About Gratiot Lake Conservancy

Stewards and Students.

The Gratiot Lake Conservancy (GLC),a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization located in Keweenaw County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, was founded in 1998 for the purpose of land conservation and education. GLC’s mission is to preserve Gratiot Lake, the land within the Gratiot Lake watershed, and to inspire informed land stewardship through education and research related to the ecology and history of the lake.

GLC provides programs for the public. We collaborate and partner with other nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions to achieve our goals.

Through educational programs and the media, the Conservancy encourages good stewardship of the watershed and an understanding and appreciation of the history, ecology, and natural beauty of the area.

The Conservancy’s Gratiot Lake Preserve is made up of over 510 acres surrounding Gratiot Lake and includes 14,000 feet of shoreline. A restored 1940's log cabin, the Noblet Field Station, is located at this sanctuary. Several miles of trail allow visitors to traverse shoreline and wooded habitat.

GLC also holds a conservation easement for the Little Gratiot River Wilderness, acting as steward to downstream ecosystems from Gratiot Lake.

GLC’s historic Bammert Farm which is comprised of 466 acres of upland forest, riparian/wetland corridors feeding into Snake Creek. It contains a mosaic of native hardwood, conifer, and mixed forests as well as a portion of a 1950’s red pine plantation. Sustainable forestry takes place here. We aim to protect the historical value of the land which was a 19th century mining-era farm, and are moving the red pine plantation areas toward a more mixed forest ecology.

Gratiot Lake Conservancy began as a 64 acre preserve centered around the Noblet Field Station on land donated as a preserve by Lizzadro Farms Inc. Soon after, Mary Lizzadro, who had grown up in Wolverine in the UP and had an abiding love for the Keweenaw, donated an additional 240 acres with 8,000 feet of shoreline to complete the original GLC preserve and to protect this resource for future generations.

Photos not identified by photographer are provided by Jim Hay, a nature photographer. Please see his website for other stunning works here.

 
Photo by Jim Hay.

Photo by Jim Hay.

Photo by Gina Nicholas.

Photo by Gina Nicholas.

 GLC later acquired Bammert Farm, a 466 acre parcel located about 2 miles from Gratiot Lake. Further generous donations of land were made in 2004, 2013, 2015, and 2018.

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