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Last August, the Plein Air Artists of West Michigan (PAAWM) gathered at our Wau-Ke-Na preserve
in Glenn for our 1st Annual Art Walk. PAAWM artist Jerry Kollig, along with SWMLC and four area art galleries, spearheaded the event. The galleries displayed paintings in the lodge, and 12 plein-air artists painted along the trails. Over 500 people enjoyed walking tours, wagon rides, and ice cream and drinks.
This year’s Art Walk will have a different twist: we will have available for sale our first-ever wall calendar, for the year 2010. Each month’s image will be a recreation of a plein-air painting done on one of our properties during paints-outs held from fall 2008 to July 2009. Then, at the November Kalamazoo Art Hop, the paintings and calendars will be available for purchase at Gallery 344.
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Private Conservation Easement Property for Sale
Farmhouse + 48 acres of mostly woods backing up to Waubascon Lake
http://swmric.rapmls.com
Listing #2921802
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Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy invites you to help protect the local wild and scenic places you care most about: dunes, wetlands, forests, savannas, prairies, farms and vineyards. It's this diverse beauty that makes the landscape of southwest Michigan such a  special place to call home. Working together, we can ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy the extraordinary quality of life our natural lands provide. |
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The J.A. Woollam Foundation Challenge is on for 2009!
Once again, Dr. Woollam has challenged us to to raise $10,000 from members who increase their gifts, lapsed members who renew their membership, and from new donors.
We hope you will help us meet the goal for 2009!
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SWMLC is excited to be working with people and organizations at all levels in the effort to conserve biodiversity locally, regionally, and nationally. Local success stories include the reduction of garlic mustard at preserves in Berrien County that provides immediate benefits for three State-threatened plant species and long-term benefits for at least seven State-listed species of birds, including the threatened red-shouldered hawk, Louisiana waterthrush, and cerulean and yellow-throated warblers. Purple loosestrife once threatened the wetlands of an SWMLC preserve that includes one of the largest populations of spotted turtles in Michigan (recently reclassified from State-threatened to State-endangered). Volunteers released purple loosestrife beetles as a biocontrol at the preserve in 2000 and, after eight years, the beetles finally took off and have reduced the purple wetland destroyer to a mere component of the wetland, not the monoculture it was threatening to become.
Want to learn more about our local and national partners? Here are links to their websites:
LOCAL PARTNERS:
Stewardship Network www.stewardshipnetwork.org
Midwest Invasive Plant Council www.mipn.org
NATIONAL PARTNERS:
Natural Areas Association www.naturalarea.org
National Association of Exotic Pest Plant Council www.naeppc.org |
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SWMLC volunteers provide immeasurable assistance to our conservation efforts, allowing us  to broaden our resources. There are many different ways to volunteer, depending on your area of interest.
Volunteers are needed for stewardship work at preserves (click here for a list of upcoming workdays) lopping brush and pulling invasive plants; conducting species inventories; setting up and staffing information tables for events; archiving photographs at the SWMLC office; stuffing envelopes for mailings; and taking photographs at preserves, easements and at special events.
Volunteers also service on committees such as Outreach Team, Stewardship Team, and Land Protection Team, or on our Board of Directors.
This is only a partial list of ongoing activities requiring volunteer assistance. Your support as a volunteer will have a lasting impact on the natural and scenic features that make our region so unique. Please contact us if you would like more information or check the volunteer box on the membership form, fill out your name and address, and mail or fax it to SWMLC at 6851 S. Sprinkle Road, Portage, MI 49002, 269/324-9760. |
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