|
The Conservancy began purchasing land at Ives Road Fen in Lenawee County of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula in 1987.
Wet, spring-fed fen blends into floodplain forest to create the globally significant habitat of Ives Road Fen Preserve. Fens are unusual, and increasingly rare, wetlands that receive water from underground alkaline springs rather than from precipitation.
This pure, cool water flows in rivulets under the thick grasses and sedges of the preserve, emptying into the River Raisin at its eastern edge.
The River Raisin is one of the very best warm water rivers in the state and includes 5 mussels of conservation concern.
Additionally, three of the four local communities that draw all of their drinking water from rivers are on the River Raisin downstream of Ives Road Fen Preserve.
The main threats to this preserve are invasive species such as purple loosestrife and glossy buckthorn, ditches and tile lines, and fire suppression.
Staff and our cadre of ambitious, dedicated volunteers have removed more than 2.5 million adult buckthorn stems, burned nearly 400 brush piles, spot burned 10 million buckthorn seedlings, conducted 31 prescribed burns, removed 1.5 tons of garlic mustard by hand and treated 500,000 purple loosestrife and 10,000 cattails.
To restore hydrology, we have filled one ditch and installed dams in several others, and have removed over 100 meters of tile lines.
Read More
Donate Online
|
Read about these critical conservation initiatives:
River Raisin at Ives Road Fen Preserve, Michigan, United States. Photo © Harold E. Malde.
|
Join The Nature Conservancy on
Facebook
Flickr
Twitter