Stories
Many landowners take great care of their woods and water. Here are a few stories of families around Michigan that intentionally manage their woods to provide clean water and quality fish habitat.
Parker VandenBerg – Looking for Solutions
Parker VandenBerg, a local high school student, went for a scenic canoe trip down the White River in Newaygo County with Mike Smalligan, a forester with the Department of Natural Resources. Parker and Mike were out to enjoy a brisk October paddle down the river to inventory disturbances in the watershed using Trout Unlimited’s new RIVERS app. RIVERS is an acronym for “River Inventory by Volunteers for Efficient Restoration Strategies.” This inventory, a team effort between Trout Unlimited and the White River Watershed Partnership, identifies potential restoration projects by recording the location of degraded habitat.
The Bigford Family – Stewards of the Pere Marquette
Tank Creek Ranch LLC is a beautiful 150-acre forest with four thousand feet of frontage along the Pere Marquette River in Lake County. Tank Creek runs through the woods just before it empties into the Pere Marquette River. Six generations of the Bigford family have lived on this land. The woods are now co-owned by Paul Bigford, his brother Doug and his son Kyle in a limited liability company.
The Krug Family
Small Forests with Big Impacts on the Rogue River
Large forests in southern Michigan are rare. A forest greater than 500 acres often indicates “unsuitable land” that was too wet, too dry or too hilly for agriculture or buildings. Urban areas and agriculture replaced most of the original forest in southern Michigan two hundred years ago, but forests near growing cities like Grand Rapids are still under threat of land use change today. However, some progressive forest owners in southern Michigan are taking steps to manage their small forests and protect the important waters that flow through them.
Sally Hightower and Linda Campbell – Stewards of the West Branch of the Tittabawassee
Sally Hightower was a new teacher with limited income in 1981 but she wanted to buy woods with a trout stream. She found forty acres on the West Branch of the Tittabawassee in northern Gladwin County for sale cheap because the previous owner had gambling debts. Sally bought the property and named it the Twisted Oak Tree Farm after the two large white oaks that twisted together as they grew. Sally’s forest is a place where you can find rare pink or yellow lady slipper flowers, catch trout on the river or just close your eyes and enjoy the sounds of nature.
The Dilley Family – Stewards of the White River
The Dilley Family owns a 100-acre forest in Newaygo County and they love the White River that runs through it. The Dilleys are the oldest family-owned Tree Farm in Michigan. The American Tree Farm System started in 1941 to show that private landowners could be good stewards of their forests with minimal government regulation of private property. Michigan joined the American Tree Farm System in 1949. Newton and Ann Dilley enrolled their beloved family forest into Tree Farm in 1954 just two years after they were married.
