We are happy to announce that your generous donations have resulted in the acquisition of 25 acres, to be designated as the Peter and Gwyneth Schroeder Tract, and identified in the map above as the Smith Parcel, its former name. 

Members of the Haehnle Sanctuary Land Acquisition Subcommittee – Ron Hoffman, Lathe Claflin and Gary Siegrist – spearheaded this effort. Besides numerous meetings, phone calls and emails with the owner, appropriate officials, and the property’s neighbors, they also did an environmental study. They found that historically, the seven upland acres of this property have been used as cropland. The remaining thirteen are wetlands and seven are lake bottom. 

No chemicals or spills have occurred on this land. Cottonwood, willows and silky dogwood are found in the wooded wetland and sedges and cattails are found in the emergent marsh. 

The cropland segment can be planted to native grasses. This will provide more habitat for endangered grassland birds who prefer large areas for nesting. The purchase of this parcel also protects the wetland and maintains the natural water level in Eagle Lake. 

On August 15th, 2018, Gary Siegrist and Ron Hoffman of Haehnle Sanctuary and Heather Good, Executive Director of Michigan Audubon Society, met with George Smith, the landowner. The parcel was signed over to MAS for $90,000 plus title insurance, prorated taxes, etc. This brought the total to $91,435.65, excluding MA's attorney fees. 

This was made possible by the generosity of the various organizations and individuals listed below: 

Anonymous, Doris Applebaum, Elizabeth Bishop, Gary Childs, Judith Cory, Richard Hansen, Joan & Ron Hoffman, Melanie & Wallace Hopp, William Hudson, Jackson Audubon Society, Steve Jerant, Barbara Ketchum, Micky Kress, Bob Ochs, John & Fran Parker, Helena Robinovitz, Patty Schmidt, Gary Siegrist, Charity Steere, Marc Vadnais, Catherine Whitney, John A. Woollam, and Hugh Zernickow. 

While many of these individuals have donated in the past, John and Cyndi Woollam were exceptionally generous this time. In return, the Woollams asked to name the parcel The Peter and Gwyneth Schroeder Tract in honor of John’s university physics teacher and life-long mentor, Dr. Peter Schroeder. John wrote the following: 

“I was Peter Schroeder’s graduate student from 1961 to February 1967. He was more of a mentor than a boss, a leadership style I adopted for my career and personal life. He gave his students freedom to discover on their own, and to be awed by the secrets they found in the world of physics….Only long after graduating and well into a career, did I learn of Peter and Gwyneth’s deep love of nature and their desires for preservation of the environment…. This Peter and Gwyneth Schroeder Tract is dedicated to their life-time interest in nature and its conservation, including their love of birds and flowers and the habitats where they live.” 

The public dedication of this new acquisition was Saturday, October 27th at 4 p.m.

at the kiosk overlook at Haehnle Sanctuary. 

(Article by Helena Robinovitz)