A Good Neighbor

Karner Blue Butterfly. -Photo by Sarah Pregitzer

Michigan Nature Association

By Charles Vannette

The following is an imaginary interview by NNN’s intrepid editor, and a long term volunteer with an organization known as the Michigan Nature Association.

NNN :Chuck, please tell our readers about your involvement with MNA.
Chuck:  Well Ken, I have been involved with the Michigan Nature Association for nearly 20 years.  I enjoy the company of the folks I meet at workdays and educational offerings.  The conservation efforts are effective and significant.  And I get to learn a great deal about interesting habitats here in our own Brooks Township.

NNN : I do not believe I have heard about these MNA folks.  Are they new in town ?
Chuck:  Michigan Nature Association is a non-profit which protects nature by owning and managing over 180 of the prettiest places in the state of Michigan.  These folks began as bird watchers who saw their favorite birding spots being developed.   They realized that if they wanted to protect their favorite places, they needed to own them.  So in the 1960’s (remember them ? )  MNA began purchasing beautiful examples of important habitats from da UP  to the lower peninsula.

NNN:  Sounds like a smart plan.  Has their focus changed over the years ?
Chuck: Yes, originally the goal was to simply ‘save’ some special places.  Over the past 60 years a second threat to these places emerged.   Quite a few plants have moved into  Michigan from places where other plants or animals had kept them in check.   But here, without anything to hold them back, they have taken over from the increasingly rare plants that MNA had bought to ‘preserve’   (see what I did there ?)    As a result, MNA’s goal to preserve special areas is about twice as difficult to achieve as when it was started.    Examples here in Brooks Township include spotted knapweed, honeysuckle, and autumn olive.

NNN: You say that MNA has invested significantly here in Brooks Township and is doing a fine job of managing their investment?
Chuck:   Yes, definitely.  MNA first came here in 1969 establishing the Newaygo Prairie  Preserve on Poplar Avenue.  They followed up in 1999 with the Karner Blue Preserve on Spruce Ave.  And a few years later with the Brooks Oak Barrens Preserve.   Rumor has it they are interested in one or two more parcels that are excellent examples of  one of the most endangered plant groups in the world.

NNN: In the world ?
Chuck \: Yes,  The surveyors who mapped out the sections and townships here found large open areas of beautiful wildflowers surrounded by park-like areas with a few huge mature oaks and surrounded again by oak and pine forests.  All of these are now very rare.   A few decades of very difficult farming resulted in the many pine plantations we see in our area.  And almost no remaining examples of the oak barrens sort of thing.   MNA’s interest  here in Brooks Township is to keep alive these very special places.

NNN:  And you find this effort worthwhile ?
Chuck: Yes, I do.  The plants and butterflies are beautiful.  The stewardship work is a significant responsibility.  I enjoy the exercise, the company, and the chance to learn from experts about my own corner of the world here in Brooks Township.

NNN:   That sounds outstanding.  How can someone be part of this learning and good work (and fun ?)
Chuck:   Contact me at [email protected]  We have a full slate of work days coming up this summer.  Folks can  pace themselves, work as long or as short a time as they are comfortable.   And enjoy themselves and learn a bunch.

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