History
These woods were virtually unknown even to those living nearby until 1975, when an MNA member reported that Blue-eyed Mary grew there. MNA made an appeal in 1981 for $110,000 to purchase the woods, and the campaign was completed in one year. More than 550 individual contributions were given, capped with a $20,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation. In February 2009, MNA purchased adjacent acreage to expand Dowagiac Woods to . It is now MNA’s largest sanctuary in the Lower Peninsula.About the Sanctuary
Plants flourish at Dowagiac Woods in countless numbers. A top attraction in Dowagiac Woods is the abundance of blue-eyed Mary, ''Collinsia verna''. More than 150 beds can be seen from the trail, each averaging ten by twenty feet square. More than fifty species of other wildflowers bloom in the spring, and nearly fifty kinds of trees have been found at Dowagiac Woods. Dowagiac Woods is also home to many animals, including at least 49 different kinds of birds like the yellow warbler and ruffed grouse.References
External links
*http://www.michigannature.org. Nature reserves in Michigan Protected areas of Cass County, Michigan Protected areas established in 1981 1981 establishments in Michigan