Saturday 24 April I’m leading a field trip to the Big Island Woods, also referred to as Cooper’s Island. It’s a trip for the Kalamazoo Wild Ones chapter.
“Big Island Woods” refers to an “island” of forest in the middle of Prairie Ronde, southwest Michigan’s largest mesic (tall-grass) prairie. The village of Schoolcraft was founded just [...]
I wrote the following last night. Today, temperatures jumped into the 70s–77 as I write this at 6 PM. The forecast is for highs in the 70s and 80s for the next three days. So much for stretching out the spring.
A stretch of chilly weather, especially some cool nights below freezing, has kept spring [...]
Spring began in southwest Michigan in the past few days. One sign has been the Sandhill Cranes overhead, giving their loud rattle. They could be on their way north or they could be local birds; several pairs now nest in Kalamazoo County.
Because snow cover was so continuous, and thick, some birds that are usually here [...]
Katy and I just returned from two weeks in Costa Rica. As part of an Elderhostel–though the program is now called Exploritas–we visited five sites ranging from mangrove forest along the Pacific Coast to the rather chaparral-like vegetation called paramo around 11,000 feet above sea level on Cerro de la Muerte. Included were visits to [...]
The Kalamazoo Gazette for Sunday 14 February carried a Viewpoint I wrote which they titled WMU can keep orchard in natural state. It had been altered slightly, improving the message in some ways. Nevertheless, I prefer the version below. Posting it here may also be useful to those who missed the piece in the [...]
Beginning this weekend the Kalamazoo Nature Center will feature an art exhibition that includes images from the Colony Farm Orchard. The show, entitled “Sacred Trees,” includes prints by Ladislav R. Hanka and paintings and photography by Sniedze Rungis and Zaiga Minka Thorson. The opening is Sunday 7 February 1-3 P.M.
Lad Hanka, a Kalamazoo artist with [...]
A few days ago I received a letter from Mark Brewer (no relation), Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. A good many thousand others received the same letter, I expect. It began, Dear Richard, said 2010 is a crucial year, and asked for some money. Here is the answer I sent.
2 February 2010
Dear Mark,
I [...]
I sent a slightly different version of this essay to Western Michigan University’s student newspaper, the Western Herald on 17 January 2010 [Published 20 January with title Reps. Jones, George could have protected Colony Farm Orchard.]
The Herald correctly reported on 10 January 2010 (online, 11 January print) that Governor Granholm signed HB 5207 recently. The [...]
Just a quick update for historical purposes: Mid-afternoon on Tuesday 5 January 2010, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed HB 5207. She made no reported comment and she has made no known responses to the hundreds of letters, phone calls, emails, and Faxes opposing the bill she received over the past several months. Governor Granholm has not [...]
In the earlier version of my website, I had a page where I posted reviews of Conservancy: The Land Trust Movement In America, or links to them. The last count was a dozen. Posted here for the sake of completeness is the last one, as far as I know. It appeared in 2006, by [...]
