Local Business and MNA Partner to Protect Rare Coastal Marsh
2011-08-19

When John Workman first encountered Michigan Nature Association founder Bertha Daubendiek, she informed him of the high quality marsh land owned by his company the Eagle Group (Eagle Alloy).

From that day forward, the Eagle Group has worked with MNA to help create a nature sanctuary protecting one of the finest examples of coastal plain marsh this side of the Atlantic Coast.

Today, the two groups announce they have finalized a land deal that unites two MNA-owned, but previously bisected, parcels of land and encompasses a larger area of coastal plain marsh near Muskegon, in exchange for lower quality land near a road which is ideal for building expansion.

The Five Lakes Muskegon sanctuary includes an extraordinary number of rare wildflowers, sedges, rushes and grasses. According to the original federal survey in 1836, the entire area was shown as one large body of water. In recent years however it shrank into smaller ponds, locally called “Five Lakes.”

Workman, co-owner and vice president of Eagle Alloy and the entire Eagle Group, says working with MNA has shown nothing but mutual benefit. And with a $10 million deal in the company's near future, he turned to MNA with a proposal to trade land.

"It's been a good partnership throughout the years," he says. "This project especially demonstrates how business and conservation groups in Michigan should work together. MNA gets a contiguous piece of high quality natural area to protect, and the Eagle Group gets to expand its operations and continue to provide local jobs. It's a win-win."

"It is imperative that we in the land trust community be able to work with companies and organizations to identify and protect the best land possible," says Garret Johnson, executive director of the MNA.

"We were fortunate to find a partner who understands conservation values and has been willing to include us in their plans for expansion," he says.

The Eagle Group, a casting manufacturer that is looking to expand and build a thermal reclamation and recoating plant (for sand recycling), has been working with MNA for decades on several different projects to identify the highest quality land to be protected and lower quality land for expansion.

The proposed deal was put to MNA members to vote on this summer after staff and volunteers surveyed the land and put together a report detailing attributes of the area.

With an overwhelming 97 percent of voters in favor of the land trade, MNA members have clearly demonstrated their willingness to work with partners like the Eagle Group to better protect special natural areas in the state.

And the partners could not be happier with the results.

"We hope to continue working with the MNA and promoting land protection for as long as we're around," says Workman.

Established in 1952, the Michigan Nature Association is a non-profit conservation organization committed to the protection and maintenance of special natural areas throughout the state. Through stewardship, MNA works to protect the rare and endangered plants and animals that reside in these areas, and promote a program of natural history and conservation education. For nearly 60 years, MNA has worked to acquire and protect more than 10,000 acres from the northern tip of the U.P. to the Indiana/Ohio border. For more information on MNA and current initiatives, visit www.michigannature.org.

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