Wednesday Warriors

from Southwest Michigan Spark-January 2023

Business Profile: Pita Way

WARRIORSWednesday

Beavers and turtles and trails, oh my

I’ll bet you have a favorite place, memory, ice cream fl avor. If I had to pick, one of my favorite preserves is Spirit Springs Sanctuary. The name hints at the tranquility of the place: a lake in the woods with rolling hills and a little history. The previous owners kept the land free of development, as a quiet retreat. In 2010 it became a preserve of the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. Tucked into the corner of Cass County, this was new territory for the Wednesday Warriors, and we started scheduling workdays to bring the land back to the old ways. Our visionary leader, Nate, gave us bite-sized assignments at fi rst, like clearing out the multifl ora rose between the trail and the pond. As the years went by, we learned more and cleared more and more areas of invasive non-natives, exploring the oak uplands, the buttonbush lowlands, the beaver remodeling project. The native plants started to come back as we made space for them, and we even brought in some plants rescued from nearby sites. We got to see the place in all seasons. Kids of all ages like to count how many turtles can bask on a single log. Winter lets us get into the wetlands, and this winter we are honing our botanical chops, learning to identify trees and shrubs without the leaves. It helps that we now have apps for that, but we have to get used to looking closely at the tiny details of buds and leaf scars.

As we look around, we can defi nitely see what we’ve accomplished, and what’s still ahead to do. We invite you to join us on one of our workdays to see our preserves up close and personal. No tools or skills required, just an interest in the outdoors and the chance to make a difference. Email conserveland@swmlc.org to get on our mailing list or check out the website for details. Attendance is week-by-week as your schedule permits. If you’re not the dirt-under-your-nails type, you’re still invited to come visit one of the preserves that are open to the public, including Spirit Springs. There’s parking, well-marked trails (thanks to guess who), and directions on the website swmlc. org. We hope you can get outdoors and catch the spirit.