Northern Michigan display to bring awareness to extinct species

[Episcopal News Service] UP Wild Church, a ministry of the Diocese of Northern Michigan and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Northern Great Lakes Synod, will observe Endangered Species Day with an outdoor exhibit spotlighting extinct animal and plant species.

Ten plain wooden crosses representing 10 extinct species will be displayed May 15-17 on the diocese’s lawn in Marquette. These species have been declared extinct since 2020 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Endangered Species Day is observed every third Friday in May to highlight the importance of plant and wildlife conservation. This year, the observance falls on May 15.

Lanni Lantto, UP Wild Church’s founder, told Episcopal News Service that church volunteers won’t make more than 10 crosses because “there’s a lot of grief and lament” while making them.

“There’s a huge sadness and a heaviness for the people as they’re making a cross because they’re sort of carrying that animal or plant with them,” Lantto said. “This species has been lost forever, and we’ll never see that creation from God ever again.”

The IUCN has designated more than 900 known animal, fungi and plant species as extinct, including dozens since 2020.

Extinction occurs naturally over long periods of time, but human activity is primarily driving the current unnaturally high rates, according to the National Park Service and the American Museum of Natural History. The main causes of extinction are habitat destruction and loss, unsustainable fishing and hunting practices, introducing invasive and predator species to areas, pollution and human-induced climate change.

Amphibians worldwide have been particularly vulnerable to extinction loss over the last 50 years. At least 122 species have gone extinct since 1980, and over 40% of surviving species are threatened. The global spread of a disease-causing fungus has exacerbated the amphibian extinction crisis, according to research compiled by the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Amphibian Specialist Group.

Three extinct amphibians – the mountain mist frog, the splendid poison frog and the Ainsworth’s salamander – will be featured on crosses in UP Wild Church’s upcoming exhibit.

For Ken Kelley, an UP Wild Church member and volunteer, honoring species that have become extinct and working to save the endangered species is committing to a “beautiful” mission.

“Displaying these primitive crosses is an opportunity to raise awareness of the species that are on the extinction list and advocate for the protection of the environment and the species that are still here,” Kelley told ENS. “I am committed to this beautiful mission, which I think speaks to the central message of UP Wild Church, which is community and the sharing of tasks, love and devotion to a very important mission.”

The exhibit will also spotlight the large sloth lemur, the Choiseul pigeon, the serrasuela plant, the Guam flying fox, the Jamaican monkey, the Bermuda hawk and the gravenche freshwater whitefish.

Several international species extinction prevention organizations, like the World Wildlife Fund, the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Wildlife Conservation Society, work with communities and governments to address habitat and biodiversity protection, anti-poaching advocacy and species recovery.

In the United States, government agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service,  more commonly known as NOAA Fisheries, work with partner organizations to protect habitats and increase species’ populations.

Established in 2019 in Marquette, UP Wild Church holds nondenominational nature prayer services, community engagement events, such as tree planting, and wilderness walks in the Upper Peninsula’s abundant natural settings – pine forests, inland lakes and the freshwater shores of Lake Superior.

“We see ourselves as stewards and ambassadors of creation through Genesis. God created us to be his hands on Earth to not only name all creatures, but also to take care of them,” Lantto said. “If we take that as a true calling and vocation, then I think it at least should call us to want to spend more time in nature and getting to know the animals around us.”

Church members also address the environmental crises that threaten those places through education and advocacy. UP Wild Church now has seven branch locations across the Upper Peninsula and will open an eighth location this summer in Munising.

“UP Wild Church has provided me a path to understand my own spirituality. …I have always had this deep passion for being in nature. Nature is my church,” Kelley said. “Projects like bringing awareness to extinct animals encompass the teachings of this church, including that we need to have compassion for all our fellow critters and honor them.”  

Beyond Endangered Species Day, UP Wild Church members also work towards the conservation of local species. Every September, for example, they gather in Stonington Peninsula for the Diocese of Northern Michigan’s annual blessing of the monarch butterflies ahead of their migration to Mexico. Monarch butterflies, a major pollinator species in North America, have been experiencing significant population decline annually and are at risk of becoming endangered. Stonington Peninsula is a critical stopover for the butterflies during their southern migration.

“There’s a deep wonder and respect and awe when we look and think about all these species who were created by God with the same breath of life,” Lantto said. “All creatures and plants are our fellows, and God loves every single one of them.”

-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.