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SMLC is a participating member of SEMIWILD as a Protector.
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Please join your SMLC friends and help
Celebrate 25 Years of
Land Conservation
in Superior Township at our 2016 Red Barn Bash.
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Friday, November 11th
6:30-10:00 pm
at a private benefactor's beautiful Superior Township barn.
Click here to reserve your spot at SMLC's 2016 Red Barn Bash (there is a small fee to use this service):
before the Red Barn Bash,
5:45-6:45 pm
at the nearby home of Bill Secrest and Misty Callies.
For more information on how to become and ELLC member, please contact Jill Lewis, Executive Director at:
jlewis@smlcland.org or 734-484-6565.
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See you there!
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Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy's Preserve Dedication Days were a huge success. Many people joined in the celebration of trails, lakes and prairies!
SMLC is very grateful to all of the event speakers, hike docents and activity leaders, and volunteers for helping out - THANK YOU! You can read more about the events and preserves in our Fall 2015 Landmarks Newsletter (see "Give to SMLC" below).
Location: Take Holly Road to Evans Road, turn east and travel about 3/4 mile. Look for the Lost Lake Nature Preserve sign at trail entrance on your left. Park along Evans Road on the preserve side. You'll see a trail map and rules sign a few steps in from entrance. Follow trail markers and please stay on trail. Click here for a map.
Click here to see a LLNP Dedication event handout including trail map.
Please note: Lost Lake Private Drive is not an access route to the preserve. It is a privately owned residential road and is not open to the public.
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Water lilies on Slack Lake at Lost Lake Nature Preserve.
Photo by Charles Scott
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Location: West Prairie parking area is currently under construction. The preserve is temporarily closed. Check back soon for info about that opening. Click here for a map.
Click here to see a SPNP-WP Dedication event handout including trail map.
Location: Park at the Townhship Hall located at 3040 North Prospect Road, Superior Township, MI 48198. Look for the trailhead sign on the south side of Cherry Hill Road.Click here for more info on the Superior Greenway.
Click here to see a SGNT-JRSNP Dedication event handout including trail map.
For more about these places, please see the event calendar below or contact us at info@smlcland.org / 734-484-6565.
to our 2015 Preserve Dedication Days sponsors and partners.
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Taylor Myatt
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Born and raised in rural Ohio, Taylor spent much of his childhood outdoors, which formed his love of nature and his desire to enable others to experience the peace that nature offers. This led to Taylor obtaining a B.S. in Environmental Biology from Mt. Vernon Nazarene University. He then entered the conservation field as a surveyor and tree climber in the Asian Long-horned Beetle Eradication Program in southwest Ohio where he obtained certification as an arborist and managed a survey crew of tree climbers.
In 2014, he returned to academia in pursuit of a Masters of Environmental Science at the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability at Miami University. Taylor’s concentration was in Applied Ecology and Conservation Biology, specifically Ornithology and bird banding. During his graduate work, he was a lab manager for a citizen science - stream water quality monitoring program through Butler County Soil and Water of Ohio. He also completed internship hours with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Panama City, Florida where he mapped endangered salamander distributions using GIS software.
Before moving to Michigan and joining the SMLC staff, he was involved in preserve management, wildlife rehabilitation, nature education, and establishing a banding station for breeding passerines at Bruckner Nature Center in Troy, Ohio. His hobbies include any form of outdoor recreation, specifically cycling, hunting, backpacking, kayaking, and birding.
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"Southeast Michigan: a beautiful place where people and nature
coexist in healthy, sustainable balance."
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SMLC's vision statement expresses how we feel about this special place we call home. Preserving natural areas and farmlands is good for all of us. SMLC is doing our part: more than 3,400 acres have been protected in this region through our efforts. You too can do your part by giving to the SMLC "We Care" Campaign.
To make a safe and
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Fall scene at Springhill Nature Preserve, Superior Greenway, Washtenaw County. Photo by Charles Scott |
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secure online donation to SMLC, click here.
To download a printable form you can mail to our office along with your personal check made payable to "Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy" click here.
You can continue the momentum and help SMLC become even stronger:
Click here to read SMLC's
latest
appeal letter (PDF)
Click here to read our Fall 2015 Landmarks newsletter (PDF)
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A view of lakeplain prairie in Brownstown Township.
Photo by Charles Scott.
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Michigan’s lakeplain prairie used to cover 16,000 acres most of which were located in Monroe and Wayne counties. The rich soil was coveted, first for agricultural use and later for development. Now less than 1% of Michigan prairie remains.
The largest prairie remnant is located in Brownstown Township, Wayne County and conservationists and scientists agree – it needs to be saved. The Nature Conservancy has categorized the Sibley Prairie as globally imperiled and critically imperiled in Michigan. If we want to save what is left we need to act now.
Thanks to you! SMLC successfully reached our Sibley Prairie Land Protection Project goal of $150,000. We are deeply grateful to The Carls Foundation and the John A. Woollam Foundation for their matching gifts. SMLC will use the funds to help with public access and stewardship management for our Sibley Preserve Nature Preserve sites.
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A view of Lost Lake Nature Preserve from a hot air ballon.
Photo by Wendy Pellerito.
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SMLC received word in February that the ET Rover Pipeline is no longer planned to route through SMLC’s Lost Lake Nature Preserve. This beautiful regional natural treasure is located in northern Oakland and southern Genesee counties. The pipeline had been slated to run the entire length of the extensive southern boundary including passage through sensitive natural areas. ET Rover publicized that they reached a deal with the Vector pipeline owned by DTE and will not create a new pipeline the last 110 miles of their multistate line. Instead they will link up with an existing Vector pipeline.
SMLC and our partner, Six Rivers Land Conservancy, who holds the conservation easement on the property, advocated against the pipeline being placed at Lost Lake or any other conservation area. SMLC is very grateful to everyone who worked on this issue and helped bring it to a successful conclusion.
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Superior Township, MI – Celebrate Trails, Lakes and Prairies with Southeast Michigan Land Conservancy (SMLC) at the Dedication of their Lost Lake Nature Preserve. The grand opening event will be held on Sunday, October 18th from 2:00-4:30 p.m. and will feature a short program, the guided Fall Frolic Nature Hike, and other outdoor educational activities.
The 538-acre preserve is located in Holly Township, Oakland County and Grand Blanc Township, Genesee County. It was acquired by SMLC in August 2013 thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor who donated the purchase funds to the organization. Six Rivers Land Conservancy acquired a conservation easement on the property at the same time the property was purchased by SMLC. This arrangement provides two layers of land protection and ensures that the property will always remain a natural area open to the public.
Click here to read more of the Lost Lake Nature Preserve Dedication press release...
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Prairie remnant found in the West Prairie Site addition to the Sibley Prairie Nature Preserve. Photo by Jill Lewis.
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SMLC recently acquired the newest addition to our Sibley Prairie Nature Preserve. The 39-acre West Prairie Site was acquired in July after a year's worth of effort, and now this beautiful property will forever be protected. To read more about the project and the property's unique characteristics, click here.
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DTE Volunteers did an AWESOME job removing invasive buckthorn at LeFurge Woods Nature Preserve. Summer is a great time to combat invasive species.
Ask SMLC how you can help. Photo by Jason Martinez
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Volunteers help SMLC in many important ways. You can continue the progress of natural community care and restoration! Individuals or groups are welcome to pitch in - please let us know how you would like to help.
If you would like to volunteer with SMLC
call 734.484.6565
or email us: info@smlcland.org to find out how you can help.
Be sure your email address is on the SMLC Events email list to get event notification of upcoming conservancy news, events, and volunteer opportunities. It's easy, just send an email to: info@smlcland.org.
(Note that SMLC never gives or sells personal info to anyone).
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The Superior Township Chapter is dedicated to supporting SMLC's conservation efforts in Superior Township.
Click here to read the 2016 Superior Township Chapter Update Newsletter (color PDF).
See the Calendar of Events below for Superior Township Chapter and SMLC events, posted as they are scheduled.
For more information about the Superior Township Chapter, click here or contact Brenda Baker at bakerpartin@aol.com or Bill Secrest at (734) 482-5957
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 Lots of Downy Woodpeckers make Superior Township their home. Photo by Charles Scott
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Sign up for SMLC Events, keep up with the latest SMLC news, and hear stories about the benefit of SMLC's work at our new Facebook page. If you are new to Facebook, signup is free. If you are already on Facebook, you know what to do - "like" us and see what's new at SMLC.
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Superior 