4 Bears Adventures

03/12/2023

Stewardship day with Chikaming Open Lands @ Sugarwood Forest Preserve in Three Oaks, MI!
We worked on removing 2 invasive plant species from the preserve, the multiflora rose and honeysuckle bush. The Multiflora rose, once used for erosion control and “living fences,” this fast-spreading shrub now inhabits pastures, old fields, roadsides, forests, streambanks, and wetlands. Multiflora rose spreads aggressively, both by rooting canes and by seeds dispersed by birds and wildlife. Dense thickets of this shrub crowd out native and more beneficial shrubs and plants and may deter native birds and other wildlife from inhabiting.
Honeysuckles replace native plants in high quality natural areas which reduces critical food resources for birds, insects, and other wildlife. Invasive honeysuckles in particular affect native ecosystems by throwing off the balance. While their flowers do provide nectar to birds and pollinating insects, and the berries are food for birds and small mammals, the foliage is unpalatable to most native insects. Songbirds especially rely on insect feed for their young to survive the growing season.
The next stewardship day is April 15th at the Merritt Family Preserve in Union Pier, MI from 10am-12pm! We will keep you posted! 💚🦊🦌🐿🦇🦨🐾🦅🦆🦉🐝🐛🦋🦗🌳🌲🌱🌾🌿🌻🌹🌷

01/24/2023

"Weko/Warren Wonder"
Weko Beach/Warren Dunes
01/23/2023

Another breath taking banger on Lake Michigan at the Weko Beach/Warren Dunes border! Southwest Michigan's sunset game is strong! It really doesn't matter what time of year, the sunsets here are always spectacular; we would venture to say some of the most beautiful on planet Earth. And they're always different. If you've seen a lot of Ryan's (Papa Bear's) photography, you know this and that beach sunsets are one of his top jams! If you only go to the beach in the summer, we would strongly encourage you to explore all the wonders it boasts year round! You always feel a little bit happier when you leave something so beautiful and majestic!

01/21/2023

Thank you Harbor Country Hikers, Chikaming Open Lands, Grace Ball, and everyone who came out for an awesome hike today at the Chris Thompson Memorial Preserve! Can't wait for the next one!

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01/21/2023

Hey friends! 👋

Join us tomorrow, Jan 21st for a hike with the Harbor Country Hikers at the Chris Thompson Memorial Preserve, courtesy of Chikaming Open Lands!

Hike starts at 2pm, and the forecast calls for 35 and mostly sunny, so it'll be a nice day for a hike!

This will be a "wilderness forensic hike", as Grace Ball, outreach coordinator for Chikaming Open Lands will help us learn how to spot and identify common clues wildlife species leave behind in the forest and fields and along the wetlands!

Sunday, January 1, 2:00pm EasternFirst Day HikeRobinson Woods and Flynn Woods PreservesThree Oaks, Mich. Join the Harbor Country Hikers for its traditional First Day Hike, led by President Pat Fish…

01/17/2023

One of Chikaming Open Lands' newest nature preserves, Burns Prairie Preserve, Galien, MI
Hike was on August 15th, 2022

Located on Mt Zion Rd just a little over a half mile South of US 12, Burns Prairie Preserve is a sanctuary for native prairie grasses, such as big bluestem and Indian grass, as well as an abundance of summer-blooming wildflowers, including black-eyed susans, echinacea, and butterfly w**d. This prairie most closely resembles a mesic (or moist) prairie, a once common feature in Michigan that is now considered critically imperiled. The preserve also features a forest area with a ravine. Chikaming Open Lands has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in the restoration and ongoing management of the property.

01/09/2023

Weko Beach
Bridgman, MI
01/09/2023

01/06/2023

Winter Wonderland
New Buffalo Beach, Michigan
02/06/2022

01/06/2023

Winter hike @ Merritt Family and Younger Family Nature Preserves, courtesy of Chikaming Open Lands
01/02/2022

These sister preserves are located on the west side of Mydra Road, north of Elm Valley Road in Three Oaks, MI. Mydra Road is a dirt road, and you just go North a couple hundred meters to where the entrance is off the side of the road. Parking is available along the road shoulder on Mydra Road.

The Merritt Family and Younger Family Preserves protect 60 acres of forest and wetland, and consist of two contiguous preserves: the 35-acre Merritt Family Preserve and the 25-acre Younger Family Preserve. Although at first glance this looks like one big, monotypic forest, it actually represents two forest types in various stages of regrowth, including a mesic (or moist) southern forest and southern hardwood swamp.
The Preserves are situated adjacent to the Chikaming Township Park and Preserve and in close proximity to several other natural areas including the Edward and Elizabeth Leonard Wildlife Preserve, the Chris Thompson Memorial Preserve, and Warren Woods State Park. Together with private properties, these undeveloped natural areas create critical continuous habitat that ecologists call corridors. Wildlife are mobile: deer, songbirds, butterflies, and even turtles have to move around to acquire resources for survival. Protecting corridors, such as this forested area along a Galien River tributary, is important for sustaining healthy wildlife populations.

01/04/2023

Foggy hike @ Hoadley Nature Trail, Three Oaks, MI
01/02/2023