Newsletter Archive
April 15, 2025
Letter from the Executive Director – Spring 2025
Dear Friends and Fellow Nature Enthusiasts, As a child, I eagerly awaited spring, not just for its warmth, but for the return of a small seasonal creek that ran near my home. Fed by melting snow, it would awaken from its frozen slumber, carving paths through
April 15, 2025
Marie Wilson volunteers for conservation
When Marie Wilson lived and worked in the Detroit area, she would periodically drive an hour to Ives Road Fen Preserve, managed by The Nature Conservancy, to take part in a volunteer effort to remove glossy buckthorn from the fen. The rewarding work made the
April 15, 2025
Celebrating success in the prairie fen
In northeast Grand Rapids, Lamberton Lake serves as the headwaters of Lamberton Creek. A tributary of the creek flows out of Lamberton Lake into the Grand River. Where the creek meets the lake is a prairie fen. Prairie fens are groundwater-fed wetlands with alkaline soils
April 15, 2025
Dave Warners and Plaster Creek Stewards demonstrate reconciliation in a West Michigan watershed
Dave Warners was first introduced to the Land Conservancy of West Michigan by way of Lamberton Lake Fen Nature Preserve. In the early 1990s, Dave was a new arrival in Grand Rapids, having just graduated from his PhD program at the University of Michigan. He had
April 15, 2025
Ranger Steve’s Dream
Thanks to one man’s lifetime commitment to nature, both sides of 2,912 feet and the headwaters of Little Cedar Creek in northern Kent County are now permanently protected. Steve and Karen Mueller’s 56-acre property in Cedar Springs, home to forests, fields, wetlands, waterways, and abundant wildlife,
April 15, 2025
The Qs & As of Planned Giving
With Development Manager Han Meadway and Board Member & Financial Advisor Barbara Griffin If you are interested in leaving a legacy of healthy, protected land, then a planned gift to the Land Conservancy of West Michigan (LCWM) might be right for you. Including the Land Conservancy
October 15, 2024
Letter from the Executive Director: Fall 2024
Dear Cherished Community Members, Michigan is known widely for its striking natural environments. They’ve been a draw for people from all over for centuries. They drew me here from Colorado. Though I have lived in many places with iconic natural features, in my opinion, few match
October 15, 2024
Meet the Oak Savanna
Oak savannas occur in between two other habitat types, where a dense, shaded oak woodland gradually opens into sunny prairie. In an oak savanna, mature oaks are spaciously scattered in an open field, free to stretch and grow wide crowns. They are joined by a modest