The story of Michigan's natural areas began with concern over the fate of the Porcupine Mountains. In 1925, P. J. Hoffmaster, then chief of State Parks, recommended the acquisition of the Porcupine Mountains to prevent further tree cutting. Twenty years later, the State acquired the area and the State Park was established in 1946. However, the Porcupine Mountains continued to be threatened: copper mining in 1958, a proposed scenic road to the heart of the park in 1965, and later a proposal for fish ladders that would require dynamiting the falls in the Presque Isle River. These plans were dropped, but it was clear that "State Park" designation alone could not protect the area's virgin forests, waterfalls, scenic shorelines, geological, and ecological resources.

As the above events unfolded, the Michigan Botanical Club formed a committee, leading to the 1950 incorporation of the Michigan Natural Areas Council. During the next twenty years, the Council evaluated and made recommendations about natural areas to the Natural Resources Commission (NRC). In 1971, the Natural Areas Advisory Board was created by Executive Order and in 1972, the legislature created the State's Natural Areas Program with the passage of the Wilderness and Natural Areas Act. A flurry of activity in the 1970s resulted in several legislative re-dedications of Natural Areas previously dedicated by the NRC, including Haven Hill Natural Area and the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Area.

In 1979, the Michigan Natural Features Inventory was created through a partnership between the MDNR and The Nature Conservancy (TNC). In response to a decrease in Natural Area dedication activity in the 1980s, TNC provided an interim and then MDNR a permanent coordinator to assume natural areas responsibilities. For 20 years, natural area efforts in Michigan were focussed on dedications, with the Natural Areas coordinator serving primarily as a liaison between the MDNR and the Wilderness and Natural Areas Board (WNAB). The most recent legal Natural Area dedication occurred in 1988.

In the early 1990s the WNAB was dissolved and the Natural Areas Legislation recodified. Then, in 1994, the Natural Areas Coordinator's position was rewritten to focus not only on dedications, but also stewardship and management of natural areas in Michigan. As a new century begins, the Natural Areas Program is planning for the future, while building on our past.