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There are Already Frogs!
Hydrology Restoration at Heath Road Preserve
We had a feeling that something funny was going on at Heath Road Preserve . . . this place turned typical hydrology on its head!
We had a feeling that something funny was going on at Heath Road Preserve. Upland areas that should be “high and dry” were curiously wet, while low spots were oddly dry. There were random mushy spots and weird sinkholes, and trucks kept getting stuck in the mud in the upland. Looking down into an especially deep and dangerous sinkhole, Stewardship Director Mitch Lettow saw rushing water. There was something definitely strange about the way the water moved through the preserve: this place turned typical hydrology on its head!
Working on the quirky hydrology at this Barry County preserve began even before Tyden Ventures generously donated it to SWMLC back in 2014. At that time, the health of an existing pond was improved by scraping away fill dirt and releasing a spring which had been diverted away from the wetland. Even then, former Conservation and Stewardship Director Nate Fuller noticed that the site’s groundwater seemed to move in odd ways, and he suspected that we might have another Hidden Pond Preserve scenario on our hands.
At Hidden Pond, past farmers had buried tiles (pipes made of terracotta clay) in the soil to drain water away from a low spot in a hilltop field where it tended to collect and ruin crops. Wanting to restore more natural habitat, the old farmer helped SWMLC break up the tiles – with dramatic results! Within less than a week, the hollow filled with water, creating the preserve’s namesake pond that is hidden from view until you hike up the hill. What was even crazier was how quickly the frogs and aquatic plants showed up, like, within weeks! Where did they come from?
So, Mitch began searching for and mapping the locations of any tiles that had surfaced at Heath Road. He found dozens of them and, with Nate, concluded that many rows of tiles extended in north-south lines from the current restored prairie/grassland into a 20-30 year old conifer plantation. Aerial photos taken in the 1930’s show open farm land in that area, and we can guess that the tiles were already diverting water from the field then because Michigan farmers have been using them ever since the federal government funded drainage projects in the mid-19th century.
But at some point, probably in the 1990s, someone had planted about 12 acres of white pines and 3 acres of Norway spruce right on top of those buried tiles. Maybe not the best location – but maybe that person didn’t know they were there. Eventually, tree roots and old age made the tiles crack and fail, causing a cascade of damage as gushing underground water scoured soil away from the pipes, creating underground pockets that eventually caved in and made those sinkholes.
The 15-acre conifer plantation wasn’t high quality habitat. Its dense canopy of needles made the artificial woodland too dark for many plants to sprout, except in the openings created by dead trees whose roots had drowned in puddled underground water. Invasive autumn olive vigorously filled these areas – but the presence of a few native sedges and asters suggested that good things might come if given a chance. Seeing them, SWMLC staff decided to get rid of the tiles and try bringing more natural drainage back to the land.
The first step was to remove the spruces and most of the pines (we left about 25% of them) – then figure out what to do with them in an ecologically-sound, cost-effective way. It was harder than it first appeared. Many of the densely planted trees were spindly and too skinny to harvest for timber, and they were poor candidates for bio-char (a soil-amendment product). We considered chipping them up but couldn’t find anyone interested in taking them. We worried that a thick layer of chips might smother the very native plants we wanted to restore – and were seriously concerned that huge piles of composting chips could spontaneously combust! After years of exploring alternative options, we finally decided to knock the trees down into piles, partially burn them to speed their decay, then scatter the charred pieces around the area as habitat.
Our partners at Generation III Excavating began the monumental task of plantation toppling in spring 2021, as soon as the ground was dry enough to support earth-moving equipment, then came back to continue the work in August. After all that prep work, they returned in December to dig up the tiles which, amazingly, only took a day. Using an excavator, they easily busted up the terracotta tiles buried eight feet underground, then covered the shards with the rich wetland clay they were buried in. (Tap this link to see a drone video of Gen III at work, “The Day They Broke the Tiles.”) They built a berm to direct water away from a road, and installed an “agri-drain” that sets the depth of the wetland and sends any extra water south toward the wetlands owned by the US Fish & Wildlife Service (with their permission, of course).
Then the Gen III crew dug a series of shallow ponds . . . and we waited to see what would happen next. Thousands of gallons of water filled them all within 24 hours! The amount and source of the water in this high elevation is still perplexing, but now welcomed – and not just by humans. Within four days (in December), green frogs were seen swimming around in the new ponds! Just like with Hidden Pond Preserve, we wonder where they came from and how they got the memo so quickly.
It’s always hard to see living trees destroyed – even those that are part of an artificial forest planted by people – but we have held to that vision of a more natural, healthy, functional future habitat. “Humans changed the landscape for their own purposes alone – then abandoned that purpose,” reflected Mitch. “We hope to amend that story and show that people can also act with great effort to change things for the better, to benefit other species in addition to our own.”
The frogs didn’t bother with any philosophizing and just decided to jump on it now.
Watch “The Day They Broke the Tiles”!
SWMLC Stewardship Director Mitch Lettow’s friend Craig Sherwood (Mitten Environmental LLC of Kalamazoo) shot incredible drone footage of Generation III Excavation’s work on the day they broke the tiles. Now we all want to run an excavator!
Because Heath Road Preserve does not have road access and may only be reached by crossing privately owned land, it is not open to the public without permission. We ask that you please respect the privacy of these land owners and not try to visit the preserve. Instead, we encourage readers to visit Hidden Pond Preserve, where similar restoration projects have taken place. Learn more about Hidden Pond Preserve here.
Story by Amelia Hansen, SWMLC Communications Specialist and Mitch Lettow, SWMLC Stewardship Director.
Photos by Nate Fuller, Mitch Lettow, and Craig Sherwood, Mitten Environmental LLC of Kalamazoo.
Video drone footage by Craig Sherwood.