Thanks for the tree information, now I already have two stops on the Lansing Big Old Tree Tour! I guess nearly every tree that the 19th century settlers could get to, they cut down. The photos of that time in all of Lower Michigan show a treeless landscape due to lumber cutting for fire wood and building, Michigan wood build all those big three decker houses you see in New England because their woods were long gone by the 19th century. My family has pictures of Long Lake [the one by Hale] where except right next to the lake there were no trees at all, it looked like somewhere else to me. The reforestation of Michigan has been happening since about the 1880's so that would make some trees that were planted by man or nature nearly 140 years old. I think in Lansing you could find a few trees that old, maybe in Scott Woods and along the Sycamore Creek/Red Cedar. I see huge oaks maples, poplars out there. There is a huge black walnut tree right next to the river trail near the bridge over the Red Cedar by Elm Street along with some really big "cottonwood" trees I think they are called, a bit farther up the trail by S Washington Ave that could be quite old. Some of the oaks in Moores Park could have been planted in the teens and 20's could be 100 years old. There are some really big ones there that stand out now that the leafs have dropped. I like to think of us kids in the 60's and even my dad in the 1920's sitting under those same trees waiting in line to go the the pool.
So it would seem that Fenner Arboretum as we called it was pretty new when I went there as a child in the 60's. It was all reforested by then, many trees were identified with little signs. There was a prairie area with Bison and a Prairie Dog colony. I use to wonder how they kept the Prairie dogs from escaping by digging under the fence. The park center building had a cool honey bee exhibit were you could see into the hive through a window, I was always impressed with that as a kid. There is a huge oak tree on one trail that could be quite old it sure is big at any rate!
Does anyone know of an original or "virgin" stand of trees in the southern lower peninsula? I know about Hartwick Pines up north.
Did some quick research for you on Michigan old-growth forests, and found out that prior to European colonization that 95% of the state was covered with forest and that despite exploitation of the environment, uncut forest and regrowths continue to cover about half the state. It's not an even distribution as I'm sure we all know. On one end of the scale, only 21% of the southern lower peninsula is covered with forests and wetlands, while 88% of the wester UP is. The most common forests are second and third-growth forests. Apparently, a lot of old pine forests were replaced with aspen and oak forests. The most common type of forests in the southern lower peninsula are something called "Southern Mesic Deciduous" or sugar maple-American beech forests. These forests are incredibly resilient so that those patches that remain apparently resemble what the state looked like pre-European settlement.
In the area, I'm not sure if they are old-growth/virgin forests, but there are two examples of which shows what they looked like if they aren't:
- Sanford Woods between Bogue and Hagadorn on the MSU campus south of the river.
- Baker Woodlot off of Farm Road at MSU.
I tried looking up if I could confirm that these are original, but found nothing. I'd kind of doubt it, though I'm sure one could contact MSU's forestry department to find out. The only sure publically accessible examples of actual old-growth forests I can find in souther lower peninsula in existence seem to be at the Price Nature Center in Saginaw.
Thanks for the great tree info., it is nice to know I am not the only tree guy around. I have not been over to Baker wood lot since I moved back, I use to go over there a lot when I went to MSU. I am not sure if there is visitor parking near by, a walk from the new gardens parking area would be doable. I want to check out the nature center in Saginaw I had not heard of that one before.
A few REOtown notes. Lansing Uniform moved out of their S Washington store over to Pennsylvania for better parking I guess they said. I think that is too bad because that shop brought a lot of people to the block. When I saw the sign announcing the River City Market I had hope that someone is opening a little grocery, but it is a "pop up" art gallery which is great but I would have liked a grocery store. It seems like Hack's Key Shop is moving into the former Lenox heating and cooling shop. I have seen their vans parked out side. Over at GM it is really great to see the employee parking lots full of cars. Also the new car lots full of Cadillac's and Camaro's. It seems like the most cars I have seen filling those lots in a long time.
The east side of US-127 between Grand River and Lake Lansing Road will finally be getting a sound wall, and the one along the west side of the freeway will be extended south by about 700 feet. Currently, the wall on the west side extend down to about where Hopkins Avenue would intersect with the freeway.
The BWL has finally announced after months of rumors and hints that they will be partnering with groSolar out of Vermont to build the state's largest solar power plant in Delta Township. It will produce at its peak 20MW of power, which will be about 20 times the size of the current largest solar array in Michigan that DTE has in Ann Arbor. Construction could begin next fall, and it sounds like this will be out in between the urban part of Delta Township and Grand Ledge around the Sundance Riding Stables.
The first parcel is 189 acres are around the Sundance Riding Stables bound by Sundance Highway to the south, Guinea Road to the east, and Nixon Road to the west (not sure of the northern boundary, but perhaps the farms, so it would take up about half of the entire township section/block. The second parcel is 102 acres immediately southwest of the Nixon Road and Sundance Highway intersection. On the 189 acre parcel, only 34 acres will be used for the solar array. On the smaller 102 acre site 75 acres will be covered. It appears that the panels on the 189 acre site will be concenrated closer to Sundance Highway, and the panels on the 102 acre site will be concentrated on Nixon Road.
To put it more simply, here is the map on page 64 of the Delta Township board meeting agenda showing the sites:
It's good to see this moving forward. I'm especially happy that they chose a location besides the old GM properties, those sites are befitting a more intense use than a solar farm.
There is an interesting article in The City Pulse about the development on E. Michigan. I am very glad to hear that they have gone back to the drawing board. It is nice to hear that the developer has listened to the concerns of the neighborhood. Like I said before build a place that people will love and it will be a success. I look forward to seeing what they have come up with.
Comments
So it would seem that Fenner Arboretum as we called it was pretty new when I went there as a child in the 60's. It was all reforested by then, many trees were identified with little signs. There was a prairie area with Bison and a Prairie Dog colony. I use to wonder how they kept the Prairie dogs from escaping by digging under the fence. The park center building had a cool honey bee exhibit were you could see into the hive through a window, I was always impressed with that as a kid. There is a huge oak tree on one trail that could be quite old it sure is big at any rate!
Does anyone know of an original or "virgin" stand of trees in the southern lower peninsula? I know about Hartwick Pines up north.
Did some quick research for you on Michigan old-growth forests, and found out that prior to European colonization that 95% of the state was covered with forest and that despite exploitation of the environment, uncut forest and regrowths continue to cover about half the state. It's not an even distribution as I'm sure we all know. On one end of the scale, only 21% of the southern lower peninsula is covered with forests and wetlands, while 88% of the wester UP is. The most common forests are second and third-growth forests. Apparently, a lot of old pine forests were replaced with aspen and oak forests. The most common type of forests in the southern lower peninsula are something called "Southern Mesic Deciduous" or sugar maple-American beech forests. These forests are incredibly resilient so that those patches that remain apparently resemble what the state looked like pre-European settlement.
In the area, I'm not sure if they are old-growth/virgin forests, but there are two examples of which shows what they looked like if they aren't:
- Sanford Woods between Bogue and Hagadorn on the MSU campus south of the river.
- Baker Woodlot off of Farm Road at MSU.
I tried looking up if I could confirm that these are original, but found nothing. I'd kind of doubt it, though I'm sure one could contact MSU's forestry department to find out. The only sure publically accessible examples of actual old-growth forests I can find in souther lower peninsula in existence seem to be at the Price Nature Center in Saginaw.
Hartwick Pines State Park - DNR
Hartwick Pines - Wikipedia
The first parcel is 189 acres are around the Sundance Riding Stables bound by Sundance Highway to the south, Guinea Road to the east, and Nixon Road to the west (not sure of the northern boundary, but perhaps the farms, so it would take up about half of the entire township section/block. The second parcel is 102 acres immediately southwest of the Nixon Road and Sundance Highway intersection. On the 189 acre parcel, only 34 acres will be used for the solar array. On the smaller 102 acre site 75 acres will be covered. It appears that the panels on the 189 acre site will be concenrated closer to Sundance Highway, and the panels on the 102 acre site will be concentrated on Nixon Road.
To put it more simply, here is the map on page 64 of the Delta Township board meeting agenda showing the sites:
http://www.deltami.gov/wp-content/uploads/minutes-agendas/Board-Agenda_2015-12-07.pdf
The Capitol View building is getting quite the facelift from Boji.
Here's what it looks like currently:
Here's what's proposed with occupancy slated for 2017: