Protecting the high quality waterways of the Cedar River watershed has been a primary focus of The Little Forks Conservancy's work since 2005. In September of 2005, The Little Forks Conservancy was awarded a grant from the State of Michigan’s Clean Michigan Initiative (CMI) to purchase conservation easements from landowners in the Cedar River Watershed. Crossing portions of Clare, Gladwin and Roscommon counties, the Cedar River watershed is a component of the larger Tittabawassee River watershed. In late 2009, the Conservancy received additional funding from the Department of Natural Resources and Envirnoment to continue our work in the Cedar River.

The project’s goal is to protect lands which benefit water quality. Each property is evaluated by the Conservancy’s land protection staff to determine if it meets the following requirements of the grant: benefits water quality; contains significant natural resources; and fits with the land protection goals of the Conservancy. To learn more about how the project works, click here.

As part of the second phase of the project, the Conservancy is partnering with the Center for Applied Environmental Research at University of Michigan-Flint to update the Cedar River watershed management plan. Water quality issues identified in the original watershed managment plan include: sedimentation from road-stream crossings; sections of eroding stream bank; impacts from various agricultural uses; drainage from paved surfaces; and impacts from public access. For more information about the plan update, visit our Cedar River Watershed Project page.

For more information about the Cedar River Conservation Easement project, contact Elan Lipschitz at (989) 835-4886 or e-mail him at elipschitz@littleforks.org.

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive is “How much land do you need before you accept a project?” The answer – “It depends.” It is possible that a property as small as one acre can contain vital habitat. As we meet with landowners to help protect their land from undesirable change, we evaluate each property for its conservation value and public benefit. One of the tools the Conservancy uses to locate properties within our service area that have the highest potential for sustainable conservation is the Priority Conservation Lands Assessment. It is a guide based upon the organization’s objectives, contemporary concepts of landscape ecology and conservation biology in order to identify areas of high natural resource value for potential conservation. To view the Priority Conservation Lands Assessment, click here.

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