Where does land stewardship begin?
Where to start?
What might happen if you don’t start?
You have to find your own answers.
You can look for those answers at the next Iron Creek Community Stewardship Day
July 10, 2010, 10 AM to noon; Kolon Property, 11677 Noggles Road, Manchester Township, Washtenaw County; between Wellwood and English Roads, just north of one lane bridge over Iron Creek
It is much easier to tackle any problem if you tackle it before it becomes obvious. If you know what to look for, you can learn how to nip invasives in the bud.
This is your chance to find out what other “stewards” have done.
Since 1968 the eighty-acre Kolon property has been mostly allowed to let nature take its course. We keep trails open for hiking and skiing and have cut firewood to heat one or two homes every year since 1976. There is high quality habitat that supports a diverse array of flora and fauna. But there are also areas where autumn olive, honey suckle, garlic mustard and other non-native, invasive plants are taking hold. It is not a pretty sight, and it can wipe out populations of native plants if not addressed in a timely fashion.
Understanding the history of your land can be interesting, and can help you prioritize which areas to focus on. We will review maps and discuss the history of the area, then we will visit specific areas where prescribed burns, or invasive shrub and garlic mustard removal have been done over the past six years. A small fen is one area where these efforts have made good headway. It is easy to be overwhelmed when you are dealing with eighty acres, but if you take it in pieces it is possible to make progress that will add up over the years.
Land ownership in the area has been remarkably stable. Parts of the Kolon property, sold in large chunks by the newly formed state of Michigan in 1837, were in the Bigelow family until 1867, when the Sutton family bought the property and continued or began raising sheep. It was never prime farmland, but it must have provided a livelihood for the Sutton family, who owned it until the depression came along. The farming activity changed to corn, probably after World War II, when farm machinery became readily available, and cultivating marginal soils seemed like a good idea. In 1948 my grand parents bought the place and either continued, or began, growing corn, until 1968. The “farmhouse” still stands.
After moving here in 1976 we finally began stewardship activities in 2003. Not that we hadn’t done anything before, but it wasn’t focused and we didn’t know it had a name. It started on a small scale with prescribed burns, invasive shrub and garlic mustard removal in selected areas. Now we are part of Iron Creek Properties and are gaining knowledge and motivation from other neighbors who have joined this effort.
You are welcome to contact me if you can’t make the workshop. Bring your lunch if you have time for additional discussion from noon to 1:00 PM.
