TRAVERSE CITY -- Dry sand prairies, rich conifer swamps, pine barrens and sand and gravel beaches help comprise Michigan's landscape.
State natural resources officials want a comprehensive list of such sites and all high-quality native plant and animal habitats in Michigan, part of a program to identify and conserve areas with good biodiversity.
The state Department of Natural Resources wants to find new spots to include in a Biodiversity Stewardship Area network, and they want the public's help.
It's an important knowledge baseline, said Matt Heiman, land protection director with the Leelanau Conservancy.
"It's extremely important in the sense that without the knowledge of what our resource base is, it's hard to tell what the threats are," he said.
Biodiversity means natural variety among living things in a given area.
Lake Michigan shoreline dunes are unique geological features that should be included in the biodiversity network, Heiman said, and so should Leelanau County's wooded dune and swale areas -- parallel wetlands and upland beach dunes found in coastal bays.
Melynda Bagley, education director at Grass River Natural Area in Antrim County, believes that secluded property four miles south of Bellaire may also have some high-quality habitats worth noting.
"We are an area that has been preserved specifically for that reason, to preserve biodiversity. We have excellent examples in our wetlands and woodland habitats," she said.
That's just what state officials want to hear, said David Price, DNR forest planner.
"The whole crux of this initiative is to conserve the biodiversity of the state by focusing on habitats," Price said.
DNR officials know where much of the state's quality natural areas are, but some spots may have escaped them, he said.
"We want to mine people's brains for areas of natural communities we may not already know about," Price said.
DNR officials want the public to attend information-gathering workshops to talk about areas that should be considered in the statewide network, he said.
Good candidates will not be surrounded by developed landscapes and should not be significantly threatened by development, invasive species or other threats, among other qualifications.
Two local workshops will be held in Traverse City and Gaylord and more will be scheduled around the state this year and in 2010.
The sessions will be March 24 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Garfield Township Hall, 3848 Veterans Drive in Traverse City, as well as March 25 from 6 to 9 p.m. in conference room 100 at the Otsego County Building, 225 W. Main St. in Gaylord.
Call (517) 335-3351 for more information about the program or the workshops.
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