PICHE GRASSLANDS
THE RULES: ENTER BY FOOT TRAFFIC ONLY
Please respect our neighbors and do not trespass
NO hunting, camping, digging, dumping, fires,
littering, motorized vehicles or smoking
The Piche Grasslands are owned by the Chippewa Luce Mackinac Conservation District (CLMCD) and our hope is that they will provide our community with an opportunity to experience and learn the importance of protecting habitats. The Piche Grasslands is able to, with the help of restoration on the property, support many species of grassland birds, animals and a large variety of native vegetation.
Our Grasslands History
The Veldt Family Farm to the CLMCD Piche Grasslands
The CLMCD Piche Grasslands were formally known as the Veldt
Family Farm were the Veldt Family raised livestock and crops until
1979 when livestock feed contaminated with a toxic flame retardant,
polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), was delivered to the farm exposing
the livestock and the farmstead to the chemical.
Unfortunately the farm was ruled unsafe and acquired by the State of
Michigan in 1982. All of the contaminated livestock, soils and
buildings were removed from the site and PBB levels were reduced to
safe levels by 1988.
In 1996 the State of Michigan sold the property to CLMCD for $1 with
the clause it be maintained for public purposes. CLMCD has since
planted portions of the front 40-acre parcel with trees, but has had poor
success due to the topsoil being stripped and removed from the
property during the environmental remediation. Fortunately, the
Eastern Upper Peninsula produces bountiful cool season grasses and
wildflowers, even in disturbed nutrient poor soils making the prairie
complex we see today. The South Branch of the Whaiskey River flows
through the back 40-acre parcel and is home to a more natural setting
with more traditional pre-settlement conditions and vegetation.
Pictures from the Grasslands
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