I believe that Dr. Benjamin Vanderweide (Dr. Ben) is a major asset needed to keep Oakland Township “Rural”, as we say in our master plan, but also with restored, preserved and interconnected oak-barrens and other rare natural communities as shown on our Township Seal.  

Curamus Terram   – “We care for the land”

We must not let some other entity steal him away from us. He needs to be our sixth and final Natural Areas Stewardship Manager. But, of course, oversight of his plans and activities is required by our 20,000 community members through our elected Parks and Recreation Commission.

At the February 23^rd Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, Dr. Ben (as he is called), gave an overview of Natural Areas Stewardship accomplishments in 2021. He presented 159 slides and entertained questions at frequent intervals. Natural Areas Stewardship 2022 Update and Overview (oaklandtownship.org).

The questions resulted in some good discussions. I learned a lot, as did others. I hope this will be an annual public event from now on. One thing I learned is that Dr. Ben (as he is called) has issued a detailed Annual Report every year since 2014. These reports can be found on this page https://oaklandnaturalareas.com/about/.  Scroll down a little when you arrive at that page to see a list of links to these annual reports.  You can follow the annual progress since 2014 at your favorite park.

Apparently Parks encounters some difficulties posting on the Township website so for Stewardship activities most detailed information is seen at this website: https://oaklandnaturalareas.com/

You might also be interested in the education and experience Dr. Ben brought to Oakland Township. ths following paragraph is from the 2014 annual report:

“Dr. Benjamin VanderWeide joined Oakland Township Parks in April 2014 to lead parks Natural Areas Stewardship. Ben earned his Ph.D. in Biology from Kansas State University, focusing on how fire, grazing, and drought affect prairie vegetation, and a Bachelor’s of Science from Calvin College, with majors in Biology and Spanish, and a minor in biochemistry. Ben brings practical experience doing botanical surveys and ecological restoration in the Great Lakes region, invasive species management in Idaho with the US Forest Service, and 7 years of prescribed burning in Michigan and Kansas. His science education experience includes designing and teaching high school ecology experiments and teaching biology courses at Kansas State University. He loves to help people learn about nature in their backyards, and is excited to work in Oakland Township Parks to improve their natural areas. Ben and his wife Debbie recently moved back to the beautiful state of Michigan (he is originally from Sparta, Michigan), and now spend their time exploring the area, hiking on local trails, and enjoying the Great Lakes.”

In answer to resident Dr. Drew Moore’s questions about the future plans for the recently girdled maple trees near his home, Dr. Vanderweide said he planned to leave the large ones standing to eventually become woodpecker homes for rare woodpeckers. Any that present a hazard to trail users will be removed as a result of the annual hazardous tree survey, according to Parks and Recreation Director Mindy Milos-Dale.

Below is the table of contents for the 2020 Annual Report, showing where Stewardship efforts took place.

After this presentation, Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC) by a 5/0 vote approved his “2022 Field Work Plan”. Qualified as Dr. Ben is, his plans still must be approved by our elected Parks and Recreation Commission, who does our oversight for us. You can see the plan in the meeting packet here on pages 14-20 https://ecode360.com/documents/OA3183/public/646332345.pdf.

Commissioner Brian Blust questioned whether the public had sufficient time to review the plan and comment. The PRC consensus was that any resident concern about the plan can be addressed at any time.

Going through it you can see what is planned for your favorite park or other property. If you have any questions, Dr. Ben welcomes your phone calls at 248-651-7810.

With regard to one of my questions regarding the tree ordinance impact on Stewardship:

Counterintuitively, some of the work to restore natural habitat occasionally requires killing large maple trees to restore the rich biodiversity of the oak barrens that were here for centuries before European settlement suppressed fire. That original natural landscape is detailed in the 1816/17 initial land survey notes that are available to the public.

 Dr. Ben was told, when hired, that he was permitted to do such work under the tree ordinance exceptions 389-11 B and G.

389-11- B Conservation of natural resources. Conservation of soil, vegetation, water, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources.

389-11-G. Outdoor recreation. Outdoor recreation such as the utilization of field trails or woodlands on publicly owned property for nature study, hiking, horseback riding, trapping and hunting as otherwise legally permitted and regulated.

It was a great meeting format in that citizens were allowed to ask questions and get answers – and discuss further.

Each park has a maintenance plan. Some of these are ten years old need revision according to Dr. Ben. I will be following how that process unfolds – who approves what, when and how.

Among the 14 members of the public in attendance were  Stacy Sobotka, reporter for “The Record” newspaper; Dr. and Mrs. Moore who live in the former Bill Fox home, surrounded by Lost Lake Nature Park Expansion; Mrs. Moore’ parents, Trustee Dave Mabry, Reg Brown, Cam Mannino and others.