The North Oakland Headwaters Land Conservancy has acquired 78 acres of property for preservation – and 63 of them are in Independence and Springfield Townships.
The properties now under the stewardship of the NOHLC are: a 15-acre parcel on Rattalee Lake in Rose Township; a one-acre parcel in Independence Township; and a 62-acre preserve in Springfield Township.
The Independence Township property was deeded by the state Department of Natural Resources to the NOHLC through the Independence Township offices.
The one-acre parcel, located on Princeton near Dartmouth, is part of a wetland in the northeast corner of Independence Township. Many species have been spotted there, according to a Jan. 30 press release issued by the NOHLC, and the parcel will be available for tours in the future.
NOHLC President Bob Inskeep said he hoped tours of the property would get underway sometime in the spring, adding they would begin “once we have an idea where we can step safely without endangering the species on the parcel.”
The other local property now under the stewardship of the NOHLC is a 62-acre preserve within the new Forest Point development in Springfield Township, east of Shiawassee Lake. Developer Robert Slade of Slade Custom Homes utilized a cluster housing plan, and placed a conservation easement on the preserve.
“It’s a model that developers and the conservancy have been using more and more in Independence and Springfield townships,” Inskeep said. “Cluster housing allows a large piece of open space to be preserved.”
He believes the open space will benefit Forest Point residents in particular because they will have such a large amount of open space, and the area as a whole because Forest Point is connected to a network of protected properties along the Shiawassee River corridor.
“You provide a natural corridor for birds, animals and humans,” he said.
Under the conservation easement’s guidelines, the homeowners will own the natural preserve, but the NOHLC will hold a conservation easement on the land, preventing future development in the area.