MONTAGUE, Mich — The Land Conservatory of West Michigan announced today the launch of a campaign to purchase 43 acres of land to add to the Flower Creek Dunes Nature Preserve. To purchase the land, the organization needs to raise $200,000.
The land is 43 acres of forested backdune habitat, and it is adjacent to the preserve. If acquired, the preserve would more than double in size.
Currently, the preserve is made up of 31 acres of Lake Michigan shoreline and dunes in northern Muskegon County. The land has been protected since 2012 and expanded in 2017.
“In 2017, the community helped us ‘double the dunes’ at Flower Creek Dunes Nature Preserve,” said Executive Director of the Land Conservancy of West Michigan Joe Engel. “Now, we are asking them to ‘back the dunes’ and protect the beautiful forest that lies beyond the preserve.”
The land is used by migrating animals like butterflies, songbirds and hawks. According to the Land Conservatory, 75% of the property is state designated as critical dunes.
“This biologically and topographically diverse property fulfills several of the Land Conservancy’s strategic conservation objectives to protect land resilient to climate change on the Lake Michigan shoreline,” said April Scholtz, land protection director at the Land Conservancy of West Michigan.
The land has been owned by Douglas Paprocki since 1994, when he purchased it with his late wife Gretchen. The couple worked with the Land Conservatory to protect the private property with a conservation easement.
Now, Paprocki wants to sell the land to the Land Conservatory as part of Flower Creek Dunes Nature Preserve.
“The addition of these backdunes would ensure that an indispensable natural connection within the landscape is protected forever,” Scholtz said.
In order to purchase the land, the Land Conservatory of West Michigan needs to raise $200,000, and the ability to purchase the land is contingent on community support.
Donations can be made here.
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