The following post is from Preserved! artist Kathy Mohl. The post was originally posted at http://kathymohl.fineartstudioonline.com/blog where you can see more of her work. Learn more about the Preserved! art program here. I recently had the pleasure of painting at the Upper Macatawa Natural Area and was delighted
The following post is from Preserved! artist Michael Pfleghaar. The post was originally posted at http://blog.pfleghaar.com where you can see more of his work. Learn more about the Preserved! art program here. Today was my first outing of Preserved! 2017 at the Maas Family Nature Preserve near Rockford,
The following post is from Preserved! artist Kathleen Kalinowski. The post was originally posted at kathleenkalinowski.com where you can see more of her work. Learn more about the Preserved! art program here. During the past week I have had the privilege of plein air painting several times in
Each spring, as plants respond to the lengthening days with new buds, leaves, and flowers, the Land Conservancy begins a dose of prescribed burns across many of the Conservancy's nature preserves. Several of the preserves contain ecosystems that depend on occasional fires to keep them
The following post is from guest blogger, Cindy Crosby. The post originally appeared on her blog, Tuesdays in the Tallgrass. “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being
Restoring Land, Restoring Hope. On Black Friday, 23 people came out to Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve and planted a prairie. While the rest of America was out fighting crowds, standing in line, and getting into altercations over parking spots, 23 people were outside, breathing fresh
When it comes to restoring natural areas, instant gratification is hard to come by. Most ecological stewardship projects take a long time to unfold. Progress is marked in increments of years, decades, or even longer. If you plant a forest, for example, don’t plan on
Creating Images of Changing Landscapes with your Photos Fifteen years ago, Lamberton Lake Fen was at the brink of becoming permanently overrun by the invasive glossy buckthorn. The buckthorn threatened to destroy the endangered plants and animals living there and rid the City of Grand Rapids
A winter visit to Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve There aren’t many bogs near Grand Rapids and Saul Lake Bog has everything a good bog needs. It has insectivorous plants, those fantastical species that lure insects with their sweetness and devour them for their nutrients. It
Like a teenager who’s partied past curfew, nature preserves need tough love, too. That’s why a group of us found ourselves in Rockford last week, cutting down perfectly good trees in a nature preserve. Invasives? Nope. These were oaks, mostly, with some maples and cherries too. Quite