04/04/2007

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
Matt McDonough says the Petobego State Game Area will grow larger with the acquisition of 42 acres of land from the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. Donough works for the conservany.

Reserve would expand under deal

BY SHERI McWHIRTER

smcwhirter@record-eagle.com

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
The Petobego State Game Area lies between U.S. 31 and Lake Michigan near the Antrim County border.

ACME — A lush and marshy chunk of protected state land in northern Grand Traverse County may expand by about 42 acres.

Petobego State Game Area along U.S. 31 has played host to Sandhill cranes, American bald eagles, Northern harriers, Caspian terns, Marsh wrens and Least bitterns, said Williamsburg resident and bird watcher Bob Carstens.

"It's a very, very special place. As a county and an area, we are very lucky to have a place like that,” he said.

Carstens is vice president of the Grand Traverse Audubon Society, which has recorded sightings of about 120 bird species at the protected state reserve. He's glad to learn public lands there may grow in a looming land deal between the state and the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.

Rolling topography there includes heavily forested hardwoods, lowland conifers and grassy openings along the western side of U.S. 31 in Acme Township, less than a mile from the Antrim County line.

"It's mixed habitat. It's got a mature dune forest with hemlock and beech predominant, and it's virtually surrounded by protected land,” said Matt McDonough, senior land protection specialist with the conservancy.

That group acquired the vacant land six years ago and always intended for it to be added to state holdings at the state game area, McDonough said.

The pending land swap with the state for a 0.26-acre parcel in Strawberry Point subdivision near Interlochen in Green Lake Township will bring the conservancy a $335,000 check from the deal.

Another 42 public acres at Petobego State Game Area will increase recreational opportunities and be forever secured from development, said Bill Schmidt, property specialist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The land transaction will be discussed at next week's meeting of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission in Lansing, and a final decision will be made by DNR Director Rebecca Humphries.