Meet Your Community - Richard Hyatt, Land Steward

s far back as he can remember Richard Hyatt has loved the outdoors and the wildlife he found there. He credits this love to the time spent with his grandfather and father learning to hunt and raising beagles. On summer days while his father was at work, there was no place he would rather be than scouring the woods, river and fields surrounding his great grandfather’s 42 acre former celery farm near Tecumseh.

Richard graduated from Tecumseh High School in 1961 before serving four years in the Marines. Soon after leaving the Marines he returned to the Tecumseh area where he began a 36-year career with GTE (now Verizon) doing telephone installation and repair. In 1968 he married Marilyn Shope of Tecumseh and they have two daughters and a grand daughter.

In about 1988 Richard took note of a news article about The Nature Conservancy’s purchase of land south of Tecumseh along the River Raisin. Included in that purchase was part of his great grandfather’s farm, but more important was the over two miles of wetland along the River that represented the playground of his youth. That land now constitutes the conservancy’s 660-acre Ives Road Fen.

It is not surprising that Richard and Marilyn would volunteer at the preserve, but their commitment has been exceptional. The conservancy made them Preserve Inspectors and Richard credits Marilyn’s support for making it possible for him to volunteer over 3,000 hours, leading workdays twice a month for eight years. Richard is inspired by his memory of how the land looked before it was invaded by buckthorn, purple loosestrife and garlic mustard. With conservancy guidance, trial and error, they have become expert at removal of these alien species. As a volunteer leader, Richard has been an integral link between the preserve and the community as well as its past and its future.

Fens are unusual — and increasingly rare — wetlands that receive water from underground alkaline springs rather than from precipitation. The Ives Road Fen Preserve is one of the largest and least disturbed fen wetlands in Michigan. In addition to the satisfaction of helping restore a rare fen, Richard values the education he has received while working with conservancy staff and volunteers and he takes great comfort in knowing that others care about the land as much as he.

While family commitments have curtailed his volunteering, he treasures the friendships he retains and the hope that the fen, along with his memories of it, will endure. Richard is specifically grateful to Bob Smith (see “Meet Your Community” in our fall issue) for his part in creating The Ives Road Fen Preserve. To read more about The Nature Conservancy and the Ives Road Fen, go to their Michigan Web address at:

nature.org/wherewework/
northamerica/states/michigan/

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