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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

Bradford Dickinson White Nature Preserve

Brower Lake Nature Preserve

Cascade Peace Park

Lamberton Lake Fen Nature Preserve

Maas Family Nature Preserve

Roselle Park

Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve

The Highlands

Wege Foundation Natural Area

© 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 18096248197959377
This summer, join the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, @grartmuseum (GRAM), @johnballzoogr , @querkuscreative and @grbugclub as we shine a spotlight on some of our favorite nighttime pollinators: moths!

Using a practice called lightsheeting (or moth sheeting), which is a method used by entomologists and nature enthusiasts alike, we will observe and identify moths at night. This method involves hanging a white sheet and illuminating it with a bright light, which attracts moths and other night-flying bugs. 

This year, we have a fun new addition to our moth sheeting program! Over the past few months, LCWM has been partnering with @grartmuseum on their exhibition The Matter of Awe: Landscapes in Art. As a part of this partnership, GRAM will be joining us at Saul Lake Bog and providing art materials and guidance for those interested in sketching as a way of practicing observation and attention as we watch and discover what critters join us at the moth sheets! 🦋

Learn more and register to attend on our website. Link in our profile!
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18002555651937106
For the last several years, GVSU Professor Priscilla Nyamai has been working with her students to study two sites on Land Conservancy of West Michigan nature preserves. Their goal is to understand the ways ecosystems respond to restoration treatments—in this case, two degraded oak savanna systems we are actively working to restore. Recently, their team reached a milestone and published the first paper from their long-term study. You can read it via the link in our bio.

Oak savannas are open-canopy habitats. Because they have fewer trees and shrubs, sunlight can reach the ground, encouraging the growth of diverse communities of grasses and flowers. Over 100 years of fire suppression has led to the overgrowth of trees and shrubs where these communities once stood, shading out biodiversity. At the Bradford Dickinson White and Brower Lake nature preserves, we are employing prescribed fire and selective mechanical thinning to restore more open conditions.

What did we learn from the study? The results show there is more work to be done to open the canopy on these sites and encourage the regeneration of young oaks and savanna grasses and forbs. Other studies have shown it is best to do this gradually over time, so we will continue to use these methods in the years to come. Sites that have been fire-suppressed for a long time or otherwise degraded may need more than just these methods to bounce back. The next phase of the study will look at how seeding the sites with savanna plants might accelerate our efforts. 

Such a collaboration between researchers and land managers is rare. The information Priscilla and her students have collected will actively inform our management strategy. We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in and learn from this research! 🌳📝
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18135355861515106
Thank you to the volunteers who joined us at Brower Lake Nature Preserve this weekend to remove invasive garlic mustard! Your efforts are an essential part of the long-term health of the habitats protected at this preserve. Thanks for spending your Saturday morning with us.

Join us for the next one! You can find our upcoming Second Saturday Workdays and all of our events on our website at naturenearby.org/events. Link in our bio!
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 17932460772274973
Artists are at work on our preserves capturing the beauty of the lands we've protected together over the last 50 years. 🎨 Their completed pieces will be shown at a gallery exhibit at @lafontseegalleries this October. Proceeds from the sales of each piece will benefit the continued work of keeping nature nearby.

Save the Date: Preserved! happens October 2-3, 2026.

Artists Pictured: @betsyoneillfineart at Palomita Nature Reserve, @kathleenkalinowski at Brower Lake Nature Preserve, and @lynnandersonpainter at Brower Lake Nature Preserve
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18176438248408528
Volunteer with us this Saturday! 🌿 We'll be removing invasive garlic mustard from Brower Lake Nature Preserve in Rockford.

Brower Lake Nature Preserve permanently protects wetlands and forest in an area increasingly pressured by development. Along with a sphagnum bog and a mature oak-hickory forest, the preserve also contains remnants of an oak barrens natural community—one of Michigan’s rarest ecosystem types. 

We need your help ensuring the continued health of these important habitats! Learn more and register to attend this Saturday's workday on our website. Link in our profile!
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 17893015917500700
This is what community looks like. To everyone who rode, cheered, and volunteered at the Explorathon Preserve Pedal: thank you for showing up for the places we love! It was lovely to celebrate the impact of 50 years of conservation in the Eastern Glacial Corridor with you. 🚴🌳

Keep the momentum going: the Explorathon Preserve Paddle is August 29! More details to come on that event soon.

#westmichigan #lcwm50 #cycling #conservation #community
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18018611765685254
EDIT: Pre-registration for tomorrow's Preserve Pedal has closed. On-site registration will be available tomorrow! Meet us at the Wittenbach Wege Center between 7:30-10 a.m. to sign up the day of the event.

Three routes, five preserves and parks, miles of fun. 🚲🌳 Learn more and sign up to attend on our website. Link in our bio!

Thank you to Tim & Jane Stoepker, @grchair, and @loosespokesbikeshop for sponsoring this event and supporting 50 years of keeping nature nearby!
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18117975274825769
The routes are ready. 🚴 Last week our team hit the road to ride the 7-mile Explorathon: Preserve Pedal route to make sure everything is dialed in for this Saturday. If you are registered, we will see you on June 6th at the Wittenbach Wege Center! If you are not, there is still time. Link in bio!

#explorathon #westmichigan #keepingnaturenearby #lowellmi #lcwm50
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© 2025 Land Conservancy of West Michigan • All Rights Reserved

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