WE’RE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE OUR 25TH NATURE PRESERVE!
The new Starks Preserve is located on Bruder Drive in Deerfield Township, Isabella County. This approximately 8-acre parcel is covered with a wet meadow with grasses, wildflowers and scattered groupings of trees and shrubs providing habitat for numerous species of birds, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and especially butterflies, bees, and other pollinator species. With several mowed trails running through the property, it offers a small oasis of nature to local residents and visitors alike.
The property was donated to the CWC by the Gilbert and Kay Starks Family Trust. Gil Starks commented that donating the property was “My little way of helping the environment. It’s a habitat for hundreds, multi-thousands of organisms, and I feel good about that, even though I don’t know their names.”
As numerous species of bees, butterflies, and other pollinating insects are added to state and federal endangered species lists, small preserves such as this one have the potential of being increasingly valuable habitat refuges. The addition of Starks Preserve brings the total number of acres protected by the CWC through ownership or easement to 5,432 acres.
A formal dedication will be held on Friday, June 9th at 5:00PM at the preserve.
For more information about Starks Preserve please visit: https://www.chippewawatershedconservancy.org/starks-preserve/
[…] twelve months. Highlights of his presentation included the addition of two new nature preserves (Starks Preserve and Weting Preserve), the addition of 60 acres to Linda Walterreit’s conservation easement, […]