We save nature & you can too

Safeguarding Michigan's natural beauty and the conservation values of our most important lands since 1972

preserve

protect

Land conservancies, also known as land trusts, are community-based, nonprofit organizations dedicated to the permanent protection and stewardship of natural and working lands for the public good.

educate

Find links to environmental education within our community, news and DIY section.

Events

Native Plants &
Waterways

March 9

Educational Talk

@ Milford Senior Center
1050 Atlantic St

7:30pm

Rain Gardens Presentation

March 25th

@ Holly Township Library

10am - 11:30am

Attend the Blue Heron Headwaters presentation on Rain Gardens. More information and registration to come!

See full schedule of events

Our friend Jim Reed

On December 28, 2022, the conservancy lost a great friend: Jim Reed. He is survived by his wife Barbara, 4 children, 6 grandchildren, and 2 great grandsons. The Reeds joined the conservancy in 1994 and have been staunch supporters ever since. Jim served as Board President, volunteered countless hours and eventually received our Tom Bullen Award for outstanding service in 2008.

Jim cared deeply about the environment. In 1991, he led the Independence Township Groundwater Leadership team to properly dispose of batteries and oil and co-founded the "Independence Goes Green" conservation ballot initiative for Independence Township residence in 2008. He also volunteered for Clinton River cleanups, The Grand Traverse Land Conservancy, Citizens for Climate Change and numerous other organizations.

His contributions to the community and the environment are a lasting legacy that benefits us all.

Give the Gift of Conservation

Gift in Honor of...

Big Help For A Little Butterfly

Less than a 100 in the world!

A supporter is offering a 2:1 match to complete the $275,000 campaign to save the habitat for the critically endangered Poweshiek Skipperling Butterfly.

Your $50 becomes $150. Funds will be used to restore the butterfly's ecosystem in Davisburg, Michigan.

Donate & Be Matched!

BigHelp

50 Years of Conservation
So Many Stories to Tell

Purchasing land for an endangered butterfly

Across North America a tiny butterfly called the Poweshiek skipperling was abundant until
development and agricultural spraying took away the habitat and acted as a neurotoxin. The
population plummeted until there were only two places left in the world where they could be
found by scientists sweeping the landscape with butterfly nets. The conservancy has purchased
appropriate fen (wetland) habitat where zoo-reared butterflies can be reintroduced to keep the
species from going extinct. Our job is to make sure the plant life and hydrology stays the same
and continues to provide what the skipperling and other rare species need.

Preserving wetlands for flood protection

Michigan has many towns that were established when rivers were dammed as a source of
power. Water power is not greatly needed now and old dams remain and slowly decay.
Removal is one option. Protecting the downstream area is another option. The Village of Holly
has taken that option and preserved the water absorbing wetlands downstream with a
conservation easement to our conservancy. Should the dam rupture, there is enough
preserved floodplain to hold the increased water level without damage to man-made
structures. The conservation easement prevents building on this sensitive area.

Mitigating an illegal commercial wetland fill

A big-box retailer built on an acre of wetland on the condition that it would mitigate this
wetland fill by preserving 20 times that amount of high quality wetland elsewhere within the
watershed. Our conservancy entered an agreement to protect the marshy area near Buckhorn
Creek in perpetuity upon receiving the EGLE-brokered purchase of this land. That portion of
Rose Township was under threat of fragmented development, so the possibility of preserving
the area using the fines imposed on the big-box retailer was a great opportunity. Since
acquiring the land, the conservancy has completed a species inventory, removed invasive
bushes and vines in the upland portion and replanted with native trees and flowers.

Guarding a high quality stream

The Clinton River watershed drains water from 760 square miles into Lake St. Clair. Wetland
form the river’s beginnings in several places. In 1985, forty acres located at the furthest
northwest extent of the watershed was donated to the conservancy. Every year the Clinton
River Watershed Council tests the stream within this preserve. Consistently it rates as the
highest quality site in the entire watershed. The conservancy helps maintain stream quality by
preserving the woods which cool the water. It also maintains a wide buffer which prevents
nearby homes from introducing pollutants such as septage, lawn fertilizer, insecticides and de- icing products.

Providing a life estate for a Holocaust survivor

In Groveland Township, the need for privacy and peace and quiet was very important to one
homeowner who had survived the horrors of the Holocaust. He negotiated a life estate
agreement in which the land was given to the conservancy, but he and his wife were allowed to
live out their life there undisturbed. A further benefit was that he was relieved of property
taxation as the conservancy was the actual owner and it was excused from taxation by law.
Upon his death, the conservancy retained an easement on the land and sold the house to a
young buyer who also valued the private woodland setting.

Ensuring the survival of a camp for children

More than half the outdoor camps in Southeast Michigan have closed their doors and sold
their acreage to builders. When Camp Wathana was teetering the edge of closing, the
conservancy negotiated to buy a conservation easement over all 250 acres. Neighbors and
donors raised $150,000 which helped keep the camp afloat. Renovation of the camp buildings

was allowed, a portion of the forest was set aside for income producing timbering, and normal
operation of the camping program for boys and girls was allowed to continue in the terms of
the easement. The conservancy retained a bog, a lake, a watershed outlet, open fields, acres of
trees and a permanently open space in the heart of Rose Township, not to mention natural lake
frontage and significant wetlands.

Restoring a local prairie with native plants

7. A disagreement between developers ended up in court. The Judge awarded each builder the
right to build condos, provided 8 acres was donated to the local conservancy. We accepted the
land despite its poor condition and set about restoring it to the type of prairie that existed
there before the settlement era. Little blue stem grass has begun resprouting from the “seed
bank.” A walking trail has been laid out and volunteers have cleared trash and re-seeded with
native prairie plants. It a few years it will flourish with pollinator plants and insect loving birds,
all part of the food web typical of the prairies that dotted southern Michigan in the early
1800’s. A few rarities will also be encouraged and visible from busy I-75 as cars whiz by.

Securing the highest peak in Oakland County

The Hall family sought to preserve the hilly, undeveloped region north of Clarkston. They
purchased 20 acres of the highest area, built a home and began donating easements to the
conservancy bit by bit. As a pilot, Tom Hall knew that the summit—a kame created in glacial
times—was the highest point north of Detroit. Before the forest grew in height, Detroit’s
buildings were visible on a clear day. The Halls have always welcomed neighbors to walk the
trails on this remarkable property.

Protecting the source of the Shiawassee River

The Shiawassee River is over 110 miles long. It begins at the easternmost point in Springfield
Township at Shiawassee Lake. The conservancy had the opportunity to preserve part of this
lake as well as 60 acres of mature forest when Springfield Township negotiated with the
developer to retain open space in return for higher density of housing. In fall, the lake is a stop-
over for migrating waterfowl. In winter it remains open due to the surrounding wetlands. In
spring and summer it feeds the river with clear water nourishing valuable wetlands downstream.

Holding stormwater for infiltration

As Supervisor of Independence Township, Dale Stuart recognized that using a golf course for
stormwater collection was a less expensive way of managing excess water. He was also a
member of our conservancy and so negotiated a joint easement on Liberty Golf Course to
collect, infiltrate and direct rainwater from Spring Lake south to the wetland surrounding the
Waterford Sportsman's Club and thence into Woodhull Lake, part of the Clinton River.
Augmenting this tributary to the Clinton River saved the township money while preserving a
natural hydrologic feature of the landscape.

Reversing land destroyed in construction

This was a golf course that was not meant to be. It sat empty for years, but not before
bulldozing trees, trucking in sand for traps and terraforming the landscape into tees and
bunkers. The wetland surrounding Sashabaw Creek was not touched, however. When
permission was granted to build homes instead, EGLE insisted on restoration of 20 of the acres.
The new owner worked with the conservancy to take steps to transform the land. We conducted controlled burns, re-seeded open areas, removed the buckthorn invasion and routed
the waterflow from across the street through a wetland to filter out sedimentation and
pollutants before it entered the creek. A rich variety of plant life returned and attracted insects and birds to take up residence.

Watching over beaver territory

In developed areas intervention is sometimes needed to achieve a balance between wildlife
and the needs of human residents. The conservancy had held an easement on a development
built around wetlands when beavers took up residence. For a while, homeowners enjoyed the
wildlife and had no complaints. As the beavers increased the height of their dam, basement
flooding looked imminent. The conservancy installed a “beaver deceiver” through the dam and
below the water’s surface which partially drained the beaver’s lake and lowered the lake level.
The beavers were “deceived” because they could not hear the trickle of running water, a sound
which triggers beavers to greater dam-building activity. The conservancy continues to watch
over the tenuous balance, while homeowners look out on a wetland with eagles, otters and
ever-present herons.