Warm greetings as we all get ready for spring!
New Community Vision (NCV) continues to make exciting progress to acquire, preserve and restore the former Timber Shores property. In April we also recognize Earth Month, a time where people around the world reflect on our relationship with nature and ways we can help protect this special corner of the planet where we live. So, over the next few weeks we will be sharing highlights with you from the valuable environmental investigation work conducted at the Timber Shores property last summer and fall.
The findings from these environmental investigations supported a federal grant application and culminated in partnership with the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa (GTB), for whom the former Timber Shores property holds deep ecological and cultural significance. In fact, historical documents from the early 1800’s refer to the area as Mashiigaki, and translations emphasize the term’s reference to the wetlands, creek, shoreline and these interconnected ecosystems.
Investigations also illuminated the special environmental impact of the property within the EPA-approved Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Plan, which designates the shoreline, creek riparian corridors, and wetlands as a “Special Critical Area”.
One of the most valuable inputs of our environmental studies was a Natural Communities Mapping by a forest biologist and botanist, Liana May of Borealis Consulting. The findings of her report will be presented in three separate blog posts/reports in emails to you and on our website. As you will see, her assessment of the Timber Shores property indicates incredible and varied habitats and its potential for restoration, finding the property to be of “significant conservation value, particularly for protections and restoration of Great Lakes shoreline communities.”
Throughout the blog posts, the landscape’s historical and current natural communities are outlined as well as an abbreviated list of native plant species. The first blogpost focuses on the wetlands on the property.
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