Great Lakes Projects

Saginaw Bay Restoration

Our Goals
Protect the birds that depend on these vital coastal habitats by mitigating threats and building long-term, community-supported ecological health and resilience across the region.
What We’re Doing
We work with partners to rebuild damaged wetlands, understand how vulnerable marsh birds respond, and engage communities in learning about the Saginaw Bay shoreline and its importance to birds.
Wetland habitat with birds flying overhead.

Saginaw Bay’s shorelines and vital coastal wetlands, stretching for miles across eastern Michigan, connect the state’s largest watershed to Lake Huron. Recognized globally as an 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú Important Bird Area (IBA), the region hosts massive flocks of migratory waterfowl like Tundra Swans, Mallards, Redheads, and Common Goldeneyes, as well as breeding colonies of waterbirds such as Common Terns and Great Egrets. These wetlands aren’t just critical for wildlife—they also provide essential benefits to local communities by naturally filtering sediments and runoff from nearby agriculture, storing water to reduce flooding and drought, and helping to buffer the region against the impacts of pollutants and climate change. 

However, these habitats face serious threats from invasive species, agricultural runoff, and lingering contaminants. 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú is working across the region to protect and restore Saginaw Bay’s wetlands, focusing on improving marsh conditions and controlling invasive species. Notably, there is extensive state-owned land used for game and wildlife management across Saginaw Bay, providing unique opportunities for restoration, enhancement, and community engagement that supports the region’s threatened marsh birds while simultaneously improving foraging for gamebirds and waterbirds. 

The Saginaw Bay region includes Wigwam Bay State Wildlife Area, which contains key breeding ground for the Black Tern—a species which has faced severe population declines. At Wigwam Bay, the Black Tern colonies are threatened by habitat loss from invasive plants, severe weather, predators, and the disappearance of floating nest mats. 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú is working to reduce these threats by studying these ecosystems to more deeply understand how to reverse population declines and ensure a better future for the Black Tern across the Great Lakes.  

Partners in this region include Michigan Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. 51ÁÔÆæÈë¿Ú’s work in the Saginaw Bay region is supported by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coastal Program, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).