Michigan citizens are fortunate to be surrounded by more than 36,500 miles of rivers and streams, 12,500 miles of which are classified as cold water trout streams. We are also fortunate that Michigan has many programs focused on the protection and enhancement of those river resources. One such program is the Natural Rivers Program, which is part of the Habitat Management Unit within Fisheries Division, Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

The year 2010 marks the 40th anniversary of Michigan's Natural Rivers Act. In the late 1960s, the DNR and Michigan legislature recognized that the state's rivers and streams were some of Michigan's most important natural resources. They also recognized the beauty and quality of the state's rivers were fragile and being threatened. In response to the threat, on December 3, 1970, Governor William Milliken signed into law Michigan's Natural River Act, Public Act 231 of 1970, which is now known as Part 305, Natural Rivers, of Public Act 451 of 1994. By passing the Natural River Act, Michigan was following the lead of the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, which had been signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in October, 1968. Michigan is currently one of 33 states with river protection legislation (Pettit and Schoolmaster 1995).

The new law authorized the DNR to develop a system of Natural Rivers in the interest of the people of the state and future generation, for the purpose of preserving and enhancing a river's values for a variety of reasons, including; aesthetics, free-flowing condition, recreation, boating, historic, water conservation, floodplain, and fisheries and wildlife habitat.

Since 1970, 2,091 miles on sixteen rivers or segments of rivers have been designated into Michigan's Natural River System. In the order they were designated, the Natural River system includes the Jordan, Betsie, Rogue, Two Hearted, White, Boardman, Huron, Pere Marquette, Flat, Rifle, Lower Kalamazoo, Pigeon, AuSable, Fox, Pine, and Upper Manistee rivers. Click here for a map of designated rivers.

For more on how administration of the Program works click here.

For more on the importance of riparian vegetation click here.

The Natural Rivers Program is part of the Habitat Management Unit within Fisheries Division of the Department of Natural Resources. Steve Sutton is the Natural Rivers Program Manager and can be reached at 517-241-9049 or suttons@michigan.gov.