We celebrated the transfer of this property to Ottawa County Parks in October 2019. [caption id="attachment_16180" align="alignright" width="443"] Hikers explore Ottawa Sands during the dedication.[/caption] On a blustery, gray day in mid-October, supporters of Ottawa Sands County Park gathered to celebrate its dedication—the final chapter in a...
How neighbors have worked together to protect the Pere Marquette River. Conservation agreements are often viewed as private, individual acts of conservation, where landowners work directly with a land trust to protect their own land from development based on their vision for future use of the...
Thanks to the community of Grand Rapids, this former golf course's future as a natural area was secured in spring 2019. The soft breezes and peaceful trails belie an exciting year of transformation at the Highlands. Completion of the acquisition campaign and a series of groundbreaking...
Preserving the dunes, and a dear friend's memory, in perpetuity. When 35-year-old Evelyn Stone passed away in 2018, Jessa Ávalos and her friends wanted to find a way to honor her memory and her love for West Michigan’s dunes. “When our friends think about Evelyn, they think...
A couple weeks ago, a post from outdoor retailer REI scrolled across my Instagram feed. The post announced a new focus for this year’s edition of #OptOutside, REI’s increasingly popular push to get people outdoors on Black Friday. This time around, instead of just getting...
Over the last three weeks, much has changed at The Highlands. Here’s a quick look at what’s been going on. Demolishing the Clubhouse Where once stood a sprawling building, now sits a pile of rubble. To tear down a building of this size takes a great deal...
PRESERVED! Artist Interview Series Eleanor Iorio is this year’s Preserved! Youth Ambassador. She has grown up surrounded by art, and at 17 years old, she has spent much of her life experimenting in different mediums. Her focus is needle-felted fiber landscapes. [caption id="attachment_15953" align="alignright" width="237"] Eleanor Iorio[/caption] Iorio learned...
PRESERVED! Artist Interview Series Nature pervades most facets of Cayla Tinney’s life. She is a visual artist and an ecologist inspired by the rhythms, poetry and memory she sees in the landscape. Tinney grew up in Northern Michigan, where she said the “outside” was ever-present. [caption id="attachment_15928" align="alignright" width="339"]...
PRESERVED! Artist Interview Series Sally Jenks has carried an appreciation of nature with her from a young age. She grew up in a rural environment where the solace of nature was never too far out of reach. Now, Jenks resides in the middle of Grand Rapids, and...
PRESERVED! Artist Interview Series There is magic in the landscape. How it is experienced is individual to the beholder, but everyone can find it. Kathy Mohl is driven to translate the magic she sees through her painting. Mohl has participated in all three editions of the Land Conservancy’s...