Loznak Sanctuary
11.5 Acres
City of Marysville, Saint Clair County
Yänhdawa’ yeh de yenhta’ iyaen’ – The Prairie is Near the River – Huron-Wendat
Honoring Charles and Elizabeth Loznak
Acquired 2019 December 18
Picture
Monarch butterflies on Tall Boneset on the Loznak Sanctuary. Photo by Bill Collins.
TLC attorney Timothy Lozen, arranged donation of the Loznak Sanctuary, along with a small endowment fund, from Loznak Real Estate Enterprises, LLC. The Loznak Sanctuary honors the memory of Charles and Elizabeth Loznak. The sanctuary is located adjacent to an industrial area along Wills Street in Marysville, east of Busha Highway in Marysville. Despite the impact of previous industrial use connected with a World War II munitions factory, the Loznak Sanctuary is covered by an impressive remnant of lakeplain prairie and patches of recovering young forest interspersed with the remains of concrete foundations reminiscent of monuments. Lakeplain prairie species on the Sanctuary include Riddell’s Goldenrod, Fringed Gentian, Rough Blazingstar, Mountain-mint, Showy Goldenrod, Foxglove Beard-tongue, Nodding Ladies’- tresses, Yellow Lady-slipper orchid, Switch Grass, Three-awned Grass, and Oatgrass. A unique plant species on the Loznak Sanctuary is Tall Boneset, a relatively recent arrival from the east coast via railroads, but uncommon and not recorded any closer than Monroe County. It is apparently not native to the region, but it is not invasive and it attracts a lot of Monarch butterflies.
The Loznak 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. Historic aerial photographs and mapping show that, other than limited use of the property as part of a munitions factory, beginning and ending with World War II, the land appears to have been generally undisturbed. A 1937 aerial photograph shows the Loznak Sanctuary and vicinity was completely vacant and part of a large swath of mostly open land along the Saint Clair River which may have been farmed briefly, but more likely grazed. Similar lakeplain prairie habitat in the Marysville area, where land use was not so intensive, serves as a refuge for plants remnant of original populations that existed prior to Euro-American settlement. Michigan Threatened Sullivant’s Milkweed – Asclepias sullivantii, a rare lakeplain prairie plant found in only 8 southeast counties in Michigan, is known from several nearby locations in the Marysville area.
