Beginning with the Huron Mountain club in the 1880s, there was an ever growing effort to preserve the natural character of the U.P.’s landscape. In the 1890s, State and National Forests began to be designated throughout the United States in attempt to both provide for a sustainable logging industry and also to provide recreational opportunities and preserve the region’s natural wonders. In 1940, Isle Royale National Park was designated, helping preserve the undisturbed ecosystem on the remote island. In 1945, the largest state park in Michigan, Porcupine Mountain State Park, was established and became a Wilderness Park in 1972. It was followed by Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which was established in 1966, with a unique arrangement between the National Park Service and local logging operations.

Since the 1970s, various environmental organizations and groups, such as the Nature Conservancy, began to actively attempt to preserve and save wild spaces in the Upper Peninsula. Groups such as the Friends of the Estivant Pines were able to preserve one of the last stands of old timber in Keweenaw County, which was threatened by the lumbering industry.