SWMLC (continued from page 27) and creating trails, signage and other amenities. Fuller says there is a “new and exciting project underway” to develop the conservancy’s newest preserve, 70 acres of rolling hills and deciduous woodlands on KL Avenue, which is not yet open to the public. Trails and parking will be developed hand-in-hand with restoration efforts on the property, which was donated by Dr. Dick Malott, of Oshtemo Township. The township is a partner in the effort, incorporating the preserve in its parks-andrecreation plan. A prime example of finding a balance between natural restoration and public access is Bow in the Clouds Preserve, on the Nazareth campus of the Congregation of St. Joseph, in northeast Kalamazoo. Sister Virginia “Ginny” Jones had been taking care of the preserve for nearly 40 years with the help of volunteers, including several Eagle Scouts. When she started working there, she saw a lot of native Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes — a good sign, Jones says, because they need both “quality wetland and good woods.” Like the Mitchell’s satyr butterfly, the rattlesnakes are a bellwether species. But in more recent years Jones saw very few of the snakes. “I knew the habitat quality was going down, and I couldn’t do much about it,” she says. Although the management of the property had gotten to be more work than Jones and
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her volunteers could handle, “we wanted to preserve that area — it’s in the city,” she says. “It combines both wetland and upland woods, and we kind of love it and wanted to be able to have it used by other people who would care about it and protect it.” Because Jones had attended some of the first meetings of the SWMLC and was quite familiar with its work, the Sisters donated the preserve to the conservancy in 2007. “It’s a special gem right within the city limits,” says Fuller. The conservancy has done extensive habitat restoration and trail improvements, and now “we have this wonderful green corridor going through the city of Kalamazoo with surprisingly rich plant and wildlife,” he says. Gaining easements The bulk of the acreage protected by the conservancy is private land, and it’s protected through conservation easements. A conservation easement grants the conservancy the right to limit development of a piece of land, while the landowner maintains all other rights and can use the property or sell it. Ter Louw says such an agreement recognizes that “there’s something of value, there’s a conservation value that’s worth protecting.” That value is purchased by or donated to the conservancy, and the easement remains on the deed in perpetuity, so that if the property
changes hands, it will still be protected from development. Though not available for public use, land protected by conservation easements is important ecologically. A project to protect Prairieville Creek, the main surface-water source for Gull Lake, involved acquiring conservation easements. “The Boudeman family alone has protected over 1,000 acres near Gull Lake,” says Fuller, and the conservancy acquired a grant to purchase additional conservation easements along the creek. Helping property owners preserve their lands is rewarding, says Ter Louw. “The compensation isn’t financial. It’s fulfillment of what you’re able to accomplish. You can see the impact we have on the people and the land, and that’s incredibly powerful and fulfilling.” The SWMLC has made a long-term commitment to the lands it protects so it needs to be around to protect them forever. It’s a tall order, but, as a nonprofit with a track record of collaborating with public and private entities, it is well positioned to do so. “As state and federal dollars are drying up, it’s the private nonprofit conservation organizations that are stepping forward,” says Fuller. Government agencies and private land owners “see us as the tool of the future of how conservation is going to move forward.”
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