CONSERVANCY BUYS CRYSTAL RIVER “OXBOW” PROPERTY

Press release from the Leelanau Conservancy
July 1, 2002

The Leelanau Conservancy has purchased a 7.22 acre tract, with over 1,000 feet of frontage along the Crystal River, from the Leelanau School. The property, known to locals as the tip of the “Oxbow”, was put up for sale by the school last October. The 1,000 plus feet of river frontage is directly across M-22 from the school’s entrance, and is one of the most scenic and accessible areas along the river.
In purchasing the property, the Conservancy is following through on a project which started last October, which the Friends of the Crystal River agreed to buy the property soon after the Leelanau School listed it for sale. “We have always been interested in protecting as much of the river as possible,” said Friends President Barbara Weber, “but the “Oxbow” property has always been considered absolutely critical due to the quality of the wetlands and wildlife habitat, and its position in relation to Glen Arbor.”
After the Friends secured the property, the Leelanau Conservancy stepped in to help the Glen Arbor Township apply for federal funds to acquire the land. An Application was submitted through the Coastal Zone Management program in Michigan, for funds available in 2002. While no final word has come through on the availability of the grant, Conservancy officials remain optimistic. “We will need to raise about 2/3 of the purchase price locally, and that translates to $115,000. We’ll be calling in the pledges made to the Friends and to the Conservancy over the next few weeks, and we expect to have to raise about $20,000 over and above our existing pledges,” said Dick Ristine, Chairman of the Conservancy Board.
Brian Price, Executive Director of the Conservancy noted the cooperation received not only from the Friends, but Glen Arbor Township as well. “We’ve had greet cooperation from the Township, and we are both entirely committed to the protection of the land over any other uses. We expect to transfer the property to the Township, hopefully in the fall, but will retain a conservation easement and management authority. This is something that virtually everyone in Glen Arbor agrees upon.”
In addition to the principal partners in the transaction the project has received support from The Homestead and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Both encouraged the Township to work to preserve the land, and supported in writing the grant request. “I particularly want to thank Dusty Schultz” superintendent of the Lakeshore “who wrote a very persuasive and compelling letter in support of the grant” added Price. Also, under a new Great Lakes Revolving Loan Fund operated by the Conservation Fund, with money provided by the Mott Foundation, the Conservancy was able to obtain the bridge loan pending final transfer to the Township. “We’re very fortunate here as well. The Conservation Fund staff has remarked that this property is exactly the kind of project that Mott was hoping to facilitate when they created the revolving loan fund. Coastal areas and aquatic sites of great conservation value have highest priority, and when Conservation Fund officials reviewed the Crystal River project they got the loan put together in less than a week,” commented Price.
The “Oxbow Property” and the Crystal River and its associated wetlands are considered a globally rare habitat, as identified by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. While several Federal and State threatened species exist on or near the property, the “wooded dune and swale” habitat itself is considered most threatened in the state. A relic feature associated with the lowering of water levels along the Lake Michigan shoreline over the past 10,000 years the “dune and swale” areas are noted for alternating ridges and linear marshes which run parallel to the receding shoreline. the unique thing about the Crystal River area is that this is the only dune and swale complex which is associated with a river. “This small area really has it all” noted Price, “including rare habitat, incredible scenic quality, and it forms the gateway into Glen Arbor.”