The
Grand Traverse region of Michigan is something of a climactic anomaly. While it straddles the 45th parallel, the area is not dominated by the Laurentian mixed forest as one would expect. Rather, within a ten minute drive, one can find everything from true boreal forest to oak-hickory woodlands, ecosystems that would otherwise be hundreds of miles away from each other. On the Old Mission peninsula, which divides Grand Traverse Bay into two semi-fjords, orchards and grapevines are planted nearly everywhere, taking advantage of a growing season as long as can be found in New Jersey or the Ohio Valley. Seen here is a vantage point looking northwest and southwest from around the middle of the Old Mission peninsula, out on to the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay. The Leelanau peninsula is the land beyond the waters.
Conversely, around nearby Kalkaska, are extensive stands of Jack Pine (Pinus Banksiana), Balsam Fir (Abies Balsamea), and Black Spruce (Picea Mariana), a boreal mixture one would expect to find in the Hudson Bay lowlands, not the lower peninsula of Michigan. Lake Michigan is a very powerful factor in the local weather masses, able to moderate the shoreline regions, such as those pictured above, and cool the inland areas almost to a subarctic chill during winter months. The result is a rich wine-producing region set in a northern landscape.
Brent,
ReplyDeleteYour love of the region is evident in that you are taking the time to share such great information with your readers! My work through ECO-Tours of Wisconsin has led me to a similar respect for the region that I have spent most of my life in, just across the pond.
My aunt is a landscaping Goddess who live near Grand Rapids. She became interested in permaculture years ago and has helped to jump start our permaculture management here in Green Bay. Creating a culture of sustainability requires the type and kind of sharing that you provide people through your blog.
Thank-you!
Tony C. Saladino
Director-ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc.
Thanks! It's good to see your blog getting off the ground as well.
ReplyDeleteI recently cam across a to-do-list that said to return an e-mail from five years ago. In the time between our last contact, ECO-tours of Wisconsin, the not-for-profit my wife and I started has planted hundreds more trees and planted millions more tree seeds! Millions of people are making much better decisions and the positive changes are palpable! Back in 1987, thirty years ago next month, I struck out on a bicycle trip around all five Great Lakes. I went to share solutions to ecological problems and what I had learned about living a higher quality of life while saving energy, resources and money. We old hippies have always known that our revolution would never be televised and the media is still hiding the truth from us, but change is the new norm. People everywhere are not only aware of the art and science of living lightly on the planet, but are doing things about it! We are all seeing that the emperor wears no clothes. People everywhere are learning to emulate the giving and abundant qualities of Mother Nature. In honor of this giving nature, I wanted to tell you about a few great not-for-profits that I have learned about. If you feel enough abundance that you want to share there are some groups that might help share your growing and positive energy. Kiva.org offers micro-loans in third world nature to help transform the lives of recipients. charitywater.org creates efficient infrastructure to save communities from impure water and from having to haul polluted surface water long distances for cooking and washing. These are global scale issues that we have to attend to in our "thinking globally" for more local focus, grow-it-forward.org in Manitowoc, Wisconsin provides community members garden space to help heal the community with healthy fresh grown produce right in the heart of the city! Our soil healing program overlaps with theirs and as more and more people learn to create abundance, nature expresses itself through we humans. Thank-you for your efforts!
ReplyDeleteBlessed Be and may your path be strewn with abundance!
Tony C. Saladino, director/guide ecotoursofwisconsin.org