Iron Creek and Napoleon Sites to Host New Stewardship Program
 aisin valley residents will be invited to visit, study and help protect two very special areas that represent the natural features of this region, through a new program being developed by the Stewardship Network’s Raisin Cluster.
Since 2003, the Raisin Cluster has presented monthly workshops on general practices in natural land stewardship, addressing popular topics such as how to control invasive species, how to plant a prairie, or how to write a management plan. A great number of sites in Lenawee, Jackson and Washtenaw counties have been featured locations for the workshops, offering public access to fens, remnant savannahs, wet woodlands, and some of the more subtle natural communities that make the Irish Hills and the Raisin headwaters special.
This year, the Raisin Cluster’s activities will be planned specifically to protect selected precious natural communities at the Kellum/Kolon properties on Iron Creek, and at the YMCA Storer Camps, in Napoleon.
All the activities will be open to the public, and may include workshops, workdays, talks and observation opportunities, all focused on the health of the communities as they respond to human effort and natural events over time. Persons of all ages are invited to participate in the long-term effort to understand and preserve or restore each of the areas. The calendar of events will be published this spring at the Stewardship Network’s website (www.stewardshipnetwork.org).
The 370-acre Kellum/Kolon properties are on the upper stretch of Iron Creek, an area recognized for its unspoiled habitats and intact plant communities, where several special concern and threatened species have been identified.
Storer Camps, near Napoleon, comprises 1200 acres of converted farmland, woods, wetlands, remnant prairie and savannah, a lake, ponds, and streams in the northwest corner of the Raisin headwaters. About 15 of Michigan’s natural community types are thought to exist on the site.
Scientists from MSU’s Michigan Natural Features Inventory, the DNR’s Landowner Incentive Program, the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service and The Nature Conservancy in Michigan will help to develop a management plan for the most high quality areas, and will continue to participate in activities to protect them.
More Volunteer Activities
The two sites discussed above were among six Raisin watershed sites that responded to a Raisin Cluster request for proposals. Each of the six sought help with efforts to preserve or restore significant natural lands. Though they were not selected for Cluster-organized activities this year, they all offer additional volunteer opportunities.
MacCready Reserve
Owned by MSU, the MacCready Reserve abuts Jefferson and Skiff Lake Roads at the northeast end of the Liberty-Skiff Lake Conservation Area in Jackson County. The Reserve consists of 409 acres containing multiple savanna and grassland communities in their historic landscape context. These include globally rare hillside prairie, oak openings, oak barrens, and prairie fens as well as more common southern wet meadows. Contact: Anna Fiedler, Department of Entomology,  , (517) 432-5282
Immaculate Heart of Mary
The property is located in the city of Monroe on the 200 acre IHM campus. The project site involves approximately 8 acres of lakeplain oak openings and an associated 20+ acres of mixed deciduous forest. The owners would like to restore the structure and diversity of the oak openings community and surrounding forested area. Contact: Janet Ryan
( ).
Ives Road Fen Preserve
Owned by The Nature Conservancy, the preserve is located just south of Tecumseh in Lenawee County. There are three primary habitats: 100 acres of fen, 300 acres of floodplain forest along the River Raisin, and 300 acres of upland, including 25 acres of planted prairie. Volunteers work with stewardship professionals and a Habitat Restoration Team on some of the preserve’s 81 management areas involving numerous plant communities in various stages of restoration. Contact: Rebecca Hagerman
( ).
The Leonard Preserve
This 237-acre Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation preserve is the largest of the county’s Natural Areas. It is located at the north end of Union Street, northwest of the village of Manchester. The property, bordered by nearly a mile of serpentine River Raisin, is divided into five distinct management areas: floodplain forest, remnant prairie, dry-mesic southern forest, sedge meadow/shrub carr wetlands and old fields. Contact: Lynn Berni
( )
The RVLT is a founding member of the Stewardship Network’s Raisin Cluster. Other members are Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation, YMCA Storer Camps, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy in Michigan, City of Tecumseh, Lenawee Conservation District, Michigan Nature Association, Oh These Irish Hills!, Sierra Club Huron Valley Group, Washtenaw Land Trust.
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