Preserving the Keweenaw Heartlands has long been a top priority of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). In 1975, TNC acquired 5,900 acres at the base of the Upper Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, which it subsequently transferred to the US Forest Service. In 1982, it established its first preserve on Keweenaw with the generous donation of 500 acres by Mary Macdonald. And it has collaborated with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to preserve 15 miles of Lake Superior shoreline. Which only makes last year’s acquisition of more than 32,000 acres all the more significant.

Owned by The Rohatyn Group, the Keweenaw Heartlands was brought to market by Trina Anderson of AFM Real Estate in four separate packages ranging in size from 5,749 acres to 10,080 acres. TNC closed on three of the four tracts in October and acquired the fourth in December.

“The Nature Conservancy is making a difference in Michigan, across the country, and around the world,” said Nicolas Rohatyn, chief executive officer at The Rohatyn Group, in a statement announcing the sales. “TNC has been a great partner in this project. We have been a proud steward of these lands for more than 15 years and are thrilled they will continue to be sustainably managed and that the public will continue to have access to it for years to come.”