LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s list of threatened and endangered species has been updated.
The list now includes 407 plant and animal species after 58 species were added to the list, with 36 others removed, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
We’re told it’s the seventh time the list was updated in the last 50 years.
“When people come together to collaborate on conservation, we can recover rare species,” says Endangered Species Specialist Jennifer Kleitch. “For instance, trumpeter swans were just removed from Michigan’s threatened and endangered species list. Their populations have grown as a result of significant conservation efforts by many partners over decades.”
The DNR explains that while the trumpeter swan is no longer threatened or endangered, it is still protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
American and rusty-patched bumblebees are now listed as endangered.
Stark declines in three bat species – tri-colored, little brown and long-eared – led to their addition to the threatened species list, the DNR adds.
Changes to the threatened and endangered species list were made under the recommendation of the DNR, university experts and other conservation entities.
Find out what you can do to help state conservation efforts by visiting the DNR’s webpage.
