Seney National Wildlife Refuge

The Seney National Wildlife Refuge is a managed wetland in Schoolcraft County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It has an area of 95,212 acres (385 km2). It is bordered by M-28 and M-77. The nearest town of any size is Seney, Michigan. The refuge contains the Seney Wilderness Area and the Strangmoor Bog National Natural Landmark within its boundaries. Birds, animals and wilderness While the Seney National Wildlife Refuge is oriented towards maintaining living space for bird life, river otters, beavers, moose, black bears and wolves also live in the refuge. 211 separate species of birds have been logged at Seney, including ducks, bald eagles, trumpeter swans, osprey, sandhill cranes, and common loons. On the western side of the National Wildlife Refuge, a parcel is officially designated as a wilderness with an area of 25,150 acres (102 km2). Strangmoor Bog The Seney NWR's western wilderness area, designated by federal law as the Seney Wilderness Area, includes the Strangmoor Bog National Natural Landmark. The Strangmoor Bog was landmarked as being the best surviving example in the 48 states of a sub-arctic patterned bog ecosystem, characterized by rapid glacial meltoff from an exposed sandy plain. The friable sand, exposed to the weather, was sculpted by wind and water into parallel strips of dune highland and wetland. History The Seney National Wildlife Refuge is built upon the remains of the Great Manistique Swamp, a perched sand wetland located in the central Upper Peninsula. After its forests were heavily exploited in 1880–1910, promoters attempted to drain the swamp for farmland. The drainage was a failure and left the wetland criss-crossed with canals, ditches, and drainage ponds. Much of the property was then abandoned for unpaid property taxes.