If you asked Bruce and Ellen Vartian, they would tell you that the land where they live has taken care of them for nearly 40 years. Last summer they decided, after all the time the land has taken care of them, it was time to
The Land Conservancy of West Michigan is launching a public campaign to bring nature into the City of Grand Rapids at the former Highlands Golf Course with a kickoff event celebrating the summer solstice on June 21st, 6:30 - 8:30 PM.
Long before the state of Michigan was made up of a patchwork of geometric farm fields, sprawling cities, meandering highways, and stretches of forest, the state was made up mostly of a dynamic mixture of three landscapes--prairie, oak savanna, and oak forest. Those habitats shifted
17-acre Addition to Flower Creek Dunes Nature Preserve is Complete The Land Conservancy of West Michigan has announced the completion of a campaign to add 17 acres of Lake Michigan sand dunes, including 1,000 feet of Lake Michigan frontage and 1,200 feet along Big Flower Creek,
The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA) is an invasive species that has devastated the hemlock forests in the southeast United States. It was first detected in West Michigan in 2016 and now threatens the hemlocks of our own lakeshore and northern forests. The known extent of HWA
Recently I have been reading stories of polar explorers. I have long been fascinated by the men and women who strike out into the most desolate places on earth. I love the pictures of their hardened, stoic faces poking out through furry hoods, covered in
A little extra celebration was had this holiday season as a flurry of land protection happened in the last days of 2017. Two conservation agreements were completed as the year wrapped up, bringing the 2017 total to six new conservation agreements and the total acreage
On a bright clear morning in early December, I watched a bulldozer tear up the land. Back and forth it worked, methodically stripping vegetation from the ground and skimming off the soil. Behind it, an excavator ripped into a hillside and piled the dirt a few
The Consumers Energy Foundation recently announced a grant award of $100,000 to support The Highlands project, a Land Conservancy partnership with Blandford Nature Center to acquire the former Highlands Golf Club property and restore it to a public green space and natural area. Grant funds