 Looking for a reliable place to find the state-endangered
Henslow’s sparrow? Or maybe a good place to photograph butterflies and insects?
Maybe you need a new pheasant or rabbit hunting spot? Look no further than the
Sharonville State Game Area!
On the border of Jackson and Washtenaw counties, Sharonville
State Game Area spans about 4,400 acres. The habitat varies across the game
area, ranging from mature forest to old field to prairies and grasslands.
Located just south of Jackson in Grass Lake, Sharonville is about an hour from
several major population centers like Detroit, Ann Arbor and Lansing.
Over the past six years, the staff at Sharonville State
Game Area has enhanced and restored almost 650 acres of grasslands. They’ve
also planted over 275 acres of food plots to provide food sources for wildlife
in the winter, when food can be scarce.
“The grasslands at Sharonville have been mowed,
burned or both to set back woody plant succession,” said acting DNR wildlife
biologist Dennis Tison. “Many fields have been enhanced with warm-season
grasses and plenty of wildflowers for pollinators. Our goal is to make
Sharonville one of the finest grassland complexes in the state!”
Sharonville staff members are working with the
Jackson and Washtenaw chapters of Pheasants Forever and Michigan Pheasants Forever
on a big project – to convert 60 acres of beautiful, rolling topography, which
over the years had become overgrown fallow fields, to a high-diversity shortgrass
prairie. The landscape will transform from shortgrass prairie into an oak
savannah habitat on the north part of the parcel. This habitat project and
transformation, currently under construction, will take a few years to
establish.
In addition to the shortgrass
prairie work, Pheasants Forever received a DNR Wildlife Habitat Grant to hire contractors to plant prairie acres at Sharonville State
Game Area. Contractors
planted 48 acres in 2017 and will be planting 32 acres of prairie in 2018 as
part of this grant. Pheasants Forever also is contracting
an additional 75 acres of prairie planting this year with funds received from an
agreement between the Enbridge Corporation and the DNR.
Several wildlife species depend on grasslands. The
grasslands of Sharonville State Game Area attract many grassland-nesting birds,
including the state-endangered Henslow’s sparrow; field, savannah and
grasshopper sparrows; dickcissels; ring-necked pheasants and Eastern
meadowlarks. Rabbits, deer and turkeys use the same grasslands for feeding, bedding
and thermal cover in the winter.
Some of the state’s most imperiled wildlife are
grassland species. This habitat type has declined drastically over the
last 150 years due to the conversion of grasslands to agricultural land,
residential and commercial development, and the succession of grasslands into
forestlands.
The
Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative is working to improve and enhance
Michigan’s remaining grasslands. This includes planting diverse mixes of
grasses and wildflowers for birds, insects and other wildlife. Extensive
grassland restoration work is in progress at Lake Hudson State Recreation Area
in Lenawee County, Verona State Game Area in Huron County, Sharonville State Game
Area in Jackson and Washtenaw counties, and Maple River State Game Area in
Gratiot County as well as other public and private lands in southern Michigan.
Made up of many partners, the Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative is a conservation initiative to restore and enhance Michigan pheasant habitat (grasslands), populations and hunting opportunities on private and public lands. It works by acquiring state, federal and partner resources to assist landowners in cooperatives to improve wildlife habitat on their properties and by improving grassland habitat on selected state game areas, recreation areas or other public lands. To learn more, visit the Michigan Pheasant Restoration Initiative page.
Pictured above: Henslow’s sparrows can be found in the spring and summer, nesting in Sharonville’s grasslands.
/Note to editors: Contact – Holly Vaughn, 313-396-6863./
| 
