Through the assistance of Bill Vandercook, a Lapeer-based land conservation consultant who has worked with landowners in the region for many years, the TLC was given a generous donation of about 10 acres of property from Dr. Paul Croissant of Clarkston. Dr. Croissant was a neurological surgeon with Trinity Health in Pontiac and practiced in Oakland County since 1970. Dr. Croissant has long enjoyed the outdoors, particularly hunting, and has made several trips out West and to Africa. The Croissant Sanctuary is located just south of Ortonville along the east side of M-15 in Brandon Township, Oakland County. The property is outside of our six-county territory but not far from Lapeer County. With the donation, our intent was to sell the commercial frontage to
raise funds for other land purchases, and to preserve the remaining land with a conservation easement.

In October of 2023, the TLC sold about 2.7 acres of the M-15 commercial frontage to RBF Construction, a small commercial development company based in Flint. The income from this sale allowed us to purchase the 27-acre Shorewood Forrest Sanctuary a few months later. The 2.7 acres of M-15 frontage is covered by highly degraded woodland dominated by invasive Black Locust trees and Box-elder. The traffic on M-15 further diminishes the potential habitat quality. We were fortunate to have been acquainted with RBF Construction from wetland protection work in the area. If there is any question as to their connection with nature, consider that RBF stands for “Rather Be Fishing”.

The eastern two-thirds of the property, just over 7 acres, is preserved as the Croissant Sanctuary. It contains some natural wetland, but most of the area was excavated out decades ago for sand and is now covered largely by weedy vegetation including Eastern Cottonwood, Box-elder, and invasive Reed – Phragmites. Although it is a low quality plant community, it is a natural area none-the-less, and is somewhat buffered from M-15 traffic by distance and its location down in a small valley. Being surrounded by many residents along the north and east sides, the Croissant Sanctuary should eventually serve as a nice little preserve for the neighborhood.