Saving Nature at Ives Road Fen

Cutleaf Toothwort Dentaria laciniata (Chuck Pearson)

Can we save nature? This question has vexed humans for some time.  Several generations ago, we wanted to be saved from nature: from the wild animals beyond the campfire, floods and droughts, storms at sea. Then, with our increased technological prowess, the question became seemingly irrelevant.  For the last four decades, since the first Earth Day, as we became more fully aware that we depend on nature to sustain us, some people have worked, even fought, to save nature.  And thanks to efforts by people organized through groups like The Nature Conservancy, much of nature has been saved.


Now, as we confront the complexities of the relationship between humans and nature, we seem more conflicted.  Perhaps we have saved enough of nature, and some people believe it's not worth the additional effort to save any more.  Others are discouraged about how much of nature keeps slipping away and are angered about our slow progress in saving it.  And some, looking hard at the foundations of nature--the chemistry and physics of our world--are alarmed.

Why, and for whom, and how are we saving nature?  All tough questions that are rightly being asked.  The answers are not always easy, and the implications behind the questions, not to mention the answers, challenge how we live and what we believe.  All of it can tax my energy, or startle me awake  in the night.  But on a beautiful Saturday in May, I found a curative for the discomfort from, if not a full answer to, the question, "Can we save nature?"


Garlic Mustard, a pungent plant introduced by European settlers, threatens the Nature of the Great Lakes. It grows in our northern woods and crowds out the cutleaf toothwort, the trillium, the trout lily, and all the other signature wildflowers that make being out in May in Michigan so special.  Like many others who care for a special place in the woods, I have spent many a Saturday gently pulling out garlic mustard in the Spring before it goes to seed.  While I usually donate my time in a woodlot along the Shiawassee River, recently I spent a day at The Nature Conservancy's Ives Road Fen Preserve which straddles the River Raisin south of Tecumseh.

Every Saturday from April through November, volunteers work somewhere on the 700 acres Ives Road Fen Preserve.  In the Spring, the primary task is removal of garlic mustard from the floodplain forest; its health is important to the quality of the watershed and the River.  In Fall, volunteer efforts are directed to removing woody plants from another part of the Preserve: a rare fen that stretches out below the bluff of a glacial moraine, but above the River.  A fen is a wetland fed by the underground flow of water, rather than collected surface water (see my earlier post "Marsh, Fen, or Swamp?").  The water is highly alkaline and whole communities of special plants live only in this ecosystem. The fen at Ives Road is particularly diverse in the flora and fauna found there: the white flowers of of prairie Indian plantain and the song of Blanchard's cricket frog are two of the highly valued rare species that live in the fen.

Preservation Depends on Restoration at Ives Road Fen and for many other parts of nature.  When the site was acquired in 1987, many unique plants were identified, but they were in danger of disappearing because of several invasive plants, most notably glossy buckthorn, an ornamental plant that spreads quickly into open areas like a fen.  In addition, drainage tiles and ditches had been installed on the property in an unsuccessful attempt to make it productive for agricultural uses.  Nearby, gravel pits had been dug and suburban development encroached on the site.  Saving this piece of nature would require more than buying it.

The Nature Conservancy has made a significant investment in Ives Road Fen.  Not only buying the original fen and acquiring surrounding lands, but in re-engineering hydrology to restore the natural flow of water, carefully burning parts of the sites to encourage the growth of native plants, and attacking the invasive species that had degraded original environment.  Scientists have closely studied the site, and restoration professionals have guided the work, to ensure that the right actions were taken at the right time in the right places, but it has been volunteer labor that has made possible the restoration of Ives Road Fen.

Just a few seasons ago, The Nature Conservancy declared victory with the removal of the last adult glossy buckthorn, a milestone achieved after thousands of hours of volunteer work.  An estimated 2.5 million buckthorn stems have been cut, and more than 400 piles of debris have been burned; in addition, thousands of purple loosestrife and other invasive plants have been eliminated.  The end result is the expansion of a damaged six acre wetland to a functioning fen of 100 acres.

Why Bother? is a question some may ask.  Countless individuals have dedicated large parts of their professional and volunteer lives to this restoration project.  School groups, employees from Ford and Delta, Americorps workers, and Saturday warriors have battled muck, bugs, thorns, heat, cold, poison sumac and other discomforts to save a wetlands that to the untrained eye may not seem that special.  And the work must continue, with prescribed burns, removal of new invasive species, and other maintenance projects.  A stand of rare oaks, remnants of the oak openings that used to define this part of the Great Lakes till plain, survives and, with attention, could once again thrive.  Fields are being restored as prairies, gravel pits returned to nature, and woodland wildflowers are being uncovered from smelly weeds.

My first visit to the Preserve came after several days of struggling with big issues like the threats to the Great Lakes and the changing climate of the Earth. For me, I found the task of pulling out individual garlic mustard plants a simple task, that was profound in its meaning and its effect.  I was humbled to be in a woods I could not see beyond, and humbled to know that my one morning's effort paled in comparison to the work of the regular and frequent volunteers working with me. But I thought of all the damage done to this place, and all the harm done to nature elsewhere, and my singular action became not just a tiny offering of help to this Preserve; rather, it helped restore me as well.  Call it a romantic idyll, or karma, or atonement, but I came away from the day inspired to do more, to act on the opportunities--large and small-- before me.

How can we save nature? One plant and one person at a time, in one place that matters to us.   Chuck Pearson, the volunteer who has directed his retirement years to restoring Ives Road Fen Preserve, answers the question of "Why?" most directly: "I like the plants; I like the animals.  I feel like it's something I can save."

TNC's Roldofo Zuniga-Villegas and volunteer Chuck Pearson, two of the many people dedicated to restoration

How to Visit - How to Help -- Ives Road Fen Preserve is not generally open to the public, but special tours are possible:  click here to learn more about the Preserve.

The best way to visit the Preserve is on a Saturday morning as a volunteer.  Click here to learn more about how you can help restore and preserve this special area.  The Preserve also has a Facebook page.

Volunteers on a recent workday (Chuck Pearson)                                             

Learn the Flowers

Sometimes, the news gets me down. A story on the despoilment of a special place, the data on our changing climate, the latest report on the decline of a rare plant or animal, or just a political update can be discouraging. Usually, time outside will cure me of the malaise and give me renewed inspiration. Recently, this poem helped a lot.

For the Children by Gary Snyder

The rising hills, the slopes,

of statistics

lie before us.

The steep climb

of everything going up,

up, as we all

go down.

In the next century

or the one beyond that,

they say,

are valley, pastures,

we can meet there in peace

if we make it.

To climb these coming crests

one word to you, to

you and your children:

stay together

learn the flowers

go lightly

Gary Snyder poem published in "Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril"

photos by Anna Owens

Wildflower Walk at Nan Weston Preserve

One of the joys of living in the Great Lakes region is a springtime walk in the woods. After a cold winter and a wet spring, sunshine calls us out to explore and reconnect with the living world, and nothing celebrates rebirth more than colorful wildflowers poking through brown leaves and the sound of spring peepers. On Easter Sunday, April 24, my family made an outing to TNC's Nan Weston Preserve at Sharon Hollow near Manchester, and we were rewarded with an early showing (including the hepatica shown here). The floral display is just beginning and should be good for several weeks to come.

The Nan Weston Preserve reminds us of what Michigan once looked like, and contains some important lessons for what we can do to preserve and restore the ecology of the Great Lakes. Historically, much of lower Michigan, Indiana and Ohio contained mature beech-maple forests interspersed with wetlands and prairie openings. Now, the landscape is reversed, and most of the land is opened up by agricultural practices and the woods remain in smaller, too-isolated patches. Today, the preserve is 249 acres of mostly woods with several streams and pools scattered across the site along with a few open fields.

The topography of the south central Great Lakes region was shaped by the glaciers which left large moraines and small hillocks of dry soil with lowland wet areas in between, and one can readily see this landscape in the spring at Nan Weston Preserve. Before the trees leaf in, skunk cabbage and a few small wildflowers provide the only green. Pools of water and streams are dark on the landscape, and the bare grey trunks of trees provide vertical definition. Up above, warblers and other songbirds flit about.

Vernal pools are an important part of this place. In amongst the trees, small low spots collect the snowmelt and abundant spring rain. While some of these areas feed into streams, the smaller pools slowly drain into the soil, feeding Michigan's abundant groundwater table. Before the summer dry-up, these ponds provide an important breeding ground for amphibians that need water to reproduce. Salamanders, newts, toads, and frogs depend on these ephemeral wetlands, and in spring the chorus of spring peepers looking to attract a mate fills the woods. Sadly, the conversion of woods to farmland and residential sites often results in the filling in or drying up of these unique vernal pools. Fortunately, the sturdy boardwalks of the Preserve trail make it possible to view the plant and animal communities in these pools close up.

Water Quality of the pools and streams on site are important to breeding amphibians, but the Preserve and the surrounding landscape also influence the water quality of a much larger area. The River Raisin is found on the southern boundary of the Nan Weston Preserve and it is fed by waters from the area. The slow streams and undisturbed wetlands allow for filtration of water, the well established plant communities retain soil, and the deciduous forest shades the water and keeps it cool. Several research and data collection efforts show that this is among the healthiest and cleanest stretches of the River Raisin. To quote from a 2002 study of the area by The Nature Conservancy, "The forest also serves to buffer the river from surrounding land uses, and undoubtedly is an important factor in the maintenance of the high quality nature of the aquatic system in the mainstem." (A link to this and other reports can be found at the website of the hard-working River Raisin Watershed Council).

The River Raisin is a major tributary into western Lake Erie, and to protect and restore this portion of the Great Lakes we need to pay attention to the water that flows into it. And to ensure the cleanest water in streams and rivers, we need to pay attention to the land. Over time, the watershed of the River Raisin, like many watersheds in Michigan, has been converted from forests to farmlands, and this has increased the sediments, fertilizers, and pollutants flowing into our Great Lakes. To the degree we can preserve, or restore, wetlands and woodlands along our waterways, then we will be working to protect our great freshwater resources as well.

Thus, while we enjoy Nan Weston Preserve for the color of its woodland flowers and the sound of it amphibian inhabitants, it serves an important role in the larger effort to restore the Great Lakes. The family and friends of Nan Weston who made this preserve possible with their donations to The Nature Conservancy preserved a place, and it remains a special place to the many people who have explored it on their owns, with their families, or as part of a class. We recognize and photograph the plants and animals that live on the site, but just as important in the larger picture is the role that healthy landscapes play in creating healthy rivers and lakes.

Directions. To get to the site, head south on M-52 from Chelsea for 7.4 miles and turn right (west) on Pleasant Lake Road. Go 3.2 miles and turn right on Sharon Hollow Road and then turn left at Easudes Road. In less than one mile, the preserve will be on your left; park on the south side of the road. Here is a link to google maps.

(thanks to Anna Owens for the photographs)