CARETAKERS - Mike Pennington, right, a statewide wetland mitigation worker for MDOT, talks about a wetland created by the organization, while Greg Eagle, a land protection specialist with the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy, listens. - Photo by Jason Ogden

Cattle company preserving land for future generations
by Jason Ogden

WHITTEMORE - A private cattle company has taken steps to preserve sensitive natural areas in Iosco and Ogemaw counties.

The Mackinac Land and Cattle Company recently concluded the third phase of donating “conservation easements” to the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy.
The organization is geared toward protecting water sources through the preservation of wetlands in the Saginaw Bay Watershed.

The company, which sits on 8,463 acres, has in total donated 852.75 acres of land to the conservancy over the last several years.

ROOKERY - Several pairs of heron nest in trees located on Mackinac Land and Cattle Company property. - Courtesy photo

This land, according to Greg Eagle, a land protection specialist, was in vital waterway areas which were already protected by the ranch under the Conservation Reserve and Enhancement Program. Under that program, the ranch voluntarily created more than 200 acres of protected land around waterways.

Now that the lands are under the care of the conservancy, they will be protected forever, he said.

The lands are covered with woods and grass land and are not accessible to cattle.

According to Eagle, the areas, known in some instances as reparian barriers, filter water and capture sediments which would normally run into waterways.

“They still own the land and pay taxes,” he said, “but we have a legal agreement with them for what they can do with the land.”

Eagle said, under the program, a survey of the area is taken. The land is rechecked on a yearly basis to make sure nothing has changed.

The agreement effectively creates a restrictive covenant on the land.

The ranch was founded in 1960 by the Pinkerton family and, according to Bob Rosenow of Whittemore Farms, the company began clearing the land of forests in the ’70s.

“They still own the land and pay taxes,” he said, “but we have a legal agreement with them for what they can do with the land.”

Eagle said, under the program, a survey of the area is taken. The land is rechecked on a yearly basis to make sure nothing has changed.

The agreement effectively creates a restrictive covenant on the land.

The ranch was founded in 1960 by the Pinkerton family and, according to Bob Rosenow of Whittemore Farms, the company began clearing the land of forests in the ’70s.

Rosenow, who runs the company and leases the land to grow crops, said the land was cleared of white pine during the lumbering era in the 1800s.

According to Rosenow, there used to be thousands of cattle, which were fed in company feedlots on the property. He said, recently, the Michigan Department of Community Health has restricted that number to 800.

“Now our focus is growing crops,” he said, “because of the challenge from government.”

Because of the restrictions, only 2,500 acres of the land are used as grazing areas.

According to Valerie Roof, the conservancy’s executive director, because there are land restrictions, the land loses value. “That value is what we get,” she said.

Eagle said, because of the conservancy’s efforts, more than 1,324 tons of silt, or soil solids, have not flowed into area streams. There are also 1.3 tons of phosphorus and three tons of nitrogen which have not gone into the water system, she said.

Those chemicals can pollute water and spur the growth of unwanted algae, Eagle said.

The company hasn’t only given land use rights to the conservancy, but has sold property to government agencies for wildlife preserves.

According to Mike Pennington, a statewide wetland mitigation worker for the Michigan Department of Transportation, a tract of land which once belonged to the company is now a thriving wetland.

The land, which was purchased from the company in 1998, is flooded and attracts many species of ducks, as well as osprey, heron and bald eagles.

According to Pennington, the idea is to have a created wetland in place before one is destroyed or taken down by a road project. He said the wetlands on the ranch were to make up for a road project on US-23 which eventually never happened.

“We’re doing our part,” he said.