Scio Township’s biggest land protection project was completed in 2008. On that day local landowner John Davenport and his cousin Charlotte Lattof signed a conservation easement to protect 173 acres of their farm property on the Township’s west side.  The property is bounded by Parker Road (the Township boundary) on the west and Marshall Road on the south.  It features over 150 acres of tillable land, along with a mature woodlot, farm buildings and two stretches of Mill Creek, which is a State of Michigan natural river.

The project was made possible through an $851,300 grant from the Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Scio Township’s 2004 land preservation millage contributed $1,332,166.  Mr. Davenport and Ms. Latoff also discounted the sale price of the development rights, with all parties forming a true partnership in the process.

This property is another addition to the scenic Parker Road corridor that includes six sizable properties spanning three townships in a six-mile stretch of road that are permanently protected with conservation easements or public ownership.  The magnificent open spaces and farmland along Parker are guaranteed to be there for future generations.

In addition to the scenic qualities, the Davenport-Lattof property is also integral to the Breuninger family dairy farm, located immediately to the south.  The Breuningers depend on the protected land to grow crops to feed to their herd.  The buildings and grounds are also used to house animals not currently being milked.  Mr. Davenport has stated that the Breuningers will be able to lease his land as long as they wish.

In January of 2010, the Township contributed supporting funds and produced the baseline documentation report for a conservation easement donation made by Mary Hathaway to Legacy Land Conservancy in Section 24 off Rose Drive east of Wagner Rd. Mrs. Hathaway and her late husband John bought the property many years ago to fend off its development. While relatively small at 4.7 acres, the entire property is covered by mature woods with spectacular Spring wildflower blooms, and a branch of Honey Creek flows through it. It is also adjacent to the Botsford property on which the Township purchased a conservation easement to protect similar quality habitat. While the Hathaway property does not have public access, the Township did negotiate a “right of first refusal” to purchase it if there is ever an offer for it to be sold outside the Hathaway family.

Scio Township’s Land Preservation Program closed on another major farmland preservation project in May of 2012. This project is near the southwestern corner of Scio Township, on the west side of Strieter Road north of Scio Church Road. It consists of prime agricultural soils, a riparian corridor along Frey-Fitzsimmons Creek and a series of ponds and adjacent wetlands. The property is near the Schneider property protected in 2010 and is in the heart of Scio Township’s priority area for agricultural preservation. The property was owned by Jerry and Ruthann Helmer, who bought it as an investment in 1992. The Helmers had been renting the land to a local farmer and later sold it to that farmer. The property is 136.7 acres in size.

Scio Township purchased a conservation easement on the property, allowing for agricultural use and protection of its natural resources while prohibiting residential development. The project was assisted by grants totaling $355,400 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program. Scio Township’s land preservation millage contributed $504,600. The Helmers discounted the sale price so the Township’s share of the purchase price was 58 percent of appraised value.

A conservation easement protecting the 23 acres of woods on the Parker farm in Section 30 was donated to Legacy Land Conservancy in October 2007. This easement covers a part of the woods on the east side of the farm.  The Parkers wanted to ensure the entire farm—which has been in the family since 1836—was protected. Legacy Land Conservancy approached the Scio Land Preservation Commission (LPC) with a request to have the costs of appraisal, baseline documentation, and closing covered by Township millage funds, which the Board of Trustees approved.  The Parker farm, along with the adjacent farm owned by former LPC chair Bruce Manny, was the keystone for a block of protected land now totaling over 500 acres.

Scio Township closed on a major agricultural land preservation project in June, 2009, when Paul Scherdt signed a conservation easement to protect 100 acres of his farm property on the eastern outskirts of the City of Dexter.  The property is bounded by Dexter Ann Arbor Rd. and features land in hayfields along with mature woodlots, wetlands, and headwater areas for Mill Creek and Honey Creek.  The project was made possible through a $500,000 grant from the Farm and Ranchlands Protection Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Scio Township’s land preservation millage contributed $732,000. This property is another addition to the maintenance of a green corridor around Dexter.  The Scherdt farm along with other conservation easements and public lands will permanently provide open space, water quality protection, and wildlife habitat.

Scio Township’s Land Preservation Program closed on its tenth project on September 30, 2010.  This project protects the southwesternmost corner of Scio, at the intersection of Scio Church Road and Parker Road.  Many folks know that rural crossroads with a four-way stop; three of the four corners are wetlands well known as migrating and breeding bird habitat.  Two of those four are now protected (the southwestern corner in Freedom Township being the other).

This conservation easement, purchased in March of 2014, is on a 24-acre parcel owned by Tom and Ellie Moore on North Delhi Road.  Many people know the large barn marked “Meadowcroft” that the Moores have owned for over 40 years.  The barn dates to the 1870s and was badly damaged in the tornado that hit the nearby Village of Delhi in 1917.  It was turned 90 degrees and re-built and is now maintained for horses, while the rolling farmland is planted in hay.  The parcel is a key property in a developing string of protected lands running from Delhi Metropark east to beyond US-23.  The City of Ann Arbor Greenbelt program contributed 30 percent of the purchase price.  The Moores have long sought to protect the historic, scenic, and natural features of their property. This desire was finally realized through the conveyance of a conservation easement.

The White Farm on South Zeeb Road has been in the same family for nearly 100 years.  The farm was purchased around 1918 by Martin and Pauline Keck, German farmers who kept a number of farm animals including horses, cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens.  The conservation easement was conveyed in January, 2014 by Maria White, a descendent of the Keck family. The property is 66.25 acres and features over 1,700 feet of frontage on a busy paved road, providing outstanding scenic views to all those who pass by. Mrs. White subsequently sold the fee simple interest to a young farmer who had been working the land for a number of years.  The easement includes a four-acre building envelope in which a house and barns may be built.  The property was a high priority for agricultural preservation along Scio Township’s southern boundary.  The City of Ann Arbor Greenbelt program contributed 30 percent of the purchase price of $130,000

The Scio Township Land Preservation Program purchased a conservation easement on an organic farm: Nature and Nurture Farm. The property is located on the north side of Marshall Rd. east of Baker Rd. and features a mature oak-hickory forest, southern hardwood swamp, wetlands, two seasonal watercourses (tributaries to Mill Creek), steep slopes, scenic views from the public road, and prime and locally important agricultural soils. It was previously owned by Edwin Egeler, from a long-standing Scio Township farm family with members still living in the area. The current owners, Erica Kempter and Mike Levine, had been dreaming of creating a model sustainable agricultural operation and were searching for a property near Ann Arbor for many years.

Nature and Nurture Farm grows vegetables, fruits, and shiitake mushrooms, heirloom vegetable seeds, fruit trees, and berry bushes. On the farm and through their landscape gardening business, Nature and Nurture utilizes the concepts of ecology to restore ecological functioning and bring biodiversity back to the land including the use of native plantings, orchards, and edible forest gardens. The Washtenaw County Parks Natural Area Preservation Program contributed one-half of the purchase price of $192,000.

Scio Township purchased a conservation easement on 44 acres of farmland on the south side of Park Rd. from the Dam Tsig Foundation, which operates White Lotus Farm on Liberty Rd. The Foundation intends to lease the land to White Lotus on a long term renewable basis to continue its organic crop growing operation and begin growing hay for their goats that are milked for cheese made on Liberty.

This is the second organic farming operation that has been supported with Township resources. Funds for this purchase were provided from the federal Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (39 percent) and the Washtenaw County Natural Area Preservation Program (17 percent) as well as the Township millage.

Scio Township purchased two conservation easements totaling 67 acres from Dale and Julie Frey.  This area in the southwestern part of the Township has one of the three remaining large woodland complexes and is the headwaters area for several branches of Honey Creek, a tributary of the Huron River.  Most of the easement area has been owned by Dale’s family for over 150 years.  The easements include farm fields and woods and are located between the protected Parker farm and the Township’s West Scio Preserve in an area of contiguous protected land totaling over 500 acres.  The Freys also graciously conveyed an access easement along the boundary of part of the conservation easement land to provide a connection between the Township’s Wild Preserve and the West Scio Preserve.  The purchases were funded entirely by the Township’s dedicated land preservation millage.