Outdoors: Bedford Township preserve wants native plants to thrive

Jan. 19—LAMBERTVILLE — For the people in the rural neighborhood around the 22-acre property at the corner of Section Road and Whiteford Center Road, Wheeler Wildlife Preserve is a nice place to take a walk, watch for wildlife along the edge of the woods, or enjoy a lunch break while soaking in the beauty of the prairie.

For those in Monroe County, the site is one of the prized oases of green space and pockets of habitat that polka dot the Bedford Township map.

The view from 30,000 feet presents the big picture — Wheeler Preserve as an essential piece of the priceless archipelago of environmentally critical parcels that make up the remnants of the Oak Openings Region. Work will get underway soon to remove invasive species and improve public access at Wheeler, in the hopes that increased use will also mean increased awareness of the extraordinary habitats in the Oak Openings Region.

The Oak Openings landscape was created as the last of the glaciers retreated north more than 10,000 years ago, depositing massive amounts of sand along a swath of ridges and swales that runs through Monroe, Wayne, and Washtenaw counties in Michigan, and Lucas, Fulton, and Henry counties in Ohio.

The Oak Openings Region, with its oak savannas, woodlands, and wet prairies, provides a unique home to five natural plant communities that are considered globally rare. The Nature Conservancy considers the Oak Openings to be "one of the last great places" on earth, but conservationists estimate that less than one percent of the original ecosystem remains.

Pete Blank, the Oak Openings Restoration Manager for The Nature Conservancy in Ohio, said the work slated for Wheeler Preserve is part of a much wider effort to rehab and protect more than 500 acres across the greater Oak Openings Region.

"The work we have planned in Bedford Township will help restore the natural balance, and allow people to enjoy the park more," Blank said. "We want to improve the parks regionally and make improvements in the access for people to visit. One of the goals is to get a lot more people out in these areas."

The initial phase of the project at Wheeler Preserve, which is not yet underway, involves the removal of several persistent invasive species. Blank said the site is infested with autumn olive, an invasive shrub from Asia, honeysuckle, a vining plant that spreads and chokes out the competition, and Oriental bittersweet, another aggressive vine.

"If these non-native plants grow unchecked, they tend to crowd out other native plants since they grow much thicker and more dense than the natives," Blank said.

The Nature Conservancy work, funded by a Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund (SMRF) grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), will use a forestry mower and brush cutters to take out the invasives, which Blank believes dominate half of the park area.

"If we open up the wooded areas and give the native plants in the seed bank a chance, we think the natives will come back," he said, adding that the invasive species present multiple issues.

"The problem with these invasives is not just that they displace native plants, but they also create a negative ripple effect throughout the entire ecosystem," he said. "Insects are not adapted to eating these plants, so there's nothing to keep them in check. Many of these invasive plants from other continents are not host plants for our native insects."

Carol Laurie from the Bedford Township Park Commission said the property was left to the township by James and Anna Wheeler, who both taught for many years in the Bedford Public Schools system. A stone memorial marker at the preserve, which is located southwest of here, near the Toledo Suburban Airport, reflects the Wheelers' dedication to wildlife preservation.

"We want to keep it the way they wanted it, so it will be a preserve," Laurie said, adding that in order to honor the Wheelers' wishes, dogs will not be allowed in the park and there will be no hunting, fishing, or trapping permitted, and no ATV or snowmobile use.

"There is decent habitat now, and once we eliminate quite a few of the invasive species, it should upgrade the habitat that is there. People see plenty of deer out there, along with some hawks, and there were three nests in the preserve that were used by bluebirds this past year. We want to make it even more inviting for wildlife."

Laurie said that along with the removal of invasive species and the enhancement of the habitat, she also hopes to see a trail cut through the woods so visitors can enjoy more of the site. She added that the preserve could become a destination for field trips for school groups or scouts, with birders and other nature lovers also utilizing the place.

"We are really excited to see these changes and improvements come to Wheeler Preserve," said Laurie, who lives just a few minutes away from the park.

"We've been picking at this little by little, but with a limited parks budget and maintenance at other parks to take care of, there's not a lot of money left over for preserves, so this grant and the work the Nature Conservancy will do is a big help. If the invasives are removed, we're convinced the native plants will come back."

First Published January 18, 2022, 1:07pm