Leelanau, Protected: Conservancy Announces $75M Campaign, $9M Left to Go

The Leelanau Conservancy aims to protect the "lands, waters and wildlife that define life in Leelanau County” with a comprehensive, $75 million fundraising campaign.

Leelanau, Protected: A Campaign for Today and Tomorrow has three main priorities: "Protecting natural lands and working farmland, restoring ecological health and resilience across conserved habitats and expanding meaningful access to nature for all people."

The conservancy has already raised $66 million since the campaign's quiet phase began in 2023, leaving $9 million to go now that the campaign has been revealed to the broader public. The conservancy hopes to reach that goal by the end of 2027.

As the region’s growth and popularity soars, conservancy leaders believe it’s time make a big push in land conservation and stewardship with the largest fundraising campaign in the organization’s 38-year history.

“Development pressure is not slowing down; if anything, it’s snowballing,” conservancy Communications Director Brighid Driscoll tells The Ticker. “There’s really no time better than now to do something like this while we still can.”

The $66 million includes money brought in and already spent for conservancy projects and operations since the quiet phase of the campaign began three years ago. These include the highly publicized acquisition of the former Sugar Loaf ski area along with an expansion of the Palmer Woods Forest Reserve and Kehl Lake Natural Area.

Conservancy Development Director Paris Morse tells The Ticker the $66 million figure also includes pledged estate gifts (which have yet to be realized) and the monetary value of donated conservation easements on private land.

“It’s not like we’re just sitting on $66 million dollars,” she says. “We’re counting all types of gifts.”

The $9 million left to raise will go toward known projects (including Suttons Bay Forest) and also give the conservancy money to tackle projects that may come online in the near future.

“(We want to) remain ready to respond to Leelanau’s greatest conservation needs and emerging opportunities as they arise,” Morse says. “We’re always at the table with landowners, watching for what needs protecting next.”

Because conservancies also care for much of the land they protect, campaign funds also have been and will be used for invasive species removal, trail building and other land stewardship activities on protected lands. This is the final, perpetual state of protecting land by ensuring that it remains healthy for future generations.

“Projects, like creating a new natural area, typically include the cost to purchase the land, the funds to create public access such as trails and funds for ecological restoration,” Morse says. “Often, these resources are utilized over multiple years to bring the project fully to fruition. Additionally, funds are set aside to care for conserved properties forever.”

Morse and Driscoll urge anyone who lives in or visits Leelanau County to support the campaign.

“Anybody who has enjoys Leelanau can feel good about donating to this campaign just because it's going towards so much,” Driscoll says. "Public land, farmland, access to nature for everybody. And then of course there’s ecological restoration, which is so important because it keeps things resilient and beautiful.”

“It’s incredible what is possible when our community comes together,” Morse adds. “We are grateful for all who have made these important projects possible and for those who will step up to support projects that we are working on right now. Every gift makes a difference.”