Scarecrow Island is a small, 7-acre (0.03-km2) island in Lake Huron. It forms the southern limit of Thunder Bay and helps define the harbor of Alpena, Michigan. It is part of Sanborn Township, in Alpena County, Michigan.
In recognition of Scarecrow Island's importance as a traditional nesting site for colonial waterbirds such as cormorants, herons, gulls, and terns, it received protection as one of eight islands in the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge in 1943. In 1970, it was designated as one of three islands in the Michigan Islands Wilderness. The island is administered as a satellite of the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge. Adjacent waters of Thunder Bay became part of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 2000.
Located off Hardwood Point, Scarecrow Island is situated in the center of a region rich in fish. A 2002 study conducted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service documented the occurrence of seven species of fish in the immediate vicinity of the island, with round whitefish, trout-perch, and lake chub predominating.
Like many other islands in the Great Lakes, Scarecrow Island is a relict of the Wisconsin glacial period. A melting Ice Age glacier dumped a large quantity of rocks and gravel onto a gouged-out surface that became part of the bed of Lake Huron.
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as its westerly counterpart, to which it is connected by the 5-mile-wide (8.0 km), 20-fathom-deep Straits of Mackinac. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French explorers who named it for the Huron people inhabiting the region. The Huronian glaciation was named from evidence collected from Lake Huron region. The northern parts of the lake include the North Channel and Georgian Bay. Saginaw Bay is located in the southwest corner of the lake. The main inlet is the St. Marys River, and the main outlet is the St. Clair River.
Alpena County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 28,907. The county seat is Alpena. It is considered to be part of Northern Michigan.
Alpena is the only city in and county seat of Alpena County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,483 at the 2010 census. After Traverse City, it is the second most populated city in the Northern Michigan region. The city is surrounded by Alpena Township, but the two are administered autonomously. It is the core city of the Alpena micropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Alpena County and had a total population of 28,360 at the 2010 census.
The Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge is a 9,870.35 acres (39.9439 km2) National Wildlife Refuge in Saginaw County managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It is located in the central portion of the lower peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of the Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron and five miles (8 km) south of the city of Saginaw in the county's Spaulding and James townships. It was established in 1953 to provide habitat for migratory waterfowl.
Thunder Bay is a bay in the U.S. state of Michigan on Lake Huron. The bay extends from North Point at 45°01′19″N83°15′58″W to South Point at 44°53′00″N83°18′51″W.
Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve is a United States National Marine Sanctuary on Lake Huron's Thunder Bay, within the northeastern region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It protects an estimated 116 historically significant shipwrecks ranging from nineteenth-century wooden side-wheelers to twentieth-century steel-hulled steamers. There are a great many wrecks in the sanctuary, and their preservation and protection is a concern for national policymakers. The landward boundary of the sanctuary extends from the western boundary of Presque Isle County to the southern boundary of Alcona County. The sanctuary extends east from the lakeshore to the international border. Alpena is the largest city in the area.
The protected areas of Michigan come in an array of different types and levels of protection. Michigan has five units of the National Park Service system. There are 14 federal wilderness areas; the majority of these are also tribal-designated wildernesses. It has one of the largest state forest systems as well having four national forests. The state maintains a large state park system and there are also regional parks, and county, township and city parks. Still other parks on land and in the Great Lakes are maintained by other governmental bodies. Private protected areas also exist in the state, mainly lands owned by land conservancies.
Gull Island is the name of a dozen small islands in the U.S. state of Michigan.
The Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge is a designation for eight Michigan islands in the North American Great Lakes. Owned by the United States federal government, they were set aside for ecosystem protection purposes by President Franklin D. Roosevelt 1943.
Thunder Bay Island is a 215-acre (87 ha) island in Lake Huron. The island is one of eight constituent islands of the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The island is part of Alpena Township in Alpena County. It marks the entrance to Thunder Bay, the harbor of Alpena, Michigan and the location of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
The Alpena Light, also known as the Thunder Bay River Lighthouse or Alpena Breakwater Light, is a lighthouse on Lake Huron near Alpena, Michigan. Standing on the north breakwater of Alpena Harbor, the light marks the entrance to the Thunder Bay River from Thunder Bay. The current lighthouse, built in 1914, replaced earlier wooden structures which had been in use since 1877 and 1888. The current light is a weather-protected structure on a steel frame. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006, and the state inventory list the same year.
Green Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States located in the state of Wisconsin. It includes five all or part of six islands in Lake Michigan: Hog Island, Plum Island, Pilot Island, part of St. Martin Island and Rocky Island. Additionally it includes part of Detroit Island. The islands are near Washington Island off the tip of the Door Peninsula of Wisconsin and the Garden Peninsula of Michigan.
Huron Island Light is a lighthouse on Lake Superior near Big Bay, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Huron Islands Lighthouse in 1975. It is on one of the Huron Islands Wilderness.
Michigan Islands Wilderness Area, a relatively small wilderness area of 12.5 acres (0.05 km2.), consists of Pismire Island, Scarecrow Island, and Shoe Island within the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge. These three islands, which constitute part of the group of islands that make up the larger refuge, were elevated to the rank of a United States wilderness area in 1970. All three islands are noted for their infrequent human visitation and their roles as breeding grounds for freshwater wading birds, such as the great blue heron.
Thunder Bay Island Light, located on Thunder Bay Island's southeast tip, is one of the oldest operating lighthouses in Michigan. The third operating U.S. lighthouse in Lake Huron was built here in 1831, but it disintegrated almost at once and was rebuilt in 1832 of local limestone. This 40-foot (12 m) 1830s light tower was raised 10 feet (3.0 m)) to a height of 50 feet (15 m) in 1857, and sheathed with brick. A fourth order Fresnel lens was installed. This 1857 light tower is the current Thunder Bay Island Light, although the tower has been further altered and is currently 63 feet (19 m) high.
The Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan is a community museum serving Alpena County and surrounding counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. Alpena is a port city on Lake Huron. The museum defines its role broadly — to preserve, protect and present history and culture closely connected with the heritage of Northern Michigan and the Great Lakes. The museum includes a small publicly-owned planetarium.
Black River Island is an island in Lake Huron. It is part of a series of shoals around the mouth of Black River and is 3⁄4 mile (1.21 km) NE of it. The island is included within the unincorporated community of Black River in Alcona Township.
Middle Island is an island in Lake Huron, located in Alpena Township, Alpena County, Michigan. The island is positioned little over a mile and a half from the community of Lakewood on the mainland. The Middle Island Light, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and built in 1905, lies on the eastern edge of the island. It used to be home to a Life-Saving Station. The light house was automated in 1961, and regular staffing ceased. The island is within the boundaries of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. It preserves the lighthouse along with the shipwreck Portsmouth (1867).
