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  • Home
  • Explore
  • Land Protection
    • Conservation Easements
    • Community Conservation
  • Land Stewardship
  • Projects
    • Wildflower Guide
    • Photo Monitoring
    • Project Case Studies
  • 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 18062135192534844
Join us on Saturday, November 8 to collect seeds in Saul Lake Prairie! The seeds we gather will be used to expand native habitat at Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve and other preserves protected and managed by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.

This season we are celebrating the completion of the prairie restoration project at Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve. At this workday, we'll have snacks and other goodies as a small token of our appreciation for the hard work of our volunteers who made this project possible. 

Learn more and register to attend on our website. Link in our profile!
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18315480031300937
Happy Halloween! In the spirit of the holiday, we are reanimating an old blog post. 🧟

It’s that time of year when we spend unusual amounts of time thinking about ghosts, goblins, skeletons, spiders, and creepy things in general. Nature provides an abundance of inspiration for all things spooky. Join us as we explore the creepy natural phenomenon that is plant parasitism! 

"But why would a plant be a parasite? Photosynthesis (the process plants use to turn sunlight into food) takes a lot of energy, and parasites are lazy. They’ve hacked the system, opting to suck food from their host rather than make their own. And since they don’t need sunlight to grow, they have free reign of dimly-lit habitats – like the floors of dense forests – where few other plants can survive."

Read more on our blog--link in our profile!
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18054057032644196
Thanks to everyone who joined us recently for our Mushroom ID 101 event at Flower Creek Dunes Nature Preserve! Stewardship Manager Lucas Dykstra shared the basics of mushroom identification, and we put our skills to the test using specimens found in the forest protected by the preserve.

Join us for an upcoming event! Learn more at naturenearby.org/events. Link in our profile!
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18022892258775583
After 25 years of planting and expanding the restored tallgrass prairie at Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve, we will plant the last remaining acres this fall.

The result of this decades-spanning commitment to restoration is 34 acres of biodiverse, healthy habitat. Thriving communities of insects, birds, and wildlife find food and shelter in the prairie. World-warming carbon is captured and stored in the deep roots of its plants. Erosive stormwater is filtered by its soil. And countless people encounter, appreciate, and learn the names of the native plant species growing there every year.

We will be celebrating the project's history, the prairie's completion, and the volunteers who made it all possible at our November events. Please join us this fall to collect seeds and plant the final acres of Saul Lake Prairie!

🌾 Collect seeds at the November Second Saturday Workday on November 8, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
🌱 Plant the last remaining acres of Saul Lake Prairie at our final Black Friday Prairie Planting on November 28, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 

Learn more and sign up to attend these events on our website at naturenearby.org/events. Link in our profile!
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 17905495017257227
Join us on Monday to learn all about mushrooms and how to identify them with Stewardship Manager Lucas Dykstra! Learn more and sign up to attend on our website. Link in our profile! 🍄
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 17857026846479995
Our Fall Newsletter hit mailboxes last week! In this issue, we look back at the prairie restoration project at Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve. A grassroots project in every sense, the prairie restoration was started by a single volunteer who saw the potential of an old field planted with a monoculture of non-native grass. Since then, hundreds of people have helped collect and sow seeds to expand this habitat, and our volunteer Prescribed Burn Crew has helped encourage the growth of native plants with periodic fire. 

After 25 years of planting and expanding the restored tallgrass prairie at Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve, we will plant the last remaining acres this fall. 

📙 Read all about Saul Lake Prairie in the newsletter (link in bio)
🌱 Sign up for a fall event in the prairie on our website (link in bio)
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18054684968285628
We were grateful to recently host Outdoor Afro Grand Rapids and the Mayfly Project for a day exploring fly fishing at McDuffee Creek Nature Preserve! We kicked the day off at the preserve to learn casting techniques and how to tie our own flies. Then we ate lunch and headed upriver to the Green Cottage access to wade in and test our skills.

Thank you so much to @westmichiganmayflyproject and Outdoor Afro Grand Rapids for your collaboration on this fun event! 🎣
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Open post by naturenearby with ID 18100676062654449
Thank you to the more than 40 volunteers who joined us on Saturday to collect seeds at Saul Lake Prairie! The seeds you collected will be used to expand vital native habitat at this preserve and at others the Land Conservancy manages.

This fall, we'll plant the last remaining acres of prairie at Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve. We hope you'll join us to celebrate this 25-year, volunteer-powered restoration project! Learn more about and register to attend our upcoming events at Saul Lake Prairie at naturenearby.org/events.
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© 2025 Land Conservancy of West Michigan • All Rights Reserved

 

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