Watertown Township Family Donates 62-acre Green Space

Tim and Lisa Mulder, of Watertown Township, have donated 62 acres of their 85-acre property on Forest Hill Road in DeWitt to the Mid-Michigan Land Conservancy. The couple donated the land to the Conservancy to ensure that the land will never be developed.

According to excerpts from the article:

According to the conservancy easement they signed, the Mulders retain ownership of the property, but they've given away the right to develop it for residential, commercial or industrial use, according to Paul Kindel, president of the Conservancy.

The Mulders' 62 acres, appraised at $142,000, lie next door to the 80 acres donated by 83-year-old environmental activist Gloria Miller several years ago.

Kindel loves the fact that the properties are next to each other.

"That's a step in the direction of protecting large contiguous tracts," he said. "We'd like 10,000 or more acres under protection."

Kindel's group already protects over 1,100 acres in seven counties: Clinton, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson and Shiawassee. Of those acres, 705 of those are in Ingham, Eaton and Clinton.

"People are beginning to realize this is the way to go for a sustainable environment," Kindel said.

Miller, who has no children, says she got no tax break when she signed the conservancy easement because her income is too low. But she also says "My grandma, grandpa and dad up in heaven were saying 'What the heck are you doing letting people build all over that land?'"

Environmental fever has struck other neighbors, too. Just down the road is the Civil War era home of Luke and Betsy Freund, which was razed because of a stubborn black mold problem and rebuilt with many green touches. The Freunds are also in the process of signing over land to the conservancy.

"It's not a matter of 'if,' but 'when,'" Betsy said.

Since the Freunds' land abuts the Mulders,' the protected tract will be over 200 acres.

Read the entire article here.