forest Service.
1992 The Conservancy and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service explore ways to restore wetlands on private lands. The resulting partnership, the Michigan Private Wetlands Program, sets new standards for cost-efficiency in restoring drained basins for wetland wildlife and trains volunteers to help in a wide variety of ways.
1992 The Conservancy starts training drain commissioners on ways to reduce their impact on the environment.
1994 The Conservancy purchases land for its Bengel Wildlife Center from the City of Lansing.
1996 The Conservancy launches a major effort to restore wetlands, prairies, and other habitats on nature centers in southern Michigan.
1998 The organization launches an Urban Wildlife Initiative, and conceives and organizes the Nature Education Sites For Tomorrow Program (NEST) which develops fish and wildlife habitats and outdoor education areas on school grounds throughout Michigan. The Conservancy later hosts a workshop for 120 teachers and administrators involved in the program to teach them how best to use natural resources on their school property for education.
1999 The Conservancy begins advocating planning for Farmland and Open Space Preservation.
2000 The Bengel Wildlife Center is formally dedicated.
2001 The Conservancy announces the initial results of its research on the cougar in Michigan including DNA evidence of the presence of the endangered species in the state.
2002 MWC gains national recognition for its field studies of the cougar and its innovative methods for detecting large predators.
2002 The Conservancy uncovers more evidence of cougars in both peninsulas of Michigan, and forms a partnership with Central Michigan University to gather genetic information on the endangered species.
2003 The MWC hosts "Annie's BIG Nature Lesson," at the Bengel Wildlife Center. This multi-year effort is aimed at teaching elementary students about nature, animals and the environment.
2003 The Conservancy installs water control devices to restore 42 acres of wetland at the Bengel Wildlife Center's Priggooris Lake. The long anticipated project restores part of the historic Chandler Marsh, where ironically, the use of drain tiles was advanced more than 100 years ago.
2004 The MWC steps up efforts to educate and train citizens to combat the spread of invasive, exotic plants.
2004 The Conservancy and its partners continue to demonstrate cost-effective ways to help brook trout through the Northwest Michigan Brook Trout Habitat Initiative.
2006 The Conservancy begins work to restore trout habitat in the Rogue River and two of its tributaries in Kent County. The Rogue is considered one of the foremost urban trout streams in the country.
2006 Part of the evidence on cougars collected by the Conservancy is published in a scientific paper in the American Midland Naturalist. "Detection and Classification of Cougars in Michigan Using Low Copy DNA Sources," by Dr. Brad Swanson of Central Michigan University and Dr. Patrick Rusz, Director of Wildlife Programs for the MWC, contains the first-ever, peer-reviewed evidence of multiple cougars east of the Great Plains, outside Florida.
2007 The MWC teams with the Michigan Nature Association to remove exotic plants from six MNA sanctuaries where invasives threaten rare native plants.
2007 The Conservancy joins with multiple partners to tackle a massive slope stabilization project near the mouth of the Ford River in the Upper Peninsula's Delta County. The project is one of the largest erosion control projects on a Michigan river in recent years.
2008 The Conservancy publishes a series of five articles on major problems in the Great Lakes and steps-up efforts to combat water pollution and invasive species as a member of the Healing Our Waters Coalition.
2008 The Conservancy releases recommendations for localized deer population control to help cities, townships and private landowners cope with deer damage.
2008 The MWC and many partners complete a historic sturgeon spawning reef in the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. The project is the first to be jointly funded by U.S. and Canadian partners. The Conservancy is the only American private non-profit to make a major contribution and play an important role in the project.
2010 The Conservancy develops the Michigan Wild Hog Removal Program--an innovative partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services branch to train citizens to detect and trap wild hogs and to raise funds for purchasing traps. The aim is to build a network of volunteers who can work with biologists in a widespread program to eliminate the destructive exotic animals.