The Kalamazoo River Watershed Land Conservation Plan was developed to select for
conservation targets among ownership parcels in the Kalamazoo River Watershed (MI). The watershed,
while historically degraded, features large areas of preserved Midwestern habitats. To facilitate for the
permanent protection of these lands, this plan was developed using an ArcGIS-based analysis that
scored ownership parcels based on the following conservation criteria: land cover, presence of wetlands,
proximity to hydrology, proximity to existing conserved lands, presence of cold lands, and presence of
threatened and endangered species habitat. These criteria were developed using a literature review of
existing conservation plans and Kalamazoo River Watershed stakeholder input. The results from this
analysis were used to identify conservation priorities, including: the top 100 scoring parcels in the basin,
a database of the top 20% scoring parcels and their contact information, and priority subwatersheds for
conservation.