The UP is characterized by its diverse ecosystems. Crossing the bridge from upper to lower Michigan reveals the difference in landscapes— trees line the roads for hundreds of miles. Drivers must be wary of deer crossing, and look out for bald eagles. Animals are everywhere, and they are crucial for the UP’s land to flourish.

As defined by National Geographic, wildlife conservation is the practice of “protecting plants and animal species and their habitats.” It is necessary for the sake of all ecosystems, including those in the Upper Peninsula.

When it comes to wildlife, there is certainly more than what meets the eye. Their lives are complex and hidden, but appreciated by those who pay attention. 

“We are deeply connected to the land, and we are deeply connected to the wildlife that share that land,” said NMU professor Diana Lafferty. She is a wildlife ecologist that studies large body mammals. 

There has been a noticeable change in the world of conservation and science. According to Science Magazine, thousands of scientists have been fired from U.S. agencies in the past few months. Many of these scientists include those who have dedicated their lives to conserving wildlife. 

According to NPR, the Trump Administration has proposed a rule change that would limit the impact of the Endangered Species Act. The law was originally enacted in 1973 to protect species and prevent extinctions. 

A slew of executive orders has resulted in mass concern and uncertainty about the state of wildlife conservation in America. Rarely, though, is the Upper Peninsula prioritized throughout it all. Behind the scenes, scientists, students and environmentalists are paying close attention to the state of UP land.  

Science students are especially affected by the changes that have been made. 

One day, a man was walking down a beach. He came across a starfish that had washed up on shore, picked it up, and put it back in the ocean. As he kept walking down the beach, he came across many more washed-up starfish. One by one, he returned each starfish to the ocean. 

Another man approached him and asked, “Why are you putting them back? You will never be able to return them all.” That was never his point. The point was to make a difference, no matter how small it would seem to others. 

This was the story told by Braden Hubert, a biology student at Northern Michigan University (NMU). He was explaining his views on the importance of conservation. For him, no effort was too small, especially within a landscape as tucked away and ecologically significant as the Upper Peninsula. 

“Conservation matters more in the UP because we still have a chance. We still have a chance to protect this area that is less touched and less damaged by human impact,” said Hubert.

The landscape of the Upper Peninsula, including the 3 Great Lakes, wild woodland landscapes and its diverse elevation are some of the factors that set it apart from the rest of North America.

Logging and mining are two major components of the production and export sectors of the Upper Peninsula. It is an honest and heavily regulated living that has a large impact on the native ecosystems and species.  

Due to the nature of mining, there is a large amount of contaminated run-off that eventually makes its way into the Great Lakes and through the food chain. Ultimately, it impacts humans and ecosystems due to the high amounts of metal contamination in the freshwater fish that many rely on.

“There’s bioaccumulation that happens. When heavy metals are present in zooplankton or phytoplankton, they accumulate in the food chain. The higher up the food chain you go, the higher the concentration of these heavy metals are,” Hubert said. 

Biology student Massimo Gulino has a similar passion for UP wildlife. However, he remains bright-eyed about his career and the future of wildlife conservation. 

Gulino focuses on ecology, and is currently researching blue-spotted salamanders as they migrate in Marquette. He finds the UP to be refreshing, as he was previously used to industrialization downstate. 

Gulino describes his views on the state of conservation as “cautiously optimistic.”

“I think we are headed toward unprecedented times. It is a little bit of playing everything by ear,” Gulino said. “The situation will change day-by-day and week by week, but the best thing we can do is to just stick together, volunteer, and get as many people involved as possible.”

Gulino emphasizes the importance of simply appreciating nature. As a heavily involved student with passionate beliefs, he has not let any current news bring him down. 

“At the end of the day, I’m going to pursue my passion no matter what,” he said. “I’m going to lean on my friends and family to help me achieve my goals, no matter what happens.”

Now more than ever, conservation-focused students are essential. College students play a significant role in conservation-based research in the United States, and this research is becoming increasingly important as governmental support for environmental efforts begins to wane.

Louis Good, a postgraduate student at Northern Michigan University (NMU), believes that all aspects of the natural landscape and the creatures native to the Upper Peninsula deserve to be protected and researched. In the winter of 2025, Good ventured into the snowy woods to conduct a large-scale research project on his specialty: moose.

“The goal was to capture and collar 20 moose. Those GPS trackers will give us location data every hour for each moose, so we can examine the factors limiting population growth in the U.P.,” Good explained.

Sustaining and growing moose populations is a shared goal among researchers in the region. Understanding where, why, and how moose are either dying or thriving is critical for future conservation efforts. This research will help ensure that future generations are able to protect this beloved native species. 

Projects like these would not be possible without state and federal funding, much of which supports university-based research. It is an example of how many students are actively working to support local wildlife. Unfortunately, the future of such projects is uncertain.

“Changes in power are important to keep your eye on. We already have funding issues,” said Good. “We’re going to need to rely more on citizen-based science and people collaborating with each other.”

From Land to water, one of the UP’s largest ecosystems—Lake Superior— is no stranger to invasive species. One of the most famous unwelcome species of the Great Lakes is the sea lamprey. The impact of these blood sucking predators negatively impacts native species.

Shawn Sitar, a Great Lakes specialist, works to research and conserve the native fish of Lake Superior and directly target invasive species, such as the lamprey. The lake is filled with dependable keystone species. With the help of government workers, major steps forward have been made to help these populations thrive. Unfortunately, due to the current state of conservation, this could all be at risk.

Lake trout are an example of apex predators that are needed in the Great Lakes. The risk of extinction due to population decline by the late 1940s was detrimental. Many factors caused the decline, such as excessive commercial fishing and predation by sea lamprey.

Superior stood as the only lake where the trout were not fully extinct since the 1950s. Recently, fisheries managers declared lake trout populations fully rehabilitated. Sitar was a third-generation scientist who was able to make this comeback possible with his collaborations with tribal, U.S., and Canadian agencies. The other Great Lakes are slightly behind Superior in recovery.

“Strong regulations on fishing and control of sea lampreys are two management actions that have helped populations recover. The current administration has made cuts to federal agencies such as the USFWS sea lamprey control,” said Sitar. Such cuts could cause lamprey populations to destroy lakes worse than they already do. 

As things were finally starting to shape up within the inner workings of ecosystems, many DNR and conservationists felt as though the government was attempting to take some major steps back. It put generations of hard work and research on the line.

For others, though, the recent changes haven’t discouraged them much. 

While acknowledging the threats on UP wildlife and the improvements to be made, some conservation professionals have a more positive outlook. 

John Highlen, for example, is an involved environmentalist. He is the conservation chair for the local tribe limited chapter of Trout Unlimited, the President of the Board of Directors for the Alger County Conservation District, and is involved with the UP Land Conservation among many more. 

He believes that organizations affected by recent government changes should reframe their thinking. 

“The problem I see is that a lot of people and conservation organizations have become used to doing all their work based on free money from the government,” Highlen said. “We have got to get beyond that. Because, to be brutally honest, the government does this, always has, always will, depending on who’s in office or what the latest trends are. It’s going to go up and down. There’s nothing wrong with depending on some of that money, but we have got to get beyond sitting there with our hands up, waiting for the government to hand it to us.”

While emphasizing the need for conservation organizations to change some of their strategies, he also highlights the importance of protecting and appreciating UP Land. He argues that the Upper Peninsula seems disconnected, when it is very susceptible to tourism in summer months. This has drastic effects on the environment.

He went on to recall a beautiful, scenic area near Christmas, MI., where a sunset of oranges and reds could be viewed through a cave. Now, the area has been permanently damaged. 

“It’s really beautiful, but so many people are going there, visiting it. They were getting problems with the local people owning private land nearby. People were trespassing on the property,” he said. “They were trashing the road. What used to be a two track is four cars wide now, because people drive around puddles passing each other. The Forest Service finally closed it.”

The damage of UP Land is detrimental to the wildlife living amongst it. To Highlen, the most important thing is to make people aware of that fact.

“One of the big things is mainly just to help everybody understand conservation needs and why those needs are there,” he said. “Most everything we do in one way or another has an impact on the land, whether it’s on purpose or not. I think a lot of people are just oblivious to that.”

He advocates for the idea that every small action counts, regardless of what it is. By doing minutes of research or appreciating what’s around them, people can be part of great change in the UP, and everywhere else. 

“Understand the work you do in your yard, and the stuff you purchase or don’t purchase in the store. A lot of those things all affect the environment around us,” Highlen said. 

Professor Diana Lafferty is another conservationist and ecologist who is passionate about UP wildlife. She named every sphere in which land and wildlife is important, and explained them in detail: culture, ecology, and economics. 

In each sphere, wildlife is essential in order for societies and ecosystems to flourish. She explains that it is extremely threatened in a myriad of ways.

“Conservation, by definition, is the act of conserving species or ecosystem processes. It’s an action. It’s not passive. So here in the UP, we definitely have some struggles,” Lafferty said. “We live in a really beautiful environment, something that is aesthetically engaging, and our environment is incredibly contaminated as a result of human activities across our landscape.”

She spoke about species like the snowshoe hare, which are essential species in our food webs, that have rapidly decreasing populations. She has watched as animals have been put at more and more risk as weeks go by. 

“Conservation is being challenged at a federal level, which is rolling back protections under the Endangered Species Act,” Lafferty said.  “That’s being done by an administration that does not value our shared world or our shared federal lands, as they are rapidly trying to figure out ways in which to let industry exploit our federal lands for their personal gain.”

While watching wildlife fall into more and more risk, she has also watched other scientists and friends lose their jobs.

“Since Donald Trump took office, there has rarely been a week in which I have not received an email, a phone call or a text message from one of my former students, one of my mentors, one of my collaborators that hasn’t been fired from their position,” she said. “Some of these people hold PhDs, and they worked all of those grunt jobs, those volunteer positions, getting the credentials they needed to get their dream job to help protect our shared world.”

Lafferty was enraged at the idea that so many lives and ecosystems are being harmed. She shook when she spoke, and continued about the immense changes she has witnessed since the election. 

“The United States has historically been a leader in land-based and science driven conservation, and that is no longer the case. What once was a source of pride, is now a source of shame in our natural lands, and our shared spaces are being degraded,” she said. “They’re being sold off chunk by chunk. There’s over 500 federally protected lands. They’re currently on the chopping block in order to give those lands to industry for some type of extractive purpose, which will enrich industry.”

Lafferty went on to speak more about the changes the government has made, and the implications they have had on lands across the country. The UP is not the only place that is being threatened; conservationists across the nation are panicking. 

She also points out the importance of DEI in conservation. 

“We must bring all of the people that represent the diversity of our country to the table. We must have human diversity if we are to affect positive conservation change in every conservation organization,” she said. “By default, you are contributing to biodiversity, whether that is at the gene sequence level or the population level.”

The link between diversity of all levels and conservation is much more prominent than many realize. To Lafferty, college students advocating for diversity are the slivers of hope that are needed in order to push through difficult times. 

She believes that college students have voices that can drive a nation, and they must not back down. For the future of our wildlife and society, we must fight back.

“Now is the time for everybody to say, I do not consent, and I will not concede,” Lafferty said.