U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Wetlands Inventory Map
The National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) maps were produced in the mid to late 1980's by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to document wetland across the United States. These maps were created largely by aerial photograph interpretation, so are not perfect, but usually show the general distribution of the most prominent wetlands. In the case of Endangered Woods, the map indicates that much of the area was identified as wetland (the yellow area). the code PFO1B indicates that it was identified as a seasonally ponded to saturated forested swamp wetland.
Michigan Resource Information System Wetland Map
Michigan Resource Information System (MIRIS) maps were produced by the State of Michigan. These maps are a combination of information obtained from federal maps like the NWI maps, and additional aerial photograph interpretation and field checks by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The MIRIS map indicates that nearly all of Endangered Woods was mapped as wetland (yellow cross-hatched area). As with the NWI maps, the MIRIS maps are not perfect, but give a rough idea.
Remnant Forest in Macomb County
Less than 10% of Macomb County remains forested, where once nearly the entire landscape in southeast Michigan was a vast, continuous forest. The tiny green patches on the Michigan Atlas & Gazetteer published by DeLorme Mapping in 1991, are the last fragments of this forest that remained as of the late 1980's. Many of these woodlands have since been lost to development. Endangered Woods is one of two or maybe three large forested wetland areas that remain in close proximity to Lake St. Clair along the entire western coastline of the lake, from Detroit to Algonac. The area circled in yellow and marked with a "1" is Endangered Woods. The area marked "2" is another large forest not far away. This forest is still basically intact but a substantial part of it was cleared a few years for development prospects, so it is now quite reduced and fragmented. The area marked "3" is a large forested swamp located along Metro Beach Parkway. However, it is our understanding that a few years ago, most or all of that area was clear-cut by the same developer that currently owns the "Village Builders" parcel of Endangered Woods along Salt River. Other than these 3 areas, there do not appear to be any other large forested swamps within 1,000 feet of Lake St. Clair.