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Photo by Brian Cox
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Viewing a map of the proposed layout of the Environmental Education and Passive Recreation Area in York Township's McCann Park are Joan Black of the York Township Community Environmental Action Committee, Township Trustee and Parks and Recreation Committee member John Bulmer, Greg Vaclavek of The Native Plant Nursery in Ann Arbor, and chairman of the York Township Parks and Recreation Committee Frank Stukenborg. Work on the project should be completed by next summer.
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The woodchip path winds back off of Warner Road in York Township through a thatch of forest and opens up into an expanse of sunny field ripe for learning and appreciation.
For the past two decades, the 20-acre woods and abandoned 15-acre farm field that comprise Mary McCann Park have largely remained a secret known only to nearby residents, a handful of geocaching enthusiasts and the occasional birdwatcher or butterfly lover.
That is about to change.
At least that is the hope of York Township Parks and Recreation Committee members who have invested hundreds of volunteer hours in planning and labor and thousands of dollars of grant money into an ambitious effort to convert the back portion of the park — an old farm field — into an Environmental Education and Passive Recreation Area. Instead of leaving the field unattended, committee members launched a four-year plan to divide it up into a dozen one- to two-acre demonstration lots, each featuring a different mix of native plants.
"The idea was to have a place where the individual nature lover can have various areas to walk through and where school classes and other groups can come to study plant samples that were common prior to Michigan's settlement," said John Farmer, a member of the committee.
The various plots will include an oak opening, a prairie and a restored wetlands, as well as a nut grove, a berry patch and an arboretum of native tree species. Three plots will eventually be able to demonstrate woodland succession, the process whereby forests are continually reseeding themselves.
"We want to preserve the natural environment and habitat that's here," said John Bulmer, the York Township Board representative on the Parks and Recreation Committee.
The plan calls for interpretive signage that will explain the various features of the park to visitors. Trees closest to the path's perimeter will be identified.
The committee members envision the field being used as an outdoor classroom where teachers or youth organization leaders can bring children to a teaching station near the entrance of the recreation area. The partially roofed structure is located atop a large mound that offers a panoramic view of the plots. Three rows of benches are in place to accommodate up to 30 students.
The project has been no small undertaking and has involved a wide range of organizations and volunteers.
"We've had great cooperation in putting it together," said Frank Stukenborg, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee. "We have had four Boy Scouts earn their Eagle Scout award in the last four years, and there have been hundreds of hours of volunteer work put into this."
The township partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which provided grant money to restore wetlands in the park. The committee has secured grants of nearly $12,000 from Saline Area Schools' CARES fund and $800 from the Wildflower Association of Michigan for two butterfly wildflower beds.
Other assistance has come from the township's Planning Commission and Citizens Environmental Action Committee, as well as the Washtenaw County Soil Erosion Division, the Michigan departments of Environmental Quality and Natural Resources, and the U.S. Army's Corps of Engineers.
Quite a bit of work remains to be done before the committee's vision becomes reality, but plans are to have it completed by next summer. But the committee has no plans to rest afterward.
"We try to think long term," said Stukenborg, explaining that he envisions a map of integrated trails across the township and even the county. "There are all kinds of possibilities."
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