Thumb Land Conservancy: Ira Township Dispute 2010

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.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Ira Township Dispute 2010 - 2012

Bill Collins, Executive Director, Thumb Land Conservancy

Shortly after receiving ownership of the 38.5-acre Gerrits Sanctuary in July 2009, located along the east side of the City of New Baltimore in Ira Township, Saint Clair County, the TLC was forced to defend the tax-exempt status of the property. While the TLC was aware that the parcel was landlocked, and that a City of New Baltimore storm sewer pump station with a complicated easement history was located on the north end of the property, we were surprised at the extent to which Ira Township officials tried to use all of this against the TLC. They apparently wanted that land and seemed to be using property taxes and convoluted allegations about potential storm sewer fees to pressure us into selling the property.

Normally, non-profit land conservancies like the TLC are exempt from paying property taxes. However, we still pay special assessments for roads, utilities, drains, and other so-called improvements. A somewhat obscure provision in the Michigan General Property Tax Act can be interpreted as requiring public access to lands which are exempted from property tax, but the logic can be very subjective and not typically used to deny tax exemption.

The TLC allows public access on all of its preserves, and we wanted public access to the Gerrits Sanctuary. It just wasn’t going to be easy given the surrounding ownership. We would have been working on it whether Ira Township pressured us or not. In the meantime though, we had an informal access agreement with the adjacent modular park through a private road so that anyone could enter the sanctuary with prior notice from the TLC.

Regarding the storm sewer pump station, despite the legal history, it was fine with us, and we never had any intention of trying to bill the City of New Baltimore for it, nor did we think we had any right to do so. To us, it was no different than any other easement on a property, whether for a road, electrical line, water line, sewer line, county drain, and so on.

Starting in 2010, the TLC was paying Ira Township about $3,000 per year in property taxes for the Gerrits Sanctuary. This was a lot of money for a conservancy that just formed in late 2008 and had few members. For 3 years, 2010 through 2012, we attended the Ira Township Board of Review to make our case, to no avail. With the help of our attorney, Tim Lozen of Port Huron, we filed an appeal petition with the Michigan Tax Tribunal in July 2010. We didn’t get a hearing until June of 2012. During that two-year wait, we met with Ira Township and the City of New Baltimore to try to resolve the public access issue and alleviate all of their concerns. We made numerous phone calls and sent several e-mails to the Township, the City, their attorneys, their engineers, and others. We drafted a legal agreement between all parties, and even pursued a land addition to the north end of the sanctuary that would have given us legal public access. But, we were ultimately met with resistance and false encouragement followed by indifference.

To add insult to injury, in 2010, Ira Township acquired an adjacent parcel as so-called “park land” which has public access. So, not only did Ira Township allow a landlocked parcel to be created in the first place, and use that against the TLC to collect property taxes, but then they were unwilling to provide public access through their adjacent “park” and were completely disinterested in working with the TLC to develop their land as a “park”. It was puzzling to say the least.

The Gerrits Sanctuary and so-called Ira Township "park". 2010 aerial photograph.

Finally, on June 27, 2012, we had our Michigan Tax Tribunal hearing but we still had to wait until October 30, 2012 to find out that the TLC prevailed. The State of Michigan recognized that the TLC fulfilled its obligations as a tax-exempt charitable non-profit organization, that the general public was able to access and benefit from the Gerrits Sanctuary, despite the land-locked condition, and the issue of the storm sewer pump station had absolutely no bearing on anything. What a relief, but also what a waste of our time and energy. Those curious about the ultimate purpose of all this trouble ought to direct their questions to Ira Township Supervisor Bob McCoy and former Saint Clair County Commissioner Wally Evans, who also was on the Ira Township Board of Review. It’s still a mystery to us.

Not long before our Tax Tribunal hearing, we had also sued the adjoining landowner to the north of the Gerrits Sanctuary for an “easement of necessity” in order to provide legal public access to the sanctuary. The TLC is not in the habit of suing people, but the owner to the north, a residential developer, was mostly responsible for leaving our parcel landlocked and for the storm sewer pump station which was supposed to be only a “temporary” structure, not a permanent structure for “temporary” service. We were soon granted our easement, and now the public can legally access the Gerrits Sanctuary from Sienna Oaks Drive, a public road to the north.

The TLC is very thankful to attorney Tim Lozen http://www.lozenlaw.com/ for his work and generosity in this matter. We also thank Jeremy Emmi, former executive director of the Michigan Nature Association http://michigannature.org/ , and Julie Stoneman, executive director of Heart of the Lakes http://www.heartofthelakes.org/ for their valuable guidance.

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