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March 19, 2024

2023 Annual Meeting

OCTOBER 8, 2023 @ 2:30 PM CARL T. JOHNSON HUNT & FISH CENTER 6087 M-115, CADILLAC, MI 49601 Please join us for CALC's Annual Meeting and hear what the conservancy has going on in local land preservation. This year, Ron Rademacher will be our guest speaker. Please register for this free event by emailing calc@calc-landtrust.org or call 231-775-3631. Let us know your email and how many will be attending. A reminder email will be sent prior to the event. … [Read more...]

Cadillac Area Land Conservancy installs raptor nesting platform to conserve species

To help conserve ospreys and eagles, volunteers with the nonprofit Cadillac Area Land Conservancy erected a raptor nesting platform in the marsh behind their Waldeck Island Nature Preserve on Stone Ledge Lake. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources provided the platform and guided volunteers with the installation. The idea for the platform came from lake residents who have been seeing bald eagles and ospreys. Ospreys, a fish-eating bird of prey, readily accept artificial nesting … [Read more...]

CALC Preserve in Statewide Magazine

The Michigan History July/August 2019 issue featured CALC’s own Waldeck Island Nature Preserve. The “Manny on the Move” article explores off-the-beaten-track historical sites, though we most enjoy our preserve’s natural attributes. … [Read more...]

Bear Spotted During Spring Easement Monitoring

Every year volunteers for CALC visit each property that has an easement governing it. This easement is a contract that outlines the owner’s responsibility to forsake agreed upon developmental rights. The conservancy then fulfills its contractual duties by visiting the property once a year to make sure that nothing but agreed upon development has taken place. This spring the volunteers were lucky enough to spot this bear.   … [Read more...]

Give Invasive Species the Brush Off

Thank you to the Wexford Conservation District for donating two shoe brush stands to CALC! Hikers can now brush off the bottom of their shoes before and after each hike to prevent the spread of invasive plant species. An invasive species is an organism that is not native and has negative impacts on the economy, environment, or human health. To find out more, click here. These brush stands will be at the entrances of CALC’s Waldeck Island and Oliver Family Nature Preserve. … [Read more...]

Nature Lovers Grieve Loss of the Woods They Loved

Cherry Grove Township, Wexford County, experienced a huge windstorm late August 2018. Thankfully human and home damage was relatively minimal compared to the sheer number of huge old-growth trees that were felled. If you love nature and love walking in the woods, you can’t help but grieve the loss of these beautiful trees. (To get a feel for the magnitude of the devastation, it will be many years before 46 Road between 27 and 21 Roads will recover.) … [Read more...]

Carl T. Johnson Nature Preserve

The Cadillac Area Land Conservancy (CALC) now owns the 40 acres formerly owned by Carl T. Johnson on 33 Road just past Benson Road. There was a meeting at the township hall last July that explained that for healthy forests there had to be a selective timber cut that would temporarily make things look worse before it got better. Currently Cherry Grove resident, Steve Kalisz of Old School Forestry, is supervising the topwood removal. This is a labor intensive process that prevents the public … [Read more...]

Kohn Family Nature Preserve

The Cadillac Area Land Conservancy has been given another important piece of property that is now open as a public nature preserve — the Kohn Family Nature Preserve. This 22 acre area includes 4,300 feet of the Manistee River shoreline.  (The river is listed as a special, unique area in the Wexford County Master plan.)  It’s an unbroken natural area, a canoe resting place and a forested scenic backdrop for hikers using the North Country Scenic Trail.  Not only scenic, the property is a natural ha … [Read more...]

Geocaching on the CALC Preserves

What is Geocaching? Geocaching is a real world outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS enabled devices. Participants use GPS coordinates to navigate to a specific location posted on a geocaching website where they hope to find the treasure, a geocache or container. This geocache container may contain some trinket or just a log where you can sign to acknowledge that you found the location of this geocache. If you plan on taking a treasure, then you should take one along with you to leave for the … [Read more...]

Oliver Preserve Trail Taking Shape

OLIVER PRESERVE TRAIL TAKING SHAPE Thanks to board member, Dan Valley, and the Career Tech Class of Mark Johnson at the Wexford Missaukee Intermediate School District, the trail at the Oliver Preserve is starting to take shape. Near the end of May 2016 it looked like this, but was wrapped up shortly thereafter. Look for more to come on the completed project.     While you are out at the preserve, look for the three bluebird boxes to see if any have been … [Read more...]