Monthly Archives: October 2009

Save the Enchanted Forest (aka Colony Farm Orchard)!

By rbrewer | Published: October 31, 2009

About a week ago, a group of students opposing the demolition of Western Michigan University’s Enchanted Forest, invited me to one of their meetings. The Enchanted Forest is what they call the land that is sometimes known as the Colony Farm Orchard. Enchanted Forest is a much better name. This was a Thursday night and [...]

Posted in Conservation, Land Trusts (& other private land conservation), Michigan (including Kalamazoo) | Leave a comment

The Colony Farm Orchard is Not Trade Land

By rbrewer | Published: October 27, 2009

I’ve always wondered if there was one fundamental difference between conservationists and those other people whose disposition is exactly opposite–the  exploiters, polluters, clear-cutters, mountaintop blasters, and all the other ill-users and abusers of the land and waters. In recent experiences with the case of the Colony Farm Orchard, I think I have an inkling of [...]

Posted in Conservation, Land Trusts (& other private land conservation), Michigan (including Kalamazoo) | 2 Comments

Saving the Colony Farm Orchard: You don’t have to be an environmentalist

By rbrewer | Published: October 11, 2009

This is a response to an unsigned editorial published Monday 5 October 2009 in the Western Herald concerning Western Michigan University’s designs on the Colony Farm Orchard.  Since it was unsigned, it’s presumably the official position of the Herald Editorial Board.  My response was published in the Herald on Monday 12 October.  The version here [...]

Posted in Conservation, Michigan (including Kalamazoo), Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Private Options: The Leading Edge in Conservation Today

By rbrewer | Published: October 10, 2009

This review was published in 2005 as the second entry in my Land Trust Reading List on the earlier version of this website.  Slightly revised and updated, it’s republished here on the occasion of the 2009 Land Trust Alliance Rally. Private Options: Tools and Concepts for Land Conservation. Barbara Rusmore, Alexandra Swaney, and Allan D. [...]

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Is this the Last Go Round for the Colony Farm Orchard?

By rbrewer | Published: October 5, 2009

Wednesday afternoon, 30 September 2009, the Appropriations Committee of the Michigan Senate approved the bill that would eliminate the conservation restrictions contained in the original conveyance of the state-owned land called the Colony Farm Orchard to Western Michigan University.  That language is “Western Michigan University may utilize the property solely for public park, recreation, or [...]

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