Dowagiac Woods is a 384-acre nature sanctuary in Cass County, Michigan, preserved by the Michigan Nature Association and enlarged in 2009 to become the association’s largest sanctuary in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Little known until 1975, the site gained attention when blue-eyed Mary was reported there, helping spark a successful 1981 campaign to purchase the woods through hundreds of donations and a Kresge Foundation grant. The sanctuary is especially valued for its spring wildflowers, particularly more than 150 beds of blue-eyed Mary, as well as more than fifty other blooming species, nearly fifty kinds of trees, and at least 49 bird species.