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  • Home
  • Explore
  • Land Protection
    • Conservation Easements
    • Community Conservation
  • Land Stewardship
  • Projects
    • Saugatuck Township Riverside Park
    • 50th Anniversary
      • Preserved!
    • Photo Monitoring
    • Project Case Studies
    • Wildflower Guide
  • Give
    • Donate
    • Additional Ways to Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Business Partnership
      • Our Business Partners
  • Get Involved
    • Events
    • Volunteer
  • News & Blog
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Our Team
    • Our Strategy
      • Strategic Action Plan
      • Strategic Conservation Plan
    • Contact
    • Careers
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Land Conservancy of West Michigan Explore

Preserve Guidelines

Anderson Woods Nature Preserve

Barrier Dunes Sanctuary

Bradford Dickinson White Nature Preserve

Brower Lake Nature Preserve

Cascade Peace Park

Castle Park Nature Reserve

DePersia South Highlands Nature Preserve

Dumaw Woodland Nature Preserve

Dune Harbor Park Muskegon County

Dune Pines Nature Preserve

Flower Creek Dunes Nature Preserve

Huyser Farm Park

Kuker-Van Til Nature Preserve

Lake Breeze Nature Preserve

Lamberton Lake Fen Nature Preserve

Lost Lake: Muskegon State Park

Maas Family Nature Preserve

McDuffee Creek Nature Preserve

Meinert County Park

Minnie Skwarek Nature Preserve

Muskegon River: Henning Park Access

Muskegon River: Thornapple Access

North Ottawa Dunes County Park

Ottawa Sands

Palomita Nature Reserve

Pere Marquette Conservation Park

Pere Marquette River: Bowman’s Bridge

Pere Marquette River: Forks Landing

Pere Marquette River: Mapleleaf

Pere Marquette River: Rainbow Rapids

Pere Marquette River: Walhalla

Richmond Woods Nature Preserve

Roselle Park

Saugatuck Dunes State Park

Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area

Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve

Tallmadge Woods

The Highlands

Upper Macatawa Natural Area

Upriver Nature Preserve

Wege Foundation Natural Area

Whitey’s Woods: Lake Harbor Park

© 2022 Land Conservancy of West Michigan • All Rights Reserved

About Us

The Land Conservancy of West Michigan is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works to keep nature nearby and conserve ecologically critical land in West Michigan. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments creating natural areas, and helping private landowners protect their own land.

Contact

237 Steele St, Suite A
Grand Rapids, MI 49534
616-451-9476
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Instagram

Open post by naturenearby with ID 18609360916055878
Our nature preserves aren't just places to slow down and reconnect with the outdoors; they're also places where real scientific discovery happens! For the past two years, the bog at Richmond Woods Nature Preserve has been part of a study investigating how climate change affects carbon storage in bogs. 🔬

A team from @hopecollege, led by Dr. Michael Philben (Associate Professor of Geological & Environmental Science and Chemistry) along with a rotating crew of undergraduate researchers, has been visiting Richmond Woods monthly since 2024 as part of a larger study spanning seven Michigan peat bogs. 

Peat bogs like the one at Richmond Woods are very important when it comes to climate change. They lock in enormous amounts of carbon in slowly decomposing plant material, but they’re also one of the largest natural sources of methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide. This study will help us understand how these important habitats will fare in a warming world.
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18098073326218887
Join the Land Conservancy of West Michigan and award-winning photographer Jeff Pfaller for an evening capturing dark skies and the phenomena that happens in nature after dark. 🌙 You’ll hear stories about chasing rare dark sky phenomena in American public lands and learn the basics of astrophotography, including ideal camera settings, composition techniques, how to edit dark sky photos, and more. 

We'll meet at the Wittenbach Wege Center on July 17 at 9:15 p.m. Bring your DSLR or mirrorless camera plus lenses, a tripod, remote shutter, red light headlamp, and your curiosity about night skies. Learn more and register to attend on our website at naturenearby.org/events or via the link in our bio.
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18102714701467771
Heads up, trail users! Starting Tuesday, July 7, the boardwalks at Saul Lake Bog will be closed for repair. 

The project is expected to take about one month to complete. Parking will also be more limited during this time, so please plan ahead if you're visiting the preserve. 

We appreciate your patience as we work to keep this fragile bog ecosystem safe and accessible for years to come. 

Photo: Steve Jessmore Photography (@sjessmo)
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18329941174284790
New month, new opportunity to help keep nature nearby! 🌳 Invasive shrubs threaten the health of the habitats at Dumaw Woodland Nature Preserve. We need your help to remove these plants and ensure that biodiversity can thrive at this beautiful nature preserve near Pentwater. Join us this for this month's Second Saturday Workday at Dumaw Woodland Nature Preserve! 

Keeping our promise of perpetuity means that we keep showing up to care for the places we've protected together. Our Second Saturday Workdays are one way you can get involved. Learn more and register to attend on our website at naturenearby.org/events.
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18093194435621121
Happy World Firefly Day! ⚡️ If you've spent a summer evening in West Michigan, you know the magic of watching fireflies light up a field. 

What you might not know is that fireflies are actually a sign of a healthy landscape. They need undisturbed soil, clean water nearby, and dark skies free from light pollution, conditions that get harder and harder to find as land gets developed. 

Preserving natural land in West Michigan means protecting habitat for species like fireflies that most of us grew up loving! Learn more about how you can help keep nature nearby at naturenearby.org.

#LandConservancyofWestMichigan #Ecology #Conservation #FireflyDay
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18108109096911120
Where do you find your inspiration? For Preserved! artist Sally Jenks (@whitefeatherstudio), it's native plants, ferns, lichens, and quiet moments outside. 🌿 We caught up with Sally at Anderson Woods Nature Preserve while they prepared their artwork for Preserved! 2026. 

About Preserved! 🎨 As part of our 50th anniversary celebrations, we’ve invited local artists to our preserves to create artwork inspired by the land. This fall, the art they create will be shown in an exhibition at LaFontsee Galleries and made available for sale, with proceeds supporting nature nearby. 

Listen to Sally’s story and save the date for Preserved!: Capturing West Michigan’s Enduring Places, October 2-3, 2026. Learn more via the link in our bio.
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 17876616414654755
Join Us! This year, the Land Conservancy of West Michigan celebrates a milestone anniversary of its founding in 1976. On Tuesday, July 14, Land Conservancy staff will present about our history with a particular focus on our work in the community of Saugatuck.

Learn about our mission—keeping nature nearby and conserving West Michigan’s ecologically critical land—as part of Saugatuck-Douglas History Center’s Tuesday Talk series. The program will explore our accomplishments, including preservation of the Saugatuck Dunes Natural Area, and our vision for the next 50 years!

Learn more via the link in our bio!

📍  The History Center in Downtown Douglas, 130 Center St. Douglas, MI 49406
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18232538377313547
One of the most important things we can do to protect West Michigan's natural areas is knowing what we're up against. Black swallow-wort is an invasive vine in the milkweed family that outcompetes native plants, harms wildlife, and is toxic to mammals, including livestock. 

Our volunteers spent time this week removing it from one of our preserves, and we want to share what we know. Swipe through to learn how to identify it, understand its impact, and remove it safely.

#naturnearby #InvasiveSpecies #BlackSwallowwort #monarchbutterflies #NativePlants
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© 2025 Land Conservancy of West Michigan • All Rights Reserved

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