Conservation Value
Straddling both the Pere Marquette and White River watersheds, Richmond Woods Nature Preserve protects a pristine sphagnum bog and a high-quality sedge meadow wetland. Those wetlands protect water quality and are also home to the American Bittern, a bird in the heron family that is classified as special concern in Michigan. Red-headed woodpecker and red-shouldered hawk, two other special concern birds, inhabit the preserve’s forests. Adjacent to U.S. Forest Service land, Richmond Woods Nature Preserve helps protect a large expanse of Michigan’s iconic forest and wetland habitats.
The Land Conservancy of West Michigan is using prescribed fire and planting to restore oak savanna and open oak forest conditions on the preserve.
History
According to General Land Office surveys conducted circa 1800, Richmond Woods Nature Preserve historically consisted of white pine-white oak forest, mixed conifer swamp, and shrub swamp/emergent marsh. Native Americans likely contributed to the ecological makeup of the landscape around the preserve by hunting, farming, burning, and the establishment of villages and trails. European settlers later logged the land. Based on dendrochronological analysis of large hemlock trees on the preserve, the property that is now the preserve was logged and burned around 1885.
James Richmond, raised in New Jersey with dreams of settling in the country, purchased the property in 1910. Mr. Richmond allowed some of the property to naturally return to forest and kept other areas open for cattle grazing.
Over the years, the property remained in the Richmond family and was eventually passed down to James’ great-grandchildren, Kathleen Fleming and John Gottschalk. Wanting to honor their great-grandfather and see the land protected, Kathleen and John approached the Land Conservancy with the idea of turning the land into a nature preserve.
Impressed by the high-quality natural features and wilderness character of the property, the Land Conservancy worked with a number of partners—including Ducks Unlimited and the North American Wetland Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant program—to make Kathleen and John’s vision a reality. Richmond Woods was the Land Conservancy’s first nature preserve in Newaygo County.
