Making Omelets

As the saying goes, “You have to break a few eggs in order to make an omelet” – and that’s the case this summer at Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve

Making Omelets

As the saying goes, “You have to break a few eggs in order to make an omelet” – and that’s the case this summer at Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve

Making Omelets

As the saying goes, “You have to break a few eggs in order to make an omelet” – and that’s the case this summer at Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve

Well, just like a nestling robin, Wau-Ke-Na W.E. Smith Preserve is going to look ugly before it becomes pretty again . . . but please bear with us!

SWMLC has gratefully received a grant (along with four other regional partners: Ottawa County Parks, The Nature Conservancy-Michigan, Chikaming Open Lands, and Shirley Heinze Land Trust) from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Climate Adaptation Fund (supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation) that allows us to embark upon a long term project to improve damaged forests by trying some new approaches to keeping them healthy.

May 14, 2020. Reforestation work begins at SWMLC's Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve near Glenn, Michigan. Photo by Mitch Lettow.

MAY 14, 2020

Step One was to remove the non-native Douglas fir trees  that were blighted by disease and poorly adapted to our local climate at Wau-Ke-Na. This photo shows the dense stand of dying firs that blocked the view and created an unhealthy monoculture.

July 10, 2020. Reforestation work begins at SWMLC's Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve near Glenn, Michigan. Photo by Mitch Lettow.

JULY 10, 2020

APPROXIMATELY SAME LOCATION

Over the next few weeks, crews cut down and chipped the trees, carefully avoiding the others that we wanted saved.

July 30, 2020. Reforestation work begins at SWMLC's Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve near Glenn, Michigan. Photo by Mitch Lettow.

JULY 30, 2020

APPROXIMATELY SAME LOCATION

They chipped the cut trees and built enormous piles (that’s a backpack at the base of the mound for size reference). 

SWMLC Stewardship Directo,r Mitch Lettow, at the site of reforestation work at Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve, Glenn, MI.

Stewardship Director Mitch Lettow visited the site a few days after the piles were made and reported that they were really “cooking” – already decomposing into compost and so hot 4 inches under the surface that they burned his hand!

August 5, 2020. Reforestation work begins at SWMLC's Wau-Ke-Na, William Erby Smith Preserve near Glenn, Michigan. Photo by Mitch Lettow.

AUGUST 5, 2020

APPROXIMATELY SAME LOCATION

The work crew returned the following week to spread those piles, creating a vast “savanna” of wood chips.

Dense tallgrass prairie habitat that provides thick cover for ground nesting grassland birds shown above. In addition to habitat for declining grassland bird species, prairies are also major boosts to declining pollinator populations, demonstrated here by an abundance of showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) blooms.

But it’s all in preparation for Spring 2021, when we will plant a mix of native tree species that are better suited to warmer summer temperatures and heavier rain events.

If all goes as planned, the end product will be a vibrant, diverse, resilient forest ecosystem that will provide habitat for more species of animals and plants, and thrive in this location.

We hope to have volunteer workday in Spring 2021, where you can lend a hand planting that next generation of forest that will outlive us all.

Stay tuned for developments – and thank you for your patience and understanding as this beautiful preserve experiences growing pains.

Learn more about the project here.