High Influence/Power But Potentially Low Interest

These groups can have great power over the success of wildlife conservation efforts, but are not always interested in or educated about the cause. The goal with these individuals is to keep them satisfied and aim to move them into the more interested category.

• Local, state, and federal lawmakers

  • These individuals have lots of power in regards to wildlife conservation because of their ability to make laws that either hurt or benefit conservation efforts.

• Utility Companies

  • Different utility companies can have a large impact on wildlife conservation, and that impact can be beneficial or detrimental.

  • For example, Consumers Energy has worked to create habitats for Bald Eagles at some of their hydroelectric sites and for bats at the Tippy dam on the Manistee River.

High Influence/Power and High Interest

This is arguably the most important part of the stakeholder’s map. These individuals have the power to greatly influence the success of conservation efforts, and they are interested and invested in that success. These individuals should be a major part of any wildlife conservation effort so they stay invested and can offer necessary support, whether that be financially or by sharing expertise and knowledge.

• The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR)

  • The Michigan DNR is primarily a government-funded agency, and one of its main purposes is the conservation of wildlife. Having the Michigan DNR support on any conservation project would be huge.

• The Michigan Wildlife Council

  • This organization is funded by the sale of hunting and fishing licenses. They have done conservation work with local forests, water, and wildlife such as the Mitchell's Satyr Butterfly, Moose, the Kirtland’s Warbler, and the Piping Plover.

• Environment Michigan

  • A big part of this organization is working to advocate for wildlife to state and federal lawmakers. This effort can help move people of power to the higher interest area.

• John Ball Zoo

  • The John Ball Zoo not only works with the animals within the zoo; they send keepers out to share their expertise with conservation projects in Michigan and around the country. Some of their notable projects have been with the Kirtland’s Warbler, the Massasauga Rattlesnake, the Piping Plover, and the Wood Turtle.

Low Influence/Power and Low Interest

Individual people and small community groups often have little influence or interest in wildlife conservation. However, through awareness campaigns, they can move to a high interest group or even a high interest and influence group.

Low Influence/Power But High Interest

Individuals and organizations in this category may not have much influence or power in relation to conservation efforts, but they can be a huge resource especially when searching for knowledge/expertise and volunteers.

• Environmentally conscious individuals

  • A lot of efforts can start with these individuals. They may often be able to offer knowledge, hard work, or help spread awareness.

• Universities with high-quality environmental programs

  • These universities will be able to produce environmentally conscious and educated individuals and groups of students who are passionate about conservation.

  • Universities can also produce environmentally conscious and passionate students through their local sierra clubs.

  • These groups have the potential to move into a higher influence/power group if they can secure university funding or investment in conservation efforts.

• The wildlife itself

  • The wildlife itself is the whole focus and point of wildlife conservation. However, it cannot advocate for itself, so other groups and individuals must take up the cause.

• Sports hunting is popular in Michigan; there is a season dedicated to it. In the end killing for fun is not a way to keep animals from dying out.

• Overfishing is also another thing that is not conserving sea life, instead it creates a loss of fish in certain areas.

• Allowing areas to restore naturally is something Michigan can improve on. Wildlife can replenish on its own if given the opportunity. If we keep cutting down forests and building cities then they will never restore naturally.

• If Michigan had stricter laws against sports hunting or recycling then wildlife conservation would rise. Without restrictions, people do what they want and don’t get punished; instead, the wildlife suffers.

• Education to any age group can have an impact on conservation. When people have more of an idea of what's going on they tend to change. Although education is not the only way to get through to people, it is a start.

• Without a profit people do not see a point in doing something. There are also things that can be done, but money is needed to do it.

• This article discusses the effects of increased habitat management on the population of Kirtland's Warbler in Michigan and Wisconsin over the years 1990-2000.

• The habitat management was done in important breeding granges in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

• These efforts led to observations of:

  • increased colonization of the Upper Peninsula by Kirtland's Warblers

  • an increased number of Warblers that returned to the breeding range

  • an overall Warbler population increase of four times the original population

• These changes are expected because of habitat availability in the Upper Peninsula and because of habitat management of the breeding range in the Lower Peninsula.

(Probst, et. al., 2003)

• This 2005 article discusses the possibility and likelihood that gray wolves will repopulate the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, and therefore the need for wildlife and habitat managers to collect information about the gray wolf and the area.

• There are favorable habitats in the Northern Lower Peninsula - mostly on the Eastern side of the state, but those lands also contain many roads and agricultural or private lands.

• This study was expected to provide valuable insight into how habitat management should be approached for wolves and other similar animals in the Midwest and other areas altered by human populations.

(Gehring & Potter, 2005)

• The human race has a huge impact on species survival, sometimes it is purposeful, while other times we don't even realize it.

• “Human influences, inadvertent and intended, continue to threaten the survival of species and the maintenance of natural ecological and evolutionary processes worldwide” (Paquet and Darimont 177).

• This article was heavy in how human influence is diminishing species populations, without any consequences.

• “Without question the unrelenting increase in human activity is driving the loss or modification of species and seriously impoverishing the lives of those that survive” (Paquet and Darimont 177).

• An important area the article covers is how power hungry humanity is- more is never enough.

• “Globally, wildlife must contend with an ominous future on a planet where humanity’s economic appetite consumes most resources” (Paquet and Darimont 179).

• Animals are suffering because of this ideology that money is everything; instead we should be conserving animal resources to help prevent species extinction.

• Our overwhelming use and abuse of the planet’s resources means that humanity uses wildlife, regardless of whether the use is for food, sports hunting, or destruction of habitat” (Paquet and Darimont 185).

• The adverse environmental consequences of the largely growing human population and industrial development are not something we face in the future, but something we are dealing with right now.

• Michigan’s climate has been warming at an alarming rate. Research indicates that warming will continue, and in the next 40 years the warming will be roughly 10 times faster than the past 100 years in Michigan.

• "A climate change vulnerability index (CCVI) score is measured of the likelihood that climate change will cause a decrease in range or abundance of a species by 2050" (4).

• "The CCVI analysis suggests that 17% of terrestrial game species and 61% of terrestrial and aquatic species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) are vulnerable" (2).

• "The CCVI scores and conservation status together provide a conservation index for the species incorporating rarity, population trends, other threats, and climate change" (11).

• "The CCVI scores can help managers prioritize which game management plans or species recovery plans need revisions to include information on climate threats"(24).

• This article had graphs and tables showing how different events can harm species as an affect. Most were measured by the CCVI.

• Risk management offers a different frame for understanding climate change and its potential to affect fish and wildlife resources.

• Some game species are likely to increase in a warming change, an example is the white-tailed deer their abundance and distribution are unlikely to change by 2050 because of climate. Instead sports hunting and the cold UP will change the migration patterns of the white-tailed deer.