Field Notes Archives | ACRES Land TrustACRES Land Trust

Mimicking Succession

November 4, 2020 Field Notes, Land Management, Volunteering No Comments

ACRES protects more than natural areas. Working lands, such as agriculture fields in production, are also protected. ACRES currently protects about 500 acres of farmland, and some of this land will be restored to forest or wetland. This year, the ACRES Land Management team will use a different strategy to restore forest. A farm field ...

ACRES Research: Endangered Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake

September 24, 2020 Field Notes, Land Management, Nature & Wildlife No Comments

ACRES lets nature take its course on the preserves, with the exception of eradicating invasive species. Normally, an endangered or threatened species found on an ACRES property is recorded but not actively managed. This year ACRES is working to develop a management plan based solely around one specific, scaly species. Buzzing cicadas, croaking frogs and ...

Oak Farm & Detering Partnership: Learning Land Protection through Meaningful Work

June 2, 2020 Field Notes, Land Management, Volunteering, Your Stories 3 Comments

In a nonprofit partnership, students and staff at Oak Farm Montessori School, near Avilla, Indiana, have partnered with ACRES for the last few years. Our first collaboration, students growing seedlings for ACRES in the school’s greenhouse, quickly blossomed into more, led by Brett Bloom. by Brett Bloom I am the Ecoliteracy Coordinator at Oak Farm ...

Fighting for the Forest: Volunteers battle autumn olive on the Tom and Jane Dustin Nature Preserve

October 24, 2019 Blog, Field Notes, Land Management, Volunteering No Comments

Did you know that autumn olive was once planted by many conservationists, including Tom and Jane, to provide wildlife habitat? Today, this invasive shrub is a prime target for removal on ACRES preserves and on managed land across the U.S. Why? Because its beautiful brush (with sweetsmelling spring blooms, signature silver-backed leaves and red berries) ...

We’re so much more: seeing beyond ACRES trails

July 2, 2019 Blog, Field Notes, Land Management 2 Comments

Each time ACRES acquires a new property, we send “preserve postcards” to our members. Like birth announcements, the postcards welcome new land to our trust and thank our members for making this work possible. It’s a fun way to celebrate our newly protected places with our supporters. Recently, a few ACRES members and preserve enthusiasts ...

Trine conservation students to help ACRES manage Beechwood, engage in land ethic

February 20, 2019 Blog, Field Notes, Land Management, Volunteering No Comments

This semester, Trine University students enrolled in a Conservation course will help ACRES Land Trust as part of a land management immersion, focused on caring for the Beechwood, Foster and Majneri Nature Preserves, adjacent to Pokagon State Park. Students will work at the preserve 8-10 weeks, battling non-native invasive species, learning land management strategies and ...

Fossils: Nature’s Clues

February 1, 2019 Blog, Field Notes, Nature & Wildlife No Comments

[Editor’s note: While it may be difficult to imagine today’s snow-covered Midwest was once a shallow sea, explorers of last Saturday’s Creek Stomp – Winter Edition at Hathaway Preserve at Ross Run had the opportunity to see firsthand what ancient wonders this place holds. If you missed the event or if you did indeed stomp ...

Season send-off: summer wrap-up

September 19, 2018 Blog, Field Notes, Summer No Comments

We had a busy and delightful summer chocked full of community events, news, and happenings. Thank you for joining us. Let’s have more fun over the rest of 2018! In the meantime, here is a look back at some of the good times we had during the past warmer months. Members-Only Video Release Party In ...

Challenging Steps Stewarding Land: Walking Quog Lake with Botanist Scott Namestnik

June 18, 2018 Field Notes, Land Management No Comments

Scott Namestnik’s eagerness to explore Quog Lake last summer was quickly replaced with trepidation. “It has to be the most challenging site on which I’ve ever conducted a survey,” he said of the ACRES Land Trust property in LaGrange County. Scott Namestnik supports ACRES’ plant species inventories. He’s leading an in-the-field Plant Workshop July 12–13. ...

Land Preservation, Conservation, and Succession

March 14, 2018 Blog, Field Notes No Comments

Ecological oases are isolated postage stamps of biological richness surviving in a vast landscape of monocultures controlled by blade or plow. Photo by Jarrid Spicer As we locate and preserve these remaining oases—these hidden gems, we realize they have progressed for years through a dynamic ecosystem striving to protect itself from periodically emerging environmental impacts. ...

What the river knows: Chasing Wisdom on the Maumee

February 1, 2018 Blog, Field Notes, Your Stories No Comments

Recently, I have been telling everybody I know about the Maumee River. Among the first things I usually mention are that it sits at the center of the largest watershed in the Great Lakes region, that it drains more than 6,600 square miles of land in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan, and that it has a ...

Into the Woods | Are you ready?

August 30, 2017 Blog, Field Notes, Nature & Wildlife No Comments

Heading into the woods, wetlands or prairies for your first, or first-in-a-long-time hike? Are you wondering what to bring, wear or what you’ll see or do in an ACRES preserve? What to bring? You really only need to bring your curiosity, awe and gratitude. If you’re not feeling these attitudes, perhaps the trails will bring ...

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