Preserves WITH A PURPOSE

benefit and “purpose.” One of the new initiatives we recently launched to achieve this goal is the addition of pollinator gardens on open fields of land.

If you have driven down South Shore Drive or past the Voran Family Preserve on M-75, you may have noticed the beginnings of these gardens taking shape. We are doing a mixture of casting milkweed and other native pollinator flower seeds in addition to planting full-grown plants and plugs. The gardens will take a few summers to mature, but you will see them slowly transform. For 2023, we have identified three preserves to install pollinator gardens on, giving once unused areas of each a new purpose: protecting our pollinators.

Each of our preserves is special to the WLAC and special to the individuals and families who donated them. It is our sincere hope and desire to give each of them the purpose to help introduce the community to the environmental benefits they provide.

By Connor Dennis, Land and Water Protection Specialist

It may come as a surprise to some that the WLAC owns and manages 53 preserve properties (nearly 2,300 protected acres) scattered throughout the Walloon Lake watershed. These preserves come in all shapes and sizes, each with different conservation values. When a landowner donates a property, they often have certain desires for the future uses and management of the parcel. These requests can range from minimal management of the preserve to active use, trail creation, and encouragement for public engagement. As an accredited land trust, the Land Stewardship Committee and staff at the WLAC strive to maintain our preserves at the highest level while honoring the legacies of donors and landowners through our land protection and stewardship activities.

When the desired management is to let nature take its course, a hands-off approach is taken. The WLAC has termed these preserves “forever wild.” Over the 45 years the WLAC has been protecting land in the Walloon Lake watershed, we have acquired many acres with this moniker. As we grow as an organization and priorities evolve, we are trying to make sure that every property we protect has a personality of its own as well as provides ecological benefits. From this thought process emerged our new “Preserves with a Purpose” initiative.

The WLAC aims for each of the properties we protect to have a unique individual purpose. How so? We have twelve preserves with hiking trails providing recreational and educational opportunities for neighbors and the community. There are three Ambassador Preserves we host community hikes and events on multiple parcels that make up wetland complexes to help filter water as it enters Walloon Lake. We even have haying agreements with two local farmers who use the hay to feed their livestock!

This leaves us with a handful of preserves that currently serve as a buffer from development and help add to the rural character of the surrounding area. It's these preserves that we are assessing to enhance their ecological

Help Protect The Pollinators

We have dedicated Thursdays throughout the summer as Pollinator Protector Program volunteer days. If you are interested in helping, please contact the office and we can get you headed out to the field to assist our pollinator professionals. Our goal for 2023 is to install between one and three acres of gardens across the three preserves. Visit walloon.org/ volunteer for more information.