MICHIGAN BOTANICAL SOCIETY

SOUTHWESTERN CHAPTER FIELD TRIP

Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve

With Brad Slaughter

Saturday July 29, 2023, 10 AM to Noon

The Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve is one of Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy’s recent acquisitions.  The 140-acre preserve features towering pine and hardwood forests as well as high overlooks and riverside paths along the Kalamazoo River.  The Kalamazoo River winds for three miles along the shores of the nature preserve, creating invaluable habitat in a corridor that connects (via the river) to the richly biodiverse 50,000-acre Allegan State Game Area.

A recent botanical survey of the future Armintrout-Milbocker Nature Preserve, conducted by Orbis Environmental Consulting, emphasized that the property’s beauty goes way beyond “good bones.” Like most West Michigan parcels, it’s been farmed and timbered in the past and suffers from the expected invasions of obnoxious plants like garlic mustard and autumn olive. But some impressively large trees somehow escaped the axe (perhaps by growing on steep slopes), including a red oak whose trunk measures 5 feet in diameter.  It’s also botanically rich, with an incredible 560 plant species calling it home – including 13 that are listed as Endangered, Threatened, or Special Concern in Michigan.

Insect repellent, sunscreen, water as well as suitable clothing are suggested.  The trip difficulty level is rated moderate.

Brad Slaughter, Botanist with Orbis Environmental Consulting, has 18 years of experience managing projects and conducting floristic inventories, vegetation sampling, surveys and mapping of rare plants, invasive plants, and plant communities, and ecological threat assessments. He has expertise in the classification and description of plant communities and is coauthor of A Field Guide to the Natural Communities of Michigan.  Brad serves on the Michigan Rare Plant Technical Advisory Committee and managed Michigan’s Natural Heritage Database of rare vascular plant element occurrences for several years.  He also coauthored the most recent iteration of Michigan’s Floristic Quality Assessment.  In addition to his extensive writings, Brad regularly delivers presentations and field trips for a variety of audiences and is an active member of the Michigan Botanical Society.

Directions from the Kalamazoo area take US 131 north toward Plainwell.  Take exit 49B (M-89 W/Allegan St.) and continue driving west on M-89 for another 12.4 miles, until you reach the city of Allegan.  Turn left (south) onto Jenner Drive at the light that’s just past the bridge over the Kalamazoo River.  Continue driving for another 0.7 miles, then turn left onto Thomas Street (just past the hospital). Go another 0.6 miles until you reach the preserve entrance and parking lot at the end of the street.  The address is 137 Thomas St, Allegan, MI 49010.