The Marinette County, Wisconsin Forestry department, in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service's Green Bay Field Office, has begun to implement a habitat plan designed to benefit Kirtland’s warblers. Kirtland’s warblers were first documented to nest on Marinette County Forest lands in 2009. The Service and the County have worked collaboratively to develop a long-term plan to provide nesting habitat for the Kirtland’s warbler on nearly 900 acres of forest lands, located in the most promising area for jack pine habitat management. The project will expand and enhance these habitats adjacent to where the species has been documented over the past three years.

Kirtland’s warblers require young stands of jack pine for nesting habitat, and the Marinette County Forestry Department already has an active jack pine management program. This project will result in improved habitat for Kirtland’s warblers by focusing on larger stands and the strategic location of management actions. The first stages of the project to create approximately 111 acres of Kirtland’s warbler habitat have now been initiated using a combination of funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife program.

Kirtland’s warblers have been known to nest in Wisconsin since 2007, and this small population represents the only nesting of the species in the U.S. outside of the state of Michigan. Establishment of this population would represent an important contribution towards recovery, and may prove critical to future delisting of the species. Actively managing jack pine habitats to provide suitable nesting habitat will be essential for continued growth of the Wisconsin population.

Management of jack pine for the benefit of Kirtland’s warbler is also expected to result in similar benefits to numerous other bird species found in this ecosystem, including multiple species identified in the Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan as Species of Greatest Conservation Need.