• 800-232-LOWE (5693)
  • info@lowe.org
  • 58220 Decatur Road Cassopolis, MI 49031
Land Stewardship

Land Stewardship

[vc_row parallax=”content-moving” parallax_image=”23846″ parallax_speed_bg=”1.2″ css=”.vc_custom_1511960348387{margin-top: -55px !important;padding-top: 10% !important;padding-bottom: 10% !important;}”][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow” el_width=”40″][vc_custom_heading text=”Environmental mission” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:center|color:%2360320a” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1512399369220{margin-top: -25px !important;}”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://vimeo.com/212596288″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1511960763786{margin-top: -11px !important;}”]

Dan Wyant, President and Chief Operating Officer

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1512399301129{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1511960699623{padding-right: 15px !important;padding-left: 15px !important;}”]In addition to supporting entrepreneurship, the Edward Lowe Foundation has a mission of environmental stewardship, reflecting Ed Lowe’s great love and respect for the land.

Big Rock Valley (BRV), the foundation’s headquarters, draws its name from the large number of boulders left by receding Ice Age glaciers. The property began with a 160-acre parcel that Ed Lowe purchased in 1964, and today BRV comprises 2,000 acres of woodland, farmland, wetland and prairie.

Because of its different landscapes and ecosystems, BRV has a wide variety of flora and fauna. Indeed, species inventories show that BRV is home to more than 700 plant varieties, 100 bird species and 30 varieties of amphibians and reptiles. “Nurturing these diverse native populations is one of our main priorities — with particular attention given to threatened and endangered species,” says Mike McCuistion, the foundation’s vice president of physical resources.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row video_bg=”yes” video_bg_url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTcJrG4Ez48″ video_bg_parallax=”content-moving” parallax_speed_video=”1.4″ css=”.vc_custom_1511957542304{margin-top: 25px !important;padding-top: 10% !important;padding-bottom: 10% !important;}”][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1512400413076{margin-top: 25px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”15848″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][vc_custom_heading text=”Woodlands” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:center|color:%2360320a” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1511957021603{margin-top: -35px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1512400535211{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”]BRV has about 700 acres of woodlands, comprised of maple, beech, oak, hickory and black cherry and other varieties of northern mixed hardwoods. Although the woodlands are primarily managed for diversity and sustainability, about 100 acres are dedicated to old-growth woodlands.

Read more…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”24019″ img_size=”full” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d” css=”.vc_custom_1512400619835{margin-top: -30px !important;}”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”15836″ img_size=”600×400″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][vc_custom_heading text=”Wetlands” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:center|color:%2360320a” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1511957229476{margin-top: -35px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1512400585394{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”]BRV features about 500 acres of wetlands, which includes a 10-acre lake, ponds, streams,  calcareous fens and a lakeside fen, and marshes. The area’s many natural springs provide abundant water flow to these wetland areas, ensuring an influx of fresh nutrients and a healthy ecosystem.

Read more…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator style=”shadow” el_width=”70″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”15867″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][vc_custom_heading text=”Grasslands” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:center|color:%2360320a” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1511957102130{margin-top: -35px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1512401139002{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”]Prairies were once widespread in southern Michigan until the 1800s when European settlers converted this ecosystem to agricultural land. Experimental patches of prairie grasses were started at BRV in 1994, and today the foundation has about 200 acres of prairie land, with about 100 different species of grasses and flowering plants.

Read more…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”15836″ img_size=”600×400″ alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][vc_custom_heading text=”Research projects at BRV” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:center|color:%2360320a” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1511961276472{margin-top: -35px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1512401282939{border-right-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;border-left-color: #f4f4f4 !important;border-left-style: solid !important;border-right-color: #f4f4f4 !important;border-right-style: solid !important;}”]In addition to its own land stewardship initiatives, the foundation also makes BRV available to academic researchers and environmental organizations.

Read more…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”24025″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_3d”][vc_custom_heading text=”Habitat enhancements” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:center|color:%2360320a” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1511961181982{margin-top: -35px !important;}”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1512401251618{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 12% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”]Maintaining BRV’s biodiversity calls for a number of habitat enhancement initiatives, including prescribed burns, which prevent savanna, prairies and even wetlands from reverting back to mixed-hardwood woodlands, which is the climax ecosystem in southwest Michigan.

Read more…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”Companion documents” i_type=”linecons” i_icon_linecons=”vc_li vc_li-note” i_color=”custom” add_icon=”true” i_custom_color=”#4f4f4f”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text][nx_table]

Document Download View
BRV Quick Facts
PDF

Web
Environmental Management at BRV
PDF

Web
Prescribed Burns
PDF

Web
Managing Old
Growth Woodlands

PDF

Web
Eastern Massasauga
Rattlesnakes

PDF

Web
Prairie Grass Conservation Strips
PDF

Web
Research Projects
at BRV

PDF

Web

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Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake
Sistrurus catenatus catenatus

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_custom_heading text=”Listed species” font_container=”tag:h5|text_align:left|color:%23dd9933″ use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]BRV is home to many species that are listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern. Among these are:[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1511961912036{padding-right: 50px !important;padding-left: 50px !important;}”]

  • Cerulean warbler
  • Spotted turtle
  • Blanding’s turtle
  • Eastern box turtle
  • Golden seal
  • Ginseng
  • Showy lady slipper orchid
  • Eastern massasauga rattlesnake
  • Black rat snake
  • Cut-leaved water parsnip

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