There's no place like Leelanau.

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Natural Areas + Preserves

Explore Leelanau

Explore our 26 natural areas and preserves, offering hiking, biking, paddling, skiing, snowshoeing, and more.

Find Your Leelanau Adventure

What We Do

Our mission: conserve the land, water and scenic character of Leelanau County

We opened our doors in 1988 dedicated to the idea that there's no place like Leelanau. Our founders believed that the Leelanau Peninsula's unique landscape deserved to be protected forever.

Learn More About Us

Faces of Giving

“I feel it’s important to protect the land when and where we can.”

-Member John Fahey, who increased his giving last year

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leelanauconservancy

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In the last week, Leelanau has seen some beautiful snowy landscapes. Docent and former board member Sharon Oriel captured this photo on a quiet, windless day when a wet snow clung to the branches of trees and shrubs everywhere. #TheresNoPlaceLikeLeelanau

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Meet New Sustainer Circle Members Lisa Genesen and David Tabolt. They talk about what inspired them to join: ⠀
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“For over 30 years, Leelanau County has been our second home. It refreshes and sustains us. It never disappoints. We are a short paddle from the Teichner Preserve and a brisk winter walk across frozen waters from the new Lime Lake Preserve. Both are gifts from others who share our passion for the “land of delights.” What better way to give thanks for this piece of heaven than to support the Leelanau Conservancy’s efforts to preserve and protect it for generations yet to come.” ⠀
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Lisa and David use our monthly giving program to break their $500 Sustainers Circle Membership gift up over the course of the year. For more info on joining this important giving circle, please contact Development Director Meg Delor: mdelor@leelanauconservancy.org

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The Leelanau Conservancy has worked with over 180 landowners to protect cherished private lands with a legal agreement called a “conservation easement.” Every year the Conservancy must monitor these lands (10,000 acres in total) to make sure agreements are being upheld. Jeannie Williams, who does this work for the Leelanau Conservancy, walked over 100 properties in the last year. In a reflective essay, she talks about the state of our trees, and what steps we can all take to ensure a healthier forest. ⠀
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Read Jeannie's essay at the link in our bio. ⠀
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#whyleelanau #healthyforests #leelanauconservancy

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“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Image by John Hain/Pixabay

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Happy Friday! We are celebrating a successful 2019 today! 🔥Thanks to you all who made it possible to protect more of Leelanau County last year. 🌲🌊🍒We’re so grateful for this close-knit community we’re a part of. ☺️There’s no place like Leelanau! #whyleelanau #getoutside #grateful

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Happy #FridayIntroductions: Meet Matt Heiman, Director of Natural Land Protection.⠀
Matt lives in Traverse City’s SoFo neighborhood, (South of Fourteenth St.) with his wife, Karrie Zeits and their two teenagers, Casey and Maria. Matt was raised in Midland but spent countless summer days fishing and swimming off his grandparents’ dock on South Lake Leelanau. It’s there, along with his family’s cottage on Big Platte Lake, that he developed a respect for intact ecosystems and natural shorelines, and an obsession with fishing.⠀
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Matt's favorite Natural Area: “It’s got to be the Cedar River Preserve, because it has the largest amount of un-fragmented, high-quality wetland habitat. Casey and I spend a good deal of time fishing for walleye on Lake Leelanau. The Preserve’s wetlands support the lake’s healthy fish population and I always enjoy looking at the natural shoreline along the lake that I have helped to protect.”⠀
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His favorite non-work pursuit: fishing, of course. He enjoys it most when Casey is along. “We fish all over and enjoy casting for trout in Michigan’s upper and lower peninsula streams. And we fish for walleye on local inland lakes.”⠀
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Matt’s conservation story: Matt earned a BS from Albion in biology and a MS in aquatic biology from CMU. He thought he wanted to work in fisheries biology. “But jobs were limited, and I ended up with a short-term job with a contractor who was working on an environmental impact statement for Nestle. I became much more attuned to conservation vs research. I realized that I could make a much bigger impact and was lucky when a fellow graduate student connected me with the Leelanau Conservancy in in 2001.”⠀
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Favorite part of his job: “Helping landowners to achieve a permanent vision for their land. Conservation easements are the ultimate property right because they allow a landowner to determine the future condition of their property long after the landowner has passed on.”⠀
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#whyleelanau #meetourstaff #leelanauconservancy

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