An Ecological Assessment of the Schaffer Property in Peninsula Township. Grand Traverse County, Michigan Documentation for a Conservation Easement

Abstract

The following inventory of the physical and ecological features of the portion of the Shaffer property on Ne-ah-ta-wanta point, Old Mission Peninsula, Grand Traverse County, Michigan was undertaken on 24 November and 2 December 1990. The inventory and documentation was undertaken for the Old Mission Conservancy at the request of Ted Bagley, and with the help and permission of the owner. The purpose of the inventory is for use in the preparation of a Conservation Easement documentation report. This property is contiguous with existing Conservation Easements granted to the Clarissa Marckwald family, and the Ne-ah-ta-wanta Resort Association. Field work for this report includes some of the herbaceous plants observed on the two contiguous easements was conducted on two occasions during August, 1990, and two occasions during August and September 1989. On each of these occasions plants were identified by sight, and specimens of difficult species were taken for more detailed identification. It should be noted that at the time the first two assessments were commissioned in late summer, many flowering plants had finished blooming. Consequently, some identifications of such species were based on vegetative parts, seeds, and in some cases the author's prior knowledge of this property in the spring. The assessment of wildlife present on the property is based upon the actual evidence observed on the site, and the author s considerable prior experience and knowledge of this area of the Old Mission Peninsula. The author has had previous experience at this site in the documentation of the Marckwald Property and the Ne-ah-ta-wanta Resort Association Conservation Easements, which are contiguous to portions of this tract.