Organization’s Social Mission

The Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy conserves natural land and open space — including forests, wetlands, meadows, agricultural land, and places of scenic beauty — to provide habitat for wildlife and to enrich the lives of people throughout Southeast Michigan.

Description of Organization

Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy (SMLC) was founded in 1988 to protect land in the 7-county southeast Michigan region: Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw and Wayne counties. To date, SMLC has protected almost 2,500 acres in 5 of the counties. SMLC has two local divisions, Superior Land Conservancy (SLC) and Monroe County Land Conservancy. Both were established to assist SMLC with land protection and community relations in their respective areas.

SMLC’s purpose is to acquire, restore and manage wildlife habitat, farm land and conservation easements in order to foster healthy ecosystems, protect water quality and assure the continuation of productive family farms. To promote appreciation of the natural world; educate the public about land protection options; and engage communities throughout southeast Michigan in land protection and stewardship activities.

SMLC is certified by the IRS as a charitable 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and is also a “qualified conservation organization” eligible to receive tax-deductible conservation easements and land donations. SMLC is licensed to solicit donations by the State of Michigan and undergoes an annual audit. SMLC is governed by a volunteer board of directors which oversees all governance, fiscal and operational activities of the organization and employs 2 full-time and 2 part-time staff.
 
SMLC’s three main program areas are:  Land Protection, Stewardship, and Outreach and Education.  Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy accomplishes most of our land conservation, community engagement, and public education work through these primary programs. 
 
In addition, SMLC is based at a historic farm in Superior Township.  The Conservancy Farm is unique in that it may have one of the oldest residential building in the county, the original homestead cabin dating from the 1830’s.  It is also home to SMLC’s Community Organic Garden which currently has 43 active gardeners.  Finally, SMLC also has a working relationship with 6 area farmers, promoting organic and locally-grown food.

View the SMLC 2010 Fact Sheet.