Land Management

ACRES Land Trust is seeking applications for summer land management interns, matching students with expert mentors in protecting, acquiring and managing working and natural lands. The program, in its ninth year, helps ACRES care for our growing number of permanently protected places. ACRES is seeking grant funding for the internship program. “Going to Grass Lake with …

ACRES Land Trust’s land management efforts are growing. With your support, new heavy equipment is at work in the preserves – pulverizing non-native invasive plants and boosting our restoration and enhancement work. An end-of-year match provided by The Cairn Foundation boosted fundraising efforts to pay off equipment costs and purchase a new, stronger truck to …

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 …

Land Management has been on the move this year, doing important work on several ACRES preserves. Here are some notes from the field regarding their progress at Walter H. and E. Marie Myers Nature Preserve, Pehkokia Woods and James P. Covell Nature Preserve. Many thanks to member and donor support for making these projects possible, …

Part of being responsible stewards of the land is ensuring native species have the resources to flourish. Sometimes, that means breaking out the tools and combatting non-native plants that invade the area, choking out native life. Director of Land Management Casey Jones and crew give us an update on two non-native invasive species projects going …

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 …

ACRES will soon purchase a forestry mulcher, pictured above, to “chew” or shred through dense patches of nonnative invasive shrubs and brush, instead of using hand tools to tackle these sometimes overwhelming jobs. How overwhelming? Watch this video to see a forestry mulcher in action, “eating” dense patches of overgrown Autumn Olive amid a tree planting on the Tom and Jane Dustin …

The land management crew was quieter this week, having said goodbye to our team of ever-laughing, occasionally-singing, summer interns. The team disbanded, cheerfully* returning to classrooms across the state, having gained experience they’ll not soon forget. “I think one of my most favorite things from the internship was getting to work with Purdue Fort Wayne …

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. …