In 1977, the Conservancy was awarded Michigan Senate Resolution No. 24, which commended the organization for protecting lands in Independence Township.​

 

In 1981, conservancy members took an active role to defeat a proposal to conduct gravel mining in the middle of Independence Township adjacent to the Clinton River.​

 

In 1992, the Conservancy made an important decision to become proactive in the purchase of lands.​

 

In 1996, the Bridge Valley Reserve was acquired as an easement. This was notable as it represented a unique partnership between the developer, Springfield Township and the Conservancy.

 

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In 1998, with the expansion into Springfield Township, the Independence Land Conservancy needed to find a new name. After much research, the organization agreed to become the North Oakland Headwaters Land Conservancy (NOHLC). Also in 1998, NOHLC conducted a strategic planning session with a focused outcome to concentrate efforts on preserving natural feature corridors and specifically the headwaters areas. Partnerships for land preservation with other conservancies also began in 1998. ​

 

A banner year, 1998 also saw the first acquisition of a farm property. Contributed by an anonymous donor, the 111-acre parcel became known as the Springfield Nature Preserve.

 

In 1999, expansion into area townships took place: Bald Eagle Lots (Brandon Township), Haddon Nursery (Holly Township), and Schwartz Preserve (Groveland Township)

 

.​In 2000, the Conservancy partnered with Independence Township to protect the 120-acre Spring Lake golf course, uniquely preserving the land's function of absorbing and filtering stormwater.

 

Six more parcels were added to our properties list with an additional 105 acres. June 2003 marked the Conservancy’s 1,000 acre benchmark in protected property with the purchase of the five acre Newsum Property on the Shiawassee River.

 

In the fall of 2003, NOHLC adopted its first strategic plan. The plan was further re-focused in 2006 and again in 2022.

 

In 2005-06, the first larger parcels in Brandon township came under protection in a very large wetland at the headwaters of Kearsley Creek.  At the other end of the spectrum, Board member Thomas Hall demonstrated how multiple smaller donations could add up to a contiguous preservation of his 20 acres in Independence Township. 2008 saw an effort to pass a land preservation millage in Independence Township led by John "Jim" Reed. The November vote was a short time after the 2008 financial crash and the initiative failed 53 to 47.  

 

In an effort to increase public benefit of preserved properties, in May 2008, the Nels Kimball Sanctuary (a 41 acre parcel in Independence township) was opened to the public for passive use with the installation of new signage including interpretive information and trail maps made possible by a gift in memory of Jewel Schmude by her family.  Because of its proximity to the built area of Clarkston, this emphasis on  public access continues.

 

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The conservancy found it necessary to change the law under which it was registered in Michigan from "Parks, Boulevards and Playgrounds" to a "Non-profit Corporation" because of a 2009 change governing 501c3 organizations.  We assembled all the members we could find and took proxy votes from nearly 100 others and voted to become a directorship organization. We have kept the same mission and elected up to 18 board members serving three-year terms which is the same organizational framework of other Michigan conservancies.

 

The role of scientific input into the selection of properties and the management of those properties grew in importance. State-wide the Michigan Natural Features Inventory identified the most critical parcels to preserve.  Our conservancy took those rankings into account and blended them with other factors when deciding to undertake permanent preservation.  This resulted in larger protected parcels and ones that contributed to significant ecosystems.

 

We dove into a campaign to buy a conservation easement on 250 acres of Camp Wathana.  With the help of the Carls Foundation and private contributions, the Campfire USA parcel was preserved for posterity and the continued use of the young campers.

 

The Board applied for recognition as an accredited conservancy according to the standards of the national Land Trust Alliance in 2012 and renewed that status in 2017.  We grew in sophistication by undertaking such things as land mitigation (Buckhorn Complex and Sashabaw Creek) and river protection (WaterWorks Wetlands and Gill Landing). Collaboration with other environmental entities also promoted this growth.

 

Administration of the organization changed from a volunteer group to a part-time director to a series of Executive Directors.  Despite careful interviewing, the first paid directors were a poor fit for the organization.  Bob Inskeep filled the position on an interim basis before handing it off to Sue Julian who continued on a volunteer basis.  The Board is looking at her 2024 retirement date and beginning the search process.

 

Meanwhile, a critically endangered butterfly caused us to mount a campaign to protect the ecosystem needed by the little Poweshiek skipperling.  Three parcels in Davisburg that contain the needed fen habitat were purchased with many private donations and the help of The Conservation Fund, The Carls Foundation, and Consumers Energy Foundation.  The campaign total of $275,000 will likely be obtained in 2023.

 

In 2022, the Board reviewed our status and decided to expand the area we serviced beyond northwest Oakland County.  The mission of protecting the headwaters of the Clinton, Flint, Huron and Shiawassee rivers remained the same.  We simply decided to follow the stream corridors and protect across county lines.  This led us to change our name to Blue Heron Headwaters Conservancy and reach out to five times the population we had previously served.

 

We changed our public name to Blue Heron Headwaters Conservancy, while remaining legally Independence Land Conservancy as always.  A young Center for Creative Studies student, Kyle Hardman, designed a new logo using our long-time mascot, the blue heron, and combining it with a headwaters stream.

 

New name. New logo. Same Mission.​

 

What is our Conservation Status Now?

We currently have interests in 60 properties totaling over 1,550 acres. Of these, 20 are owned by BHHC while the remainder have Conservation Easements which protect the land from any development while keeping it in private ownership. These Easements are all legally filed with Oakland County and run with the land in the case of a transfer of ownership.​

 

The parcels owned by BHHC are available for regulated use by the public with some having nature trails and guided tours. We continue to explore more ways to provide additional access.

 

​All properties, either owned or with easements, are inspected on a regular basis by volunteer inspectors with written reports maintained in our office. These reports are reviewed by our Stewardship Committee which follows up on any problems encountered. The Stewardship Committee has files which contain maps, descriptions of land characteristics and flora and fauna present.​

 

The BHHC Board has adopted guidelines and polices to determine the importance of a parcel of land that may be offered to us for an easement or a donation. After passing a Board review, a parcel will be protected forever. We have never sold or developed any property protected in this way. Parcels that we own do not pay property taxes and local assessors often reduce the property taxes for the private owners that place an easement on their property. We have no role in the valuation of any properties that we accept easements for, but a donor can obtain a tax credit by obtaining a private analysis of the value of a land donation made by a qualified assessor.