Ranger Steve’s Dream
Thanks to one man’s lifetime commitment to nature, both sides of 2,912 feet and the headwaters of Little Cedar Creek in northern Kent County are now permanently protected.
Steve and Karen Mueller’s 56-acre property in Cedar Springs, home to forests, fields, wetlands, waterways, and abundant wildlife, is now protected by a conservation easement held by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.
Steve Mueller, known as “Ranger Steve” by many, lived by his dedication to conservation. He passed away in 2022, amidst the process to protect the property.
“Steve’s dream was to preserve the floodplains and the creek,” which connects to Cedar Creek and the Rogue River, Karen said. “He wanted to preserve that for the plants and animals.”
Ranger Steve Mueller
Ranger Steve was a park ranger, teacher, college professor, director of multiple nature centers, lepidopterist, and a highly dedicated conservationist. His profession and passion were educating people about nature.
In 1979, the Muellers purchased seven acres in Cedar Springs. In their time living there, Ranger Steve and Karen made acquaintance with a neighboring property owner, Mrs. Williams. She allowed Steve to use her property for walking trails in exchange for his observations. It was Mrs. Williams’s property that contained frontage on Little Cedar Creek, its headwaters, and wetlands.
“Steve was afraid that by the time we retired, that she would have died and that would have been a subdivision,” Karen said. “But he got to know her, and he learned that she also wanted to protect the land and did not want to subdivide it.”
Steve and Karen maintained a relationship with Mrs. Williams. When she went into a nursing home, the Muellers bought 40 acres of her property. When she passed away, they bought the remainder.
With the newly acquired property, Ranger Steve and Karen created Ody Brook Nature Sanctuary. They welcome public access to their land for recreational enjoyment, scenic viewing, guided tours, learning opportunities, and scientific studies. The Muellers, with the help of their two daughters and volunteers, built a system of hiking trails complete with interpretive signage, benches, boardwalks, and bridges to guide gentle use of the property.
“He was an educator at heart, and his main goal was to get people turned on to nature to care enough to change their habits and to encourage them to protect nature, also,” Karen said.
In addition to making Ody Brook Nature Sanctuary welcoming to people, Ranger Steve managed the land to support healthy and biodiverse native plant communities. Over the years, Ranger Steve carefully catalogued and monitored plants, butterflies, reptiles, and many other wildlife species.
In June of 2022, the Land Conservancy of West Michigan was awarded a grant from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Nonpoint Source Program, part of the Clean Water Act, that helped cover the costs of creating the conservation easement.
The landscape holds many memories for Karen and her daughters, Jenny and Julie, who credit their appreciation for nature and biodiversity to Ranger Steve. Karen recounted the family marveling at the woodcocks and their mating dance in the springtime, and watching the birds, turtles, and wildlife the land’s various habitats attracted. Julie and Jenny each got to help their dad build a trail when they were children. Today, the Muellers’ two young grandsons, Daniel and Walden, each have a pond on the property named for them.
The conservation easement, which prevents development of the natural areas, means these features will remain in perpetuity. Now that the easement is final, Karen is relieved.
“It’s a big relief. It was Steve’s dream, but the last two years of it was me meeting with people and making decisions and paying for appraisals and lawyers and all of that. At first, I was pretty overwhelmed, because it was just a lot to take in,” Karen said.
“[Then-Land Protection Director Ruth Thornton] was so knowledgeable and so helpful, and she met and talked with me about the contract, paragraph by paragraph.”
Karen worked with the Land Conservancy to ensure the easement was true to Ranger Steve’s wishes.
Ranger Steve encouraged those around him to carry forward conservation efforts to ensure future generations inherit a healthy planet, employing actions meant for “we” and not “me,” just as he had. The conservation easement permanently protecting Ody Brook Nature Sanctuary and its vital habitats will serve as just one part of Ranger Steve’s impressive legacy of conservation.
Conservation easements are a tool that enable private landowners to permanently protect their land and conserve the natural, scenic, or rural qualities of the land for today and for future generations. You can learn more about them at naturenearby.org/conservation-easements.
This story was part of our Spring 2025 Newsletter. You can read the newsletter in its entirety here.
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