Leelanau Conservancy Conserving the Land, Water and Scenic Character of Leelanau County 2013 Annual Report and Spring 2014 Newsletter Leelanau Forever: Protecting This Place We Love n late November, the Leelanau Enterprise featured our IClay Cliffs Natural Area project on its front page. The Conservancy, along with Leland Township, had just finalized the purchase of this unbelievably beautiful 104-acre property, with 1,700 feet of frontage on both Lake Michigan and Lake Leelanau. We loved the Enterprise story headline which shouted, “Ours!” along with a beautiful photo. When you think about it, the word “Ours” pretty much sums up all of the natural areas we have preserved for public enjoyment. Houdek Dunes, DeYoung, Chippewa Run, the Lake Leelanau Narrows, Swanson Preserve, Crystal River just to name a few…and now, Clay Cliffs. These special places are all collectively “Ours.” They are ours to enjoy, to find wonder in, to explore with our families. In our 25-year history, we have also protected thousands of acres of private lands and working farms with a legal tool called a conservation easement. We can’t call these places “Ours,” but there’s no denying that everyone who loves Leelanau is the beneficiary when important farm and natural lands are protected. Private protected lands give us some of the most stunning roadside views, they protect our water quality and wildlife, and they produce the local foods we all adore. Finalizing the Clay Cliffs purchase was just a part of a record-breaking 25th Anniversary year. In 2013 we protected an impressive 912 acres, bringing our 25-year total to nearly 11,000 acres. Public support was at an all-time high, with over 4,000 donors. More people went on docent-led hikes and participated in workbees than ever before. We’re grateful that we had the opportunity to celebrate our 25th milestone with many of you at these events as well as our Speaker Series and the Annual Picnic—attended by over 800 people. What follows (on page 4) is a summary of our 2013 accomplishments. Together, our Leelanau Conservancy staff, board, volunteers and generous donors are ensuring that the Ken Scott natural lands and working farms that define the essence of Our newest and, some would say, most spectacular Natural Area—Clay Cliffs! Leelanau will endure. Thank you for helping to ensure that the Leelanau you love will remain for future generations. Chairman’s Message met Gene Strang for the We spent an hour or so together along with Conservancy staff, I first time in December, title company people, Gene’s attorney Ellen Fred and his close at a title company office friend John Roe. in Suttons Bay. I was there I cannot say that I know Gene well, but I do know that I representing our Leelanau felt his quiet caring for the land. I sensed his satisfaction, once Conservancy, to sign we signed everything, that he had successfully ensured the documents. Gene was protection of his property. there to sell a conservation I did almost nothing myself, but I still felt a real sense easement over the major of accomplishment. I felt that we, the Conservancy, had given portion of his property in this man peace of mind about the future of his property, and I Elmwood Township. More knew that the Conservancy was capable of stewarding it for the than a decade ago the future. Just as Gene wished. Conservancy and Gene We are able to do this chiefly because of people. We have started working to protect a professional, dedicated staff who can work over many years the land he cherished. It with land owners to accomplish our conservation mission and took a long time – Gene satisfy the landowners’ desires. Our fund raising staff and you, had health issues that Chairman Larry Mawby addresses Sustainers at our members and supporters, give us the financial resources a January gathering delayed things, the real needed to take on this stewardship responsibility, and to fulfill estate market drop and recovery played a part in the timing, and it into the future. the Conservancy had to figure out how to fund the project. Last year we celebrated 25 years of doing this, and now we This all began during the time I served on the Land look forward to continuing our service to Leelanau, caring for the Protection Committee of the Board. I knew of Gene’s land from land and water, all of us–members, volunteers, contributors of photos, maps, descriptions by the staff, and was told that Gene all kinds–nurturing this organization, making it stronger, better was a dedicated steward of these 80 acres who wanted to assure able to provide service to our community. that his land would be taken care of properly in the future. But it wasn’t until that day in December that I actually met him. Save these dates! Speaker Series Part Three: Northern Larry Mawby Hardwoods, Past, Present and Future Chairman of the Board Saturday, May 3rd, 3-5 pm, Free Earth Day Greenfire Movie INSIDE: April 22nd, 7 pm, Old Art Building in Leland, Executive Director’s Message Page 3 Free Numbers Page 8 Sustainers Circle Summer Gathering Why it Matters Page 10 Wednesday, July 2nd, Location TBA Project Updates Page 11 Hikes and Events Page 16 Annual Friends Picnic Thursday, August 7th Heritage Society Page 20 Gregory Farm Top of the World, near Founders Society Page 21 Suttons Bay Donors Page 22 Volunteers Page 31 2 Thoughts From Our Executive Director Mid-Winter Reflections moonlight over deep snow. - 2014 In this old-fashioned winter it is not too difficult to esterday evening I returned home to do what I have seemingly connect with what Conservancy founder Ed Collins once called Ydone countless times this winter: I plowed the driveway of the “peninsular mindset.” For me, having just returned from its accumulating snow, then I loaded a ladder on to the back a five-day swing through southern Florida–a place very much of my pickup intending to spend the last half hour or so before concerned with today’s world with today’s problems and today’s nightfall shoveling the roof of one of my farm sheds. fashions–the feeling was more acute than usual. In Leelanau we are of both worlds, brushing off the satellite dish and turning on the iPad after we come in from shoveling snow from roofs that have miraculously withstood the snows of 80 winters. The sense that Leelanau is something of “a place apart” is easier to grasp in February than it is in July. Here, the past is closer to the surface of everyday life. We see and cherish the long view across water, the same night skies, the barn that has survived decades of punishment from the elements. Familiar landscapes occupy a unique and comforting place in our lives. The preservation of such landscapes has informed a large part of the mission of the Leelanau Conservancy. And it is fitting, after 25 years in pursuit of that mission, to reflect on the long- term consequences: what is the greater meaning of our work,Scott Ken and how will the Leelanau Peninsula be different because we My lumber shed is perhaps eight decades old. It’s a are doing this work? low-slung affair, made of timber and rough hemlock siding The answer lies in those things you can quantify and those that clearly was harvested off the farm, or at least very nearby. you can’t. Interestingly, our two upcoming Speaker Series will Nearly four decades ago now my brother and I noticed that explore the concrete world of northern forests and the more the accumulating weight of late winter snow had depressed elusive topic of Community, and our role in it. (See page 17.) the roof to the point that the collar ties had broken free and On the one hand, we can measure things like acres protected, were no longer holding the sides together. Roof collapse was imminent. We shored this old building up with cables, cleared the roof of snow, and then added new collar ties made of brand new two by sixes. The shed is not worth much in dollars, but to me it matters. Not only because shoring up this building was one of the first projects that my brother and I tackled after buying our farm back in 1975, but also because the disorderly piles of lumber that are stored here are a record of our occupation of this place since then. There is aspen and black locust, red oak and white cedar, even some walnut and a dwindling supply of my favorite cherry. As I worked my way across the roof, first the back side and then the front, removing only the top couple feet of snow and sliding it over the edge, I calculated that there was perhaps nutrients that remain locked in the soil rather than entering our upward of ten tons of snow on the rickety old shed. Sliding pristine lakes, or how many rare plants exist on a given property. sedimentary layers of month-old snow off the roof, I imagined Grounding our efforts in science has always been the foundation the old building groaning under all that weight. A crescent of our work and it informs every page of our Strategic Land moon hung in the sky, and it was getting much darker. From Conservation Plan. where I stood, there were no lights visible, only the hill rising But increasingly I think the impact of conservation is also behind the shed, and the incredibly sharp shadows cast by the about its effect on the lives of people who Continued on Page 7 3 2013 Year In Review Clay Cliffs Natural Area Becomes a Reality Protecting Victoria Already a Popular Destination Creek is important Leland Township’s newest natural area offers breathtaking views to preserving the and features one of the most exquisite wildflower locales in water quality of Lake the county.