Take a stand for the environment and observe Earth Day in Leelanau County on Friday, April 22, by attending a beach cleanup at North Bar Lake, a reading of the book “Great Lakes for Sale” at Bay Books, or the Leelanau Conservancy’s week of events.
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The Leelanau Conservancy welcomes the second annual “Fall For Leelanau” weeklong schedule.
Four miles of new mountain bike trails opened in late July at Palmer Woods Forest Reserve. And four more miles of trails are expected to open in mid to late October, thereby more than doubling the length of the current trail system, which will offer 14 miles of mountain bike trails in total.
With growing scientific confirmation of accelerating global climate change, Earth Day 2021 is more than just another Earth Day. For the first time, an American president will host an international climate summit on Earth Day to “reset” domestic and international strategies to combat alarming climate trends. While global issues will headline Earth Day events, individuals can show their stewardship in a number of ways this spring. Click here to learn how the Leelanau Conservancy, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and Sleeping Bear Surf & Kayak are observing Earth Day 2021.
On Friday afternoon and into Saturday, triathlete and Cedar resident Andy Belanger plans to run the entire length of M-22 (nearly 120 miles)—from Arcadia in Manistee County, north through Benzie and Leelanau counties, and south along West Grand Traverse Bay and into Traverse City. Belanger is raising money to support the Leelanau Conservancy.
The Leelanau Conservancy announced plans today to expand its largest natural area of over 1000 acres. With the Palmer Woods 1000-Acre Project, the Conservancy hopes to purchase 350 acres of forestland adjacent to the 721-acre Palmer Woods Forest Reserve near Glen Arbor. The Conservancy is now asking for the public’s help to raise the final $325,000 of the $3.5 million goal to purchase the property. The expansion would offer additional recreational trails, as well as add a new dimension to the property by creating a 5-mile shared border with the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. If the project is successful, Palmer Woods will eventually offer 40 miles of hiking, mountain biking, and cross-country skiing trails.
Join local foresters, certified arborists, and resource professionals for a day of planting at Ruby Ellen Farm, 5946 S. Center Highway, Traverse City, on Saturday, Oct. 12, from 9 am-12:30 pm.
In a world where florists purvey orchid corsages and online orchid vendors are legion, it’s enlightening to learn that glimpsing native wild orchids will only be on nature’s schedule. Late last year, to see some very carefully attended Showy Lady’s Slippers in full bloom, I broached the possibility of a visit to one of the Leelanau Conservancy’s northerly natural areas with Conservancy land steward Emily Douglas and volunteer Chuck Dickerson who, with his wife Janet, has been doing much to foster the orchid population there. Late this June, the “Showies” were flowering and we converged at the preserve, access to whose sensitive habitats is restricted.
Enjoy a pre-Labor Day hike with docent Dave Amos on August 31 at 10 am over fields, forest, and hills on the DeYoung farm’s uplands trail. We will look for migratory birds on the property plus wild fruit and vegetation at its most lush. Please park in the lot on Strang Road, which is about a quarter mile north of the barn. Hike will be easy to moderate and last 1.5-2 hours.
Late in June the Leelanau Conservancy closed on an 80-acre parcel adjacent to the Cedar River Preserve, growing the property to a total of 546 acres. This piece of land has been on the Conservancy’s priority list for nearly 30 years when founders Ed and Bobbie Collins first dreamt of protecting the unique, undisturbed property filled with rare plants and incredible wildlife habitat.