Lead Donors
James W. Brooks & the Brooks family of Holland
The Frey Foundation
Fred & Lena Meijer
Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation
Todd & Liz Warnock
J. A. Woollam Foundation
Project Lenders
Anonymous
James W. Brooks & the Brooks family of Holland
The Conservation Fund
The Frey Foundation
Fred & Lena Meijer
J. A. Woollam Foundation
Saugatuck Harbor Documents
Visiting the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area
The best way to access the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area is to park at the City of Saugatuck's Oval Beach and walk north along the lakeshore.
Please keep in mind the following rules when visiting the property: visitors are welcome from dawn until dusk, dogs are not allowed on the property, foot traffic only (no motorized vehicles or bikes), no camping or fires.
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Protecting the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area
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In December 2011 the City of Saugatuck and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan announced that after years of negotiations, planning, and fundraising, the 173-acre Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area has successfully transferred into City ownership. Thank you to all of our members and supporters of this project. A complete press release on the December 2011 transfer of this property is available here.
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Brief overview of the multi-year process
On December 22, 2009 the Land Conservancy of West Michigan closed on the 171-acre south portion of the McClendon property (formerly known as the Denison property) adjacent to Saugatuck’s Oval Beach City Park. The next steps included raising funds from the public and creating an endowment for the care of the property.
Beginning in December 2009 the property was transferred to the City over a multi-year period as the remaining funding to support the purchase was completed. As of December 2011 the property is now 100% owned by the City of Saugatuck and is open to the public for non-motorized recreation such as hiking, birdwatching, fishing, nature study, and photography.
Following the closing on December 22, 2009 April Scholtz, LCWM Land Protection Director, takes down the private property sign and replaces it with a nature preserve sign.
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About the Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area
This magnificent dune ecosystem includes an amazing diversity of habitats and resources: 3,650 feet of Lake Michigan shoreline, populations of at least 6 rare plant and animal species including the prairie warbler (state endangered status) and Blanchard’s cricket frog (state threatened), open dunes, interdunal wetlands, natural jack pine forest, hardwood-pine dune forest, Great Lakes marsh, 4,452 feet on an oxbow lake, the south pier of the Kalamazoo River mouth, 1,650 feet of Kalamazoo River shoreline, and a historic site known as “Fishtown”.
The Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area is open to the public for non-motorized recreation such as hiking, birdwatching, fishing, nature study, and photography.
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