News & Blog
November 12, 2018
in Features
Partner Feature – Michigan Prescribed Fire Council
In this installation of the LCWM blog, we are going to do something new. Instead of telling you about the projects we are doing, we are going to tell you about another organization that acts in our service area and has, at least in part,...
October 2, 2018
in Features
Overcoming Oak Wilt
It was confirmed: oak wilt had claimed the lives almost all the red and black oaks across this section of woods. Oak wilt is a disease caused by the non-native fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum, and is lethal to oak trees. But as devastating as oak wilt...
July 30, 2018
Giving Back to the Land
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...
June 13, 2018
in News
Launching Public Campaign to Protect The Highlands
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....
May 30, 2018
in Features
A Day on the Burn Crew
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...
April 2, 2018
in News
Flower Creek Dunes Addition Complete
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,...
March 19, 2018
in Features
Save Michigan Hemlocks
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...
February 16, 2018
in Features
Arctic(ish) Adventure
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...