TLC SANCTUARIES
Dead End Woods Sanctuary
The Dead End Woods Sanctuary was the first preserve acquired by the TLC, in December 2008. The woods is known locally as the “dead end woods” because it is located and accessed at the end of Wilson Drive in Fort Gratiot Township. The preserve is located between Wilson Drive and Blueberry Lane to the south, State Road to the east, and Old Farm subdivision to the north.
Gerrits Sanctuary
The Gerrits Sanctuary is 38.5 acres located along the east boundary of the City of New Baltimore, only about ¾ mile north of Anchor Bay and Lake Saint Clair. The southern half of the sanctuary is a complex of mature mesic and swamp forest. The north half is old-field and the Crapaud Creek Drain runs through the north end of the preserve. Years ago, the property was part of the Gerrits family farm.
On June 28, 2010, the TLC received its third nature preserve, the 11.5-acre Hamzavi-Peltier Sanctuary in Fort Gratiot Township, Saint Clair County. The Hamzavi-Peltier Sanctuary is located a few hundred feet south of the end of West Montevista Drive, south of Metcalf Road, and along the east side of the Detroit Water Board property. The intake pipes from Lake Huron for the Detroit Water facility are very near the north property line. Also just north is the Galbraith Plant Preserve owned by the Michigan Nature Association, and four small lots north of the MNA preserve, owned by the Saint Clair County Drain Commissioner to be preserved as wetland mitigation for a future project. Although some people use the Detroit Water line property to enter the sanctuary from East Montevista Drive, the actual entrance is from North Shoreview Drive, just east of the intersection with San Juan Drive.
The Michigan Nature Association donated this small preserve to the TLC, formerly known as the Galbraith Plant Preserve, which is located only about 150 feet north of our Peltier Sanctuary. It is a tiny part of the same dune and swale forest that extends across the Peltier Sanctuary and for several miles north and south along Lake Huron. Michigan Nature Association founder, Bertha Daubendiek, established this preserve back in 1972 as a place to transplant native wildflowers from the adjacent Detroit Water Board property before the Lake Huron water intake facility was constructed. The TLC renamed the preserve in honor of Bertha Daubendiek, to “Bertha’s Haven”, borrowing part of an older name for the preserve.
The TLC purchased the old North Street general store, post office, and rail station through the Saint Clair County tax auction. This historic structure would have otherwise been demolished. The North Street station is one of only two remaining stations between Port Huron and Croswell along the old Port Huron and Northwestern Railway which opened in 1879. The main line ran from Port Huron to Saginaw, with branches to Sandusky, Port Hope, and Port Austin. The line became part of the Pere Marquette Railroad in 1889. The main structure on the North Street site probably dates back to at least 1889, but was later partially modified in the mid 1940’s to serve as a residence.
The TLC is partnering with the Clyde Historical Society to protect the structure and fundraise for restoration. We are currently restoring the exterior and plan to install signs describing the history of the site. Eventually, we would like to restore the interior, display related historical artifacts, and open it for meetings and public events.
The Loznak Sanctuary is located adjacent to an industrial area along Wills Street in Marysville, east of Busha Highway in Marysville. The sanctuary is adjacent to the old Port Huron and Detroit Railroad line with an old rail spur running through the middle of the sanctuary. It is also adjacent to approximately 26 acres of unusual ridge and swale forest with an interesting alluvial origin along the Saint Clair River dating back almost 5,000 years ago.
The Bidwell Sanctuary is one of the best examples of dune and swale forest remaining along the eastern shoreline of the Thumb. Acquisition of the Bidwell Sanctuary was a major preservation accomplishment for the TLC on behalf of the Blue Water Area. Major project funders included The Carls Foundation of Bloomfield Hills, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, the Consumers Energy Foundation, Cargill, Inc. and Cargill Salt of Saint Clair, the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, the Franklin H. and Nancy S. Moore Donor Advised Fund of the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, and SEMCO Energy Gas Company of Port Huron.
The TLC purchased the 0.45-acre Tranquil Ridge Sanctuary located along Lake George Road near the Oakland County border in Dryden Township, Lapeer County. The Sanctuary is located on top of a narrow ridge along the east edge of a huge forested valley, nearly 1 mile across and 2 miles long, with a series of lakes and wetlands at the bottom. This impressive ice-contact landscape formed as retreating glaciers left massive ice fragments across the interlobate region. These large ice blocks, surrounded by outwash deposits. melted away, leaving steep embankments around a depressions full of meltwater known as a kettle lakes.
The TLC purchased the Full Circle Sanctuary in the 2022 State land auction. The Sanctuary was formerly part of the Port Huron State Game Area and is covered by an extensive swamp forest interspersed with low upland sand ridges covered by oaks. It is also located in an area of well-document Painted Trillium occurrence, a Michigan Endangered wildflower that is now recorded only from Saint Clair County in all of Michigan.
The TLC purchased the Charles Dodge Sanctuary in the 2022 State land auction. The Sanctuary was formerly part of the Port Huron State Game Area and is covered by an extensive swamp forest interspersed with low upland sand ridges covered by a northern forest community of Red Maple, Paper Birch, and Eastern White Pine. The Sanctuary is located in an area of well-document Painted Trillium occurrence, a Michigan Endangered wildflower that is now recorded only from Saint Clair County in all of Michigan. Although this preserve is just a very small piece of the Black River valley, the TLC thought it appropriate to honor Port Huron botanist Charles K. Dodge, who over a century ago, advocated for protection of the valley as a nature reserve. Maybe this small preserve will lead to a bigger preserve but every piece of nature is now important.
With generous grant funding from The Carls Foundation and income from the sale of the M-15 commercial frontage of the Croissant property donation south of Ortonville, the TLC was able to purchase another important addition to the Southern Lake Huron Coastal Park; a 27-acre parcel on the west side of Shorewood Forrest subdivision in Fort Gratiot. The Shorewood Forrest Sanctuary is part of the broad swath of the coastal dune and swale forest along Lake Huron that the TLC has been working to protect since our formation in 2008. This unique complex of parallel sand ridges and mucky wetland swales once extended from the mouth of the Saint Clair River in Port Huron, north well into Sanilac County, and inland from Lake Huron at least 2 miles in some areas.
With generous grant funding from the Consumers Energy Foundation, the TLC was able to purchase another important addition to the Southern Lake Huron Coastal Park; the 80-acre southeast parcel along Carrigan Road, south of Shorewood Forrest subdivision in Fort Gratiot. The Shorewood Forrest Sanctuary is part of the broad swath of the coastal dune and swale forest along Lake Huron that the TLC has been working to protect since our formation in 2008. This unique complex of parallel sand ridges and mucky wetland swales once extended from the mouth of the Saint Clair River in Port Huron, north well into Sanilac County, and inland from Lake Huron at least 2 miles in some areas.
Morley Sanctuary is our new 113-acre in Bangor Township, Bay County on the north side of Bay City. It’s nestled along the south side of the Kawkawlin River, near its outlet to Saginaw Bay. The Saginaw River mouth is about 1.5 mile east. While slightly outside of the core TLC mission territory, the Morley Sanctuary is a very worthy project that called for action. The Morley Sanctuary consists of about 95 acres of imperiled lakeplain prairie along the south side of the Kawkawlin River, only a half-mile west of Saginaw Bay; one of the larger intact occurrences of lakeplain prairie that remained unprotected in the Bay City area.
The new 31.62-acre Touma Family Sanctuary is located north of Brace Road at Parker Road and is critical to connecting the north and south halves of the Southern Lake Huron Coastal Park and to routing the coastal walking trail that would connect the Shorewood Forrest sanctuaries with the Water Works Preserve and Peltier Sanctuary to the north. Without acquiring the Touma Family Sanctuary, extending the coastal trail through this area may have been impossible as the TLC had already made purchase offers on adjacent parcels to the east without success.
Our new 5-acre Cunningham Connector Sanctuary is on the south side of Carrigan Road in Fort Gratiot Township. Except for having to cross Carrigan Road, this preserve connects our 80-acre Shorewood Forrest Southeast Sanctuary with the 152-acre Fort Gratiot Park to the south. The north end of the preserve had a residence years ago which was demolished, and so was heavily impacted and of very low vegetative quality, now largely covered by invasive Reed or Phragmites. The south end of the preserve still contains intact dune and swale forest, extending south to the 40-acre pond on the Fort Gratiot Nature Park.
