Thumb Land Conservancy: Michigan Road Preserve Stewardship

TLC Philosophy

The Thumb Land Conservancy (TLC) was formed in 2008 to provide an organization dedicated to filling the gap of natural area preservation in Michigan's Thumb. Although much attention has been given to a few areas near Lake Saint Clair and along Saginaw Bay, the interior of the Thumb has been largely ignored.

There is a general misconception that little is worth saving north of Detroit because of urban development and agriculture. While much of the landscape has been drastically altered, many high quality natural areas remain. Some habitats are nearly pristine, resembling conditions that existed before European settlement about 200 years ago.

Regardless of condition, the extensive destruction makes preservation even more critical in the Thumb. Small, degraded habitat fragments can be restored and expanded, and often serve as isolated havens for rare plant species. We believe all natural landscapes are important locally because they reflect a unique combination of history and features particular to that location. Many benefits of nature are obtained and enjoyed only locally. We believe it is especially important for children to have natural areas nearby where they can play, grow, and learn.

TLC is carrying on a tradition in the Thumb. In 1952, Macomb and Saint Clair Counties were the birthplace of what became the Michigan Nature Association (MNA), the first statewide land preservation group in Michigan. MNA was led for many years by the late Bertha Daubendiek of Kenockee Township in Saint Clair County, and is one of the few organizations that has protected land in the Thumb, with 18 sanctuaries here.

TLC Sanctuaries

Since forming in late 2008, the TLC has acquired three sanctuaries totaling about 68 acres: the 18-acre Dead End Woods Sanctuary in Fort Gratiot Township; the 38.5-acre Gerrits Sanctuary in Ira Township; and the 11.5-acre Peltier Beach Ridge Sanctuary in Fort Gratiot Township. So far, all TLC preserves are in Saint Clair County only because opportunities have arisen there. Our goal is to eventually protect land in every county of the Thumb.

Please contact the TLC if you are interested in donating land or a conservation easement. The TLC will try to help you protect any land you are interested in.

17.6 Acres in Fort Gratiot Township, Saint Clair County

The Dead End Woods Sanctuary was acquired by TLC from the Saint Clair County Drain Commissioner, Fred Fuller, in December 2008. As a condition for obtaining a wetland permit from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for the Huffman Drain and Bunce Creek drain project, Fred agreed to preserve nearly 12 acres of wetland in the Dead End Woods as mitigation by placing a conservation easement on the property. As mitigation options were being considered, the owner of one of the Dead End Woods parcels approached Fred with an offer to sell the land at a reasonable price. The MDEQ confirmed the presence of a large amount of wetland on the property and found that it is a high quality habitat. Fred then acquired adjacent land with additional wetland to fulfill all of the mitigation for the current phase of the drain project. As a means of satisfying MDEQ requirements for long-term monitoring and stewardship of the wetland, the two Dead End Woods parcels were then transferred to the TLC, relieving the Drain Commissioner from further responsibility for this land.

At 44.5, the Floristic Quality Index calculated for the Dead End Woods ranks well above 35, indicating a natural area of statewide significance. Some higher quality or interesting species that are not routinely encountered in natural areas of the region include Maidenhair Fern, Spikenard, Richweed, Hazelnut, Black Ash, Butternut, Spicebush, Tulip Tree, Cardinal Flower, Indian Pipe, Black Gum, Sycamore, Christmas Fern, Broad-leaved Goldenrod, Foamflower, and Eastern Hemlock.

38.5 Acres in Ira Township, Saint Clair County

On July 16, 2009, the TLC acquired its second nature sanctuary, the Gerrits Sanctuary, a generous donation from Lois Gerrits, the widow of the late Dr. James F. Gerrits. The closing was held at the Law Offices of Timothy J. Lozen, with attorney Anna Kovar and TLC executive board members William Collins and Terry Gill present. Ullenbruch Flowers and Gifts of Port Huron kindly donated a nice bouquet of flowers to express our appreciation to Mrs. Gerrits.

The Gerrits Sanctuary is 38.5 acres of southern mesic and southern swamp forest with old-field to the north. Crapaud Creek flows through the north end of the property, which is located only about ¾ mile north of Anchor Bay and Lake Saint Clair. Such coastal habitat is critical for migratory birds and insects that move along the Great Lakes.

The sanctuary is located along the east boundary of the City of New Baltimore and Macomb County in Ira Township, Saint Clair County. Although development has taken a toll on nearby land, the forest on the sanctuary is mature, contains many high quality woodland species, and is part of what appears to be the largest and least fragmented forest tract remaining along the Great Lakes coastline from Ohio north through the Algonac area, excluding Grosse Ile near Detroit, and Walpole Island on the Ontario side.

Dr. Gerrits was well known in Saint Clair County. He was co-pilot of a bomber in World War II, and later a fighter and test pilot. Because of his war experiences, he became an outspoken critic of war. He and Lois twice voluntarily went to Vietnam in the 1960’s, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and Catholic Church, to provide civilian medical care to the people of both South and North Vietnam. Lois shared several stories about those times after our closing. The TLC will feature more about Dr. and Lois Gerrits in the future.

11.5 Acres in Fort Gratiot Township, Saint Clair County

On June 28, 2010, the TLC acquired its third preserve, the 11.5-acre Peltier Beach Ridge Sanctuary in Fort Gratiot Township, Saint Clair County. The sanctuary is located south of Metcalf Road, along the east side of the Detroit Water Board property. The parcel was given to the TLC by Ray and Nancy Peltier to satisfy State of Michigan wetland mitigation requirements for an expansion of the Hamzavi Dermatology office in Fort Gratiot. As with our first preserve, the Dead End Woods Sanctuary in Fort Gratiot, the Peltier Beach Ridge Sanctuary is protected by a State of Michigan conservation easement. In accepting ownership of the mitigation property, the TLC agreed to be responsible for all monitoring, management, and long-term stewardship.

The Peltier Beach Ridge Sanctuary is a high quality wetland and upland complex with a unique geologic history, unique plant and animal community, significant Great Lakes coastal habitat, good restoration potential, and a great addition to the TLC preserve lands. The sanctuary is a small part of a much larger and ecologically unique beach ridge and swale landscape, a long, narrow formation within about 1 mile of the Lake Huron shoreline, extending from Port Huron into Sanilac County. The landscape began forming about 11,500 years ago as the last stages of the Wisconsinan glacier melted back and early Lake Huron was about 30 feet higher than today. About 1,500 years later, the melting glacier uncovered a new outlet from the Georgian Bay and the water dropped over 400 feet. The massive weight of glacial ice depressed the earth’s crust for thousands of years, but as it melted, the crust slowly rose and continues today. By 4,500 years ago, the drainage outlet from Georgian Bay raised such that early Lake Huron filled to the Lake Nipissing stage and back to the old shoreline of 7,000 years previous. Great Lakes drainage was gradually limited to the Mississippi River through the old Chicago outlet, and then to the Saint Clair River which rapidly down-cut and lowered the Great Lakes to modern levels, leaving a series of beach ridges as the water dropped.

The landscape consists of a series of mostly forested upland sand ridges and mucky wetland troughs or swales between. In Saint Clair County, the sand ridges average about 40 to 50 feet wide and 3 to 4 feet above the adjoining swales. The swales are usually about as wide as the ridges, but some are a few hundred feet wide. The beach ridge and swale landscape provides not only unique habitat, but also a record of Michigan’s post-glacial past.

On the Peltier Beach Ridge Sanctuary, wetland swales are covered by Silver Maple, Green Ash and Black Ash, the larger ash trees now all dead due to the Emerald Ash Borer, Eastern Cottonwood, and American Elm. The upland beach ridges are covered largely by Black Cherry, Bigtooth Aspen, and American Basswood, with scattered Black Oak, possibly hybridized with Northern Pin Oak, and a few Northern White-cedar. The lower ridge bases are lined with Paper Birch and covered by an unusual concentration of Alternate-leaved Dogwood.

Unique species on the sanctuary include Purple-flowering Raspberry, Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid, and the Eastern Hog-nosed Snake. Purple-flowering Raspberry is the Lower Peninsula’s equivalent of the Upper Peninsula’s Thimbleberry, thought to be native to only 7 shoreline counties in Michigan. Yellow Lady’s-slipper orchid grows in a variety of habitats, but in Saint Clair County is largely restricted to the moist ridge bases and mucky swales of this landscape. The Eastern Hog-nosed Snake is a special reptilian inhabitant that prefers the more open sand of dunes and disturbed ground such as along the south end of the sanctuary. When aggravated, the snakes flatten their necks like a cobra, and then sometimes rolling over and play dead with their mouths hanging open. They can look imposing, but are harmless.

One of the most critical functions of this coastal forest habitat is the support it provides to an abundance of migratory birds as they move north and south along the Lake Huron shoreline. The spring and summer breeding bird population is very abundant and diverse in this area, especially the forest warblers. Several species of warblers have been identified on the Peltier Beach Ridge Sanctuary.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Michigan Road Preserve Stewardship

Bill Collins, Executive Director, Thumb Land Conservancy

Since 2011, the Thumb Land Conservancy has been under contract with the Saint Clair County Drain Commissioner, Saint Clair County Road Commission, and Pro-Tel Development to monitor and steward a 51-acre preserve along the east side of Michigan Road, north of Dove Road and south of the Canadian National Railway tracks in Port Huron Township. The preserve is just a small part of a large remnant of northern forest complex typical of the Port Huron area, an extensive lakeplain wetland crossed by many upland sand ridges left by higher waters of the early Great Lakes. The land was preserved as wetland mitigation for two separate projects permitted by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Ownership of the land was then transferred to the SCCDC. As a condition of the two permits, the MDEQ required monitoring and stewardship of both parcels for 5 years by a third party conservation organization.

In 2010, the MDEQ issued a permit to Pro-Tel Development authorizing impact of 2.85 acres of State-regulated wetland for commercial development at the southeast corner of Wadhams Road and Griswold Road in Kimball Township. As mitigation, Pro-Tel placed a conservation easement on a 38.4-acre parcel containing approximately 23.78 acres of existing natural wetland determined to be high quality by the MDEQ.

In 2011, the MDEQ issued a permit to the SCCRC authorizing impact of 0.83 acre of State-regulated wetland for construction of Phase 1 of the Port Huron NAFTA Corridor Congestion Mitigation Project. Specifically, this part of the project was the expansion of the Michigan Road crossing of the North Branch of Bunce Creek and construction of the new bridge over the Canadian National Railway which borders the north side of the Michigan Road preserve. As mitigation, the SCCRC placed a conservation easement on a 13.04-acre parcel containing approximately 8.28 acres of existing natural wetland determined to be high quality by the MDEQ.

In early 2011, the TLC was contacted about the possibility of providing the monitoring and stewardship required by the MDEQ. To be honest, I was somewhat reluctant to be involved because the Pro-Tel project had wiped out a nice grove of large trees at the corner of Wadhams and Griswold that I had known since I was a kid. It was a little thing compared to the destruction happening all over, but it gave me pause. For one thing, I never want to be a “sell-out”. It still kind of bothers me, but I reasoned that not accepting the monitoring and stewardship opportunity was not going to bring the trees back.

To add to my misgivings, the monitoring and stewardship work got off to a rocky start with the MDEQ. Over the past few years, the MDEQ has attempted to adopt federal wetland mitigation standards in response to recent legislative changes in Michigan’s wetland statute. Michigan is one of only a few states in the US to assume jurisdiction over most wetland jointly with the US Environmental Protection Agency and US Army Corps of Engineers. In most other states, wetland protection is administered only federally by the Army Corps with EPA oversight, with no state jurisdiction. As part of our stewardship contract, the TLC needed to produce approved management plans for both the SCCRC and Pro-Tel sites that incorporate relatively new federal standards that Michigan is now trying to use. Without getting into a lot of detail, I’ll just say that, in my opinion, the MDEQ really needs to develop model templates for management plans, monitoring reports, baseline reports, and other documents they require for wetland mitigation areas. It would make everything much clearer and easier, allowing us as stewards to concentrate on actual stewardship rather than guessing what standards and text are acceptable. We seem to be past those problems for now.

Beyond writing the management plans, the TLC has inspected the two preserve sites annually for four years now, from 2011 through 2014, and performed some stewardship activities. We have one more year of monitoring and stewardship in 2015. Annual reports to the MDEQ include description of general ecological conditions, vegetation data from sampling plots, description of impacts such as litter, trails, and invasive species, description of adjoining land use, description of management and maintenance activities, and lots of photographs. So far, the Michigan Road preserve remains quite isolated from human impact for a natural area so close to Port Huron. There is almost no litter, no major trails, and the only human presence other than mine appears to be a few deer hunters, which is a good thing for the trillium and other woodland wildflowers.

One of the conservation easement signs on the Michigan Road preserve.

Our stewardship activities have been somewhat limited by circumstances beyond our control. Initially, we spent a lot of time and effort simply trying to clarify the management plan requirements with the MDEQ. For the first two years we were unable to obtain approval for the controlled burning we felt would improve the vegetation in some areas. Then, after we did get approval, with much thanks to Port Huron Township Fire Department Chief Craig Miller, our burning weather was not good at all. We finally did get two small burns done last spring, in April of 2014. Lack of volunteer recruitment is another problem we’ve had. The biggest management concern on the Michigan Road preserve is the occurrence of invasive Glossy Buckthorn – Rhamnus frangula which can eventually overrun and dominate much of the forest understory. The only effective control for Glossy Buckthorn, in addition to repeated burning in open wetlands, is hand-removal by pulling and cutting. This is very labor-intensive and requires a lot of people to make progress.

Despite the occurrence of Glossy Buckthorn, the Michigan Road preserve is a valuable piece of the Port Huron area’s natural history. It’s a fascinating complex of forested swamp and upland sand ridges bordering an almost impenetrable shrub swamp. The forest is a second-growth community composed of northern species like Red Maple, Paper Birch, Wintergreen, Bracken Fern, Wild Sarsaparilla, and Canada Mayflower mixed with southern species like Black Oak and Smooth Highbush Blueberry. Interior portions of the preserve are covered by disturbed northern shrub swamp dominated by dense thickets of Tag Alder and Black Chokeberry, mixed with invasive Glossy Buckthorn and Common Reed.

Paper Birch, Red Maple, and Black Cherry on low tip-up mounds on the Michigan Road preserve.

Complex of wetland and tip-up mounds on the preserve. This is Painted Trillium habitat.

Up on one of the sand ridges on the preserve.

Down in the shrub swamp with Tag Alder, Black Chokeberry, and Royal Fern.

The shrub swamp gets even thicker than this.

This is more like it. Not fun to walk through.

While not yet found on the preserve, it appears well suited for Michigan Endangered Painted Trillium - Trillium undulatum known to occur on other sites nearby. Saint Clair County is an isolated outpost for Painted Trillium on the western edge of its range in North America, reflecting the Blue Water Area’s unique natural history. Its occurrence strongly coincides with the interface of Rousseau fine sand or Chelsea-Croswell sand ridges and the lower and wetter Wainola-Deford fine sands, such as on the Michigan Road preserve. Plants are often found along the base of sand ridges, near wetland. Painted Trillium also shows a strong affinity for distinct and dense tip-up mounds. All of these landscape elements are extensive on the Michigan Road preserve and I am hopeful that with further searching, Painted Trillium will be found there, if the deer don’t get to them first.

Michigan Endangered Painted Trillium may very well occur on the Michigan Road preserve. The habitat is there.

A unique aspect of the vegetation on the preserve is the northern flora represented by Red Maple, Paper Birch, Black Ash, Tag Alder, Nannyberry, Black Chokeberry, Blueberry, Bunchberry, Wintergreen, Gay-wings, Dwarf Raspberry, Partridge Berry, Bracken Fern, Wild Sarsaparilla, Starflower, and Marsh Saint John’s-wort. While these species occur throughout Michigan, their distribution is generally concentrated north of Michigan’s Transition Zone, the broad division between northern and southern flora in Michigan running roughly from Muskegon east to the Saginaw Bay and across the Thumb. The northern plant community on the preserve is somewhat disjunct from its usual location north of the Transition Zone, but this is characteristic of the flora in the Port Huron area, influenced by the cooler growing season and extensive sand soils near Lake Huron. Historic fire disturbance may also have been another important factor in maintaining the northern flora. At the same time, the occurrence of southern species enhances the diversity of these areas, creating a blend of northern and southern flora unique to Saint Clair County. This north-south quality of the area’s vegetation was described about 100 years ago by noted Port Huron botanist Charles K. Dodge. Distinctly southern species on the preserve include Black Oak, Black Gum, Sassafras, Juneberry, and Smooth Highbush Blueberry.

Eastern White Pine and Paper Birch on the Michigan Road preserve. It looks like "up North".

And then there are big ole Sassafras trees. It looks like "down South".

A few patches of Marsh Saint John’s-wort -Triadenum fraseri were found in the shrub swamp in the central part of the preserve. This is a northern species rarely encountered in Saint Clair County, but more common in northern Michigan. Marsh Saint John’s-wort is indicative of wet sandy soils, occurring in alder thickets, such as on the preserve, but also bogs and sedge meadows, suggesting it may be remnant of a more open, fire-maintained community.

Most of the large oaks on the upland sand ridges through the Michigan Road preserve key out to Northern Pin Oak - Quercus ellipsoidalis according to dominant characteristics of the acorns, buds, and leaves. However, in Michigan Flora, Part II, Voss considers Northern Pin Oak to be a northern small-fruited variation of Scarlet Oak - Quercus coccinea, likely part of a single complex of oak species according to the work of William R. Overlease in 1977. Voss suggests that hybrids between what are considered Northern Pin Oak and Black Oak may be called Quercus x palaeolithicola, which is inclusive of Scarlet Oak and Black Oak hybrids. Some of the oaks on the preserve appear to share characteristics of Black, Northern Pin, and Scarlet Oak species. The unique character of what appear to be hybrid populations of Scarlet Oak and Black Oak particular to eastern Saint Clair County has been noted by other botanists. Such trees were noted on uplands preserved on the Super Kmart and Sam’s Club property in Port Huron Township, only about 1 mile northeast of the Michigan Road preserve.

Northern Pin Oak and possibly hybrids of Black Oak and Scarlet Oak up on a sand ridge.

One of the long sand ridges extending through the preserve.

If anyone is interested in assisting the TLC with stewardship of the Michigan Road preserve, or any of our three sanctuaries, please contact us. We may be conducting another controlled burn this spring. Buckthorn removal will be conducted in the fall and winter.

Glossy Buckthorn along the west edge of the preserve.

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