"We're Just Looking After It for Now"

When James “Gus” Guzinski and Jenny Grunberg bought their Oshtemo Township land back in 1983, the rural property sat far enough outside the city to seem a world apart. “This feels really comfortable,” they said to one another and, with good neighbors and room to ski and garden, it was a wonderful place to live and raise their daughter.

But Kalamazoo’s west side has changed in the 42 years since, booming with new roads, neighborhoods, and shopping centers where there once were woods and farm fields. Developers have contacted Gus and Jenny with offers, but the land is worth so much more to them in its whole, natural state than the money that would come from splitting it into pieces. Concerned about the future, they contacted SWMLC about protecting it forever with a conservation easement (CE) – and very generously offered to donate the associated costs.

At nearly 1,000 feet, 65-acre Guzinski CE sits on some of the highest land in the county, the Kalamazoo Moraine. This geological feature was made by glaciers some 15,000 years ago in the same basic way that mounds of dirt are left behind when a parking lot snowbank melts in the spring. Maps show that Campbell Creek runs from nearby headwaters through a long low spot on the property (typical of land that’s been shaped by glaciers), though there is no surface stream. The property’s mix of clay and sandy soils that were dropped by the glacier drain quickly to groundwater, so its protection is important for the entire Paw Paw River Watershed, which the Campbell Creek subwatershed is part of.

The land is wooded, with young maples and planted pines near the front and an extensive, mature oak-hickory forest in the back that lends clues to the land’s pre-settlement habitat – in fact, 1838 land surveys show that the entire Guzinski CE was once black oak barrens, a type of savanna habitat that was once common in Oshtemo Township. Oddly, there’s also a large sycamore, a moisture-loving tree whose presence suggests water sources relatively near the surface. Near the road, there’s a pretty, human-made pond where neighborhood kids fish and a herd of turtles call home. Rockpiles and a neighbor’s old dairy barn suggest that, like most of the area, the land was likely farmed until the mid-20th century. Now, Gus cultivates gorgeous hybrid daylilies and Jenny tends to an elegant collection of bonsai trees.

Guzinski CE is special in that it’s located in both a “hub” and a “corridor,” areas of important conservation focus for SWMLC as determined by our 2020 Strategic Land Conservation Plan. Hubs are large areas of protected land – especially rich in biodiversity – that are linked by corridors, natural connections through which plants and animals can travel to find mates, food, or more favorable conditions. It’s also located within five miles of two SWMLC refuge preserves (Sand Creek and Schellenberg Woods), SWMLC’s public Wolf Tree Nature Trails, three other private properties protected by SWMLC CE’s (including Kalamazoo College’s Lillian Anderson Arboretum), Michigan Audubon’s Mildred Harris Sanctuary, Alamo Township’s Rector Community Park & Trails, Kalamazoo Nature Center’s Heronwood Station, Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery, 402-acre Almena Woods, and more – making it part of a growing patchwork of protected, natural lands in that area.

“Protecting this property was a big win for SWMLC, as developmental pressures in that area continue to rise, leading to habitat fragmentation and stress to the ecosystems, remarked Emily Brown, SWMLC Land Protection Specialist, “It feels great to know this property will be protected perpetually from development and very clear that Gus and Jenny care deeply about conserving it for future generations.”

The CE that Gus and Jenny placed on their property allows them to own it for as long as they want and will permanently stay with the deed, no matter who they sell or leave the land to. They’re free to continue their work managing and improving the forested areas, as well as their horticultural passions. The couple very generously offered to give their land’s development rights to SWMLC, and worked with us to create a legal agreement with thoughtful terms that allow future owners to enjoy the property while still protecting its natural features. With Jenny nodding in agreement, Gus reflected, “We’re just looking after it for now and wanted to let someone appreciate what we’ve been so fortunate to have.”