Author Archives: rbrewer

Trail through the Ott Preserve: Going out of its way to pave the esker

By rbrewer | Published: February 26, 2011

Last Saturday, I took a walk with about twenty other people at the Harvey Ott Biological Preserve. This is where the Calhoun County Trailway Alliance wants to put a 10-foot wide paved cycling trail. Tom Funke, Director of Conservation for the Michigan Audubon Society, led the excursion. MAS owns about 20 sanctuaries. Tom is a [...]

Posted in Conservation, Land Trusts (& other private land conservation), Michigan (including Kalamazoo), Plants and Plant Communities, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Ott Preserve and Attacks on Perpetuity

By rbrewer | Published: February 18, 2011

Preserved natural areas are vulnerable.  I don’t mean they’re delicate.  It’s true that some will need a particular kind of management, such as prescribed fire, and some may not tolerate a lot of human traffic, but good-sized natural areas–a few hundred acres–are often fairly robust.  They’re vulnerable not because they’re fragile, but because there are [...]

Posted in Birds, Conservation, Land Trusts (& other private land conservation), Michigan (including Kalamazoo), Plants and Plant Communities | 3 Comments

New Attack on the Harvey N. Ott Preserve, Battle Creek, MI

By rbrewer | Published: February 10, 2011

The Ott Preserve at the east edge of Battle Creek was the subject of an attack several years ago.  The 260 acres had been preserved early in the 20th century through joint efforts of local naturalists and John Harvey Kellogg.  In 1977, Calhoun County bought the preserve using money from the federal Land and Water [...]

Posted in Birds, Conservation, Land Trusts (& other private land conservation), Michigan (including Kalamazoo), Plants and Plant Communities | 2 Comments

Darwin and the Tree of Life Vs. Science Illiteracy

By rbrewer | Published: January 27, 2011

I got an email message from Barack Obama today–well, maybe not from Barack personally.  The heading of the message was, “What does your T-shirt say?” The next message in my mail box was from the Center for Inquiry, Michigan chapter, reminding me not to forget Charles Darwin’s birthday, Saturday February 12th. The Obama T-shirt is [...]

Posted in Southern Illinois Ecology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Christmas Bird Counts, Murphysboro to Kalamazoo

By rbrewer | Published: December 24, 2010

Whatever else Christmas may mean to a birder, it definitely means the Audubon Christmas bird count. The National Audubon Society sponsors a continent-wide set of local counts to be taken some time around Christmas, specifically on a single day between December 14 and January 5.   Local groups of birders count birds in circular areas 15 [...]

Posted in Birds, Michigan (including Kalamazoo), Southern Illinois Ecology | Leave a comment

Our Little House in an Unpredictable Habitat

By rbrewer | Published: November 3, 2010

When I taught ecology to biology majors and minors I would occasionally include a question on the final exam something like this:  Describe two ways in which the study of ecology could save your life. I was happy to accept answers at any level of the environment from “If I don’t build my house in [...]

Posted in Birds, Conservation, Michigan (including Kalamazoo), Plants and Plant Communities, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Rare Bird in Oshtemo

By rbrewer | Published: October 11, 2010

I became a birder the summer of my freshman year in high school, a bird-watcher a few years later, and an ornithologist a few years after that. I’d have to find my life list to tell you just when I made my last entry, but I think it was sometime toward the end of my [...]

Posted in Birds, Michigan (including Kalamazoo) | 2 Comments

The Plenteous Summer

By rbrewer | Published: August 14, 2010

When I go outside this summer I’m impressed by the amount of greenery.  I don’t have data, but it’s the greenest summer–the largest volume of foliage–I remember. This makes sense.  The limiting factors for photosynthesis, Biology 101 tells us, are temperature, light, and carbon dioxide.  Translating photosynthesis into plant growth–that is, new biomass–also involves availability [...]

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

Colony Farm Orchard: Get on the Visitors’ List ASAP

By rbrewer | Published: July 23, 2010

For 33 years, from 1977 to early 2010, the Colony Farm Orchard was protected by a restrictive covenant.  By virtue of the terms of the gift to Western Michigan University by the state of Michigan, this land was to be kept as open space for public use. Now, as can be seen, WMU is telling [...]

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

Colony Farm Orchard: A Voter’s Guide

By rbrewer | Published: July 6, 2010

I sent the following to the Kalamazoo Gazette as a Letter to the Editor.  The Gazette’s automated response told me that publication could take up to 2 months, which would be a month after the primary elections on August 3rd.  So I’m posting it here, slightly modified. To what I say in the letter, I [...]

Posted in Conservation, Michigan (including Kalamazoo), Uncategorized | 3 Comments