In February of 1994, a small group of conservationists founded HeadWaters Land Conservancy in an effort to save the unique landscapes of northeast Michigan from disappearing. They had seen the rapid pace of development in northwestern Michigan and saw this trend expanding into their region.
Between 1960 and 1990, 5,214 new second homes (with septic fields, water wells, and attendant construction impacts) were built in Roscommon County, home of the South Branch of the AuSable River. The largest increase in second homes of any county in Michigan.
In this same period of time in Crawford County, home of the famous "Holy Water" section of the main stream of the AuSable, the number of second homes increased a remarkable 360%.
The impact of this growth was compounded by the fact that these areas had little land use planning and inadequate zoning restrictions directing this growth.
In just over 14 years HeadWaters Land Conservancy has protected over 7000 acres of northern Michigan land forever, either through the donation of the land or a conservation easement on the land, placing us 3rd in the state in terms of acres protected by regional land conservancies. This is land along trout streams and inland lakes, on the shore of Lake Huron, in upland forests and wetlands, fishing and hunting camps, and family farms.
But there is still so much left to do!
This page last updated on 6/8/2008.
