Clean-up

There has been a remarkable amount of effort to remove debris from the preserve that was present when the land was purchased. In the summer of 2017, two large dumpsters filled with material were taken out. It made a tremendous aesthetic improvement.

It is now a wonderful nature walk. Many thanks to Washtenaw County Parks and Rec for their incredible work.

With that said, there are some clean-up areas that we should work on. The intent of this page is is to document the potential work needed so that resources can be efficiently prioritized.

Structures...

#1 Wooden hunting platform/blind. This blind/platform is located in the field on Spencer Road about 75 yards from the south edge of the field and about 200 yards from Spencer in one of the many overgrown rock piles in the field. It should likely be dismantled to discourage hunting.

#2 Tall hunting blind. This blind seems to be in fairly good shape looking from a distance. It is located just south of marker #9 on the edge of the woods. This should probably be taken down to discourage hunting.

#3 Slant-roof hunting blind. The hunting blind below is located on the edge of the field east of marker #8 and due south of marker #9 at the southern edge of the field. It should likely be dismantled to discourage hunting.

Debris around the red loop...

Drum with 40 gallons of oil. This drum (first pic below) is located south of the strawberry thicket at the very southern edge of the red loop, south and west of marker #2 about one-third of the distance between marker #2 and the power pole. In an attempt to roll the drum I heard liquid inside. Looking at the end (2nd pic below), I noticed what looked like oil (it was highly viscous) sloshing out of the small hole. The liquid is right at the level of the hole on the end. Given this is a 55 gallon drum, I estimate 35-40 gallons in it. I believe this has already been removed.

1" diameter power cable. This coil of industrial electric cable is immediately west of #23 Drum with 40 gallons of oil. It is heavy and has partially sunk into the muck at the edge of a small marshy area. It can be dug out with a shovel when the area becomes dryer. It likely has scrap value.

Part of a semi trailer? This is roughly 100 feet west and 75 feet south of the of marker #2, at the tree line. It is made of 1/4 inch steel, and is about 2 feet wide, 20 feet long and 1 foot deep. It appears to be part of a bed of a semi-trailer (see mud flap and reflector at lower right) and likely has scrap value. The fallen tree at left (about a foot in diameter) goes over it but can be cut with a chain saw. You will need a vehicle and a chain to pull this out along with a little more digging.

Old Bar-B-Q This is located about 50 feet west of the western leg of the red trail loop, visible as you down the hill from the trail, perhaps 200-300 feet north of marker #2. There is a fair amount of black plastic tubing in the area including a large coil (see one piece of it at bottom of pic) with most of it stuck under a fallen tree. (pic 4/17/17).

#4 Electrical Structure. This structure is about 75 feet east of the east leg of the red trail about half way between markers #2 and #3.

#5 Collapsed structure. This structure is located just south of marker #2 on the east side of the trail. There is a lot of lumber and potentially other building material here that can be removed. The area is overgrown and I have not examined it closely.

#6 Destroyed structure. This is burned and collapsed structure with a lot of construction material, especially very large sheets of crumpled aluminum and/or steel sheeting perhaps 10 feet X 10 feet in size. It is located about 100 feet west of the trail between markers #3 and #4 opposite of #37 Tire Pile.

North of the Red Loop...

#39 Small Pile of Pallets. This is about 150 feet east of marker #5.

#41 Old pile of Garbage #1. This is on the trail east from marker #8 about 100-200 feet from the opening into the Spencer field. This pile of small debris appears to have been there for a number of years.

#42 Big pile of Pallets. This is at marker #11. Since this picture was taken, two feed bags of rusted barb wire and one roll of rusted barb wire have been put on top of the lower stack of pallets.

#43 Old Pile of Garbage #2 This pile of garbage is perhaps 100 feet west, up the trail from marker #9 on the south side of the trail.

Fencing...

#7 Barbed wire, metal fence poles and cattle fence. Old fencing is present in various places in the preserve. Barbed wire is the most common.

Northern most trail. Walking from marker #10 to marker #11 on the portion of the trail heading SW, paralleling the path, and within a foot or so of the path are the remnants of a barbed wire fence on the left (south east) side of the path. Along that stretch I spotted 6 steel fence posts (there may be more) and each post had barbed wire attached to it. Although the barbed wire is predominantly covered with vegetation, its proximity to the trail makes it a higher priority.
Near marker #8 (west side). Close to the path just south of marker #8 on the west side of the trail is unmarked barbed wire fairly close to the trail running 40-50 feet west connected to trees. There isn't much and it should be fairly easy to take out. Proximity to the trail makes it a higher priority.
South boundary of Spencer field. There are a few strands of barbed wire and some metal poles that extends west-east almost the full length of the preserve boundary line from marker #8 to the field on Rushton. It isn't clear to me if it is on private property or not. It is about 30 feet off the path and is marked with pink ribbon in places so it probably isn't the highest priority. The southern boundary of the Spencer field is bounded by rusted cattle fence that should probably stay in place.
In Spencer field. Parallel to the line between markers #9 and #10, about 75 yards to the east is an old fence line with four strands of barbed wire on steel poles. Grass and trees have grown up around it. This is probably a low priority since few people will likely use this field and it will take a lot of work to pull it out. Lower priority.
Near gate. Old rusted wire and steel poles can be seen on the east side of the preserve starting at the gate and going north. It appears to be predominantly (maybe completely) cattle fence. It is very old, rusted and useless as a fence. The cattle fence doesn't appear to be nearly the safety hazard as barbed wire, but the poles perhaps could be (they are predominantly toppled and not always easy to see). Lower priority.

Around "the pit". There are rusted steel poles and rusted cattle fence around portions of the big pit (south of marker #3) that is predominantly useless. The sides of the pit are quite steep and might represent a potential safety hazard for small children, especially in the spring when it has water at the bottom. Putting in new fencing should be considered for safety reasons, especially on the eastern edge of the pit where it is very close to the trail.
- Near marker #10. Just west of marker #10 is a rusted barbed wire fence line that is near and perpendicular to the trail on the north side. It is marked with pink ribbon. The first pole or two and the wire between should be taken down since it is somewhat close to the trail. Lower priority.
- Near Spencer field on marker #8 leg. There is a run of barbed wire perpendicular to the trail from marker #8 to the Spencer field on the north side of the path maybe 200 feet from the field. Lower priority.

Electrical...

#8 Mercury Lamps and wire. The following should be removed. The mercury lamps seem all to be embedded in trees and require a hack saw to cut them off.

Looking south from marker #2, on the west side of the trail is a very large tree at the edge of the woods with a mercury light about 20 feet off the ground.
A mercury lamp on the tree next to the "swimming hole" (below the ridge about half way between marker #2 and #12 on the west side of the west red trail).
On a large tree 50 feet north east of marker #7 is a mercury lamp about 15 feet off the ground.
On a large tree near the northern edge of the red loop (just south of the deep pit) is a long strand of wire embedded in the tree perhaps 15 feet in the air. A ladder is required to get it down.

Debris near the gate...

#10 Metal shed foundation? This is about 100 feet north of the gate and perhaps 75 feet west of the trail. This is not visible from the path. It will take a fair amount of digging with a shovel to get it out, and is so old that the thinner gauge metal breaks apart under pressure. Maybe we just let it disintegrate back into the earth.

#44 "Ghost" pickup truck hunting blind. This is located about half way between markers #8 and #11. This is the back end of a pickup truck with a wooden structure build on top of it. It has been in place for quite a while since all of the trees have grown up around it. The best way to get this out appears to completely dismantle it.

#45 Old Farm Implement. This is in the field, very close to the northern property line of the park, perhaps 200 feet from Spencer Rd.

#47 Miscellaneous.

Directly south of marker #7 is a debris field of small pieces of construction material including asphalt shingles, plastic, Styrofoam and aluminum. Two larger things are here: 1) a pile of shingles is about 50 feet south of #7, and 2) an old rug and/or insulation on a mound covered with a toppled tree.
There was once a sand-floored pavilion south west of the red trail loop (west of marker #2 and east of the power pole). There is an assortment of debris mixed in the sand including asphalt shingles, wood and glass. The area is about 60 feet by 60 feet, square. The largest of the material has been cleaned-up already but it could be raked for glass.
There are large heavy steel I-beams pushed over the ridge about 100 feet north of #32 Drainage pipes, wood and tires. They are not visible from the trail and could likely be pulled out with a truck and chain. There are a couple of more I-beams about 15 feet east of #32 Drainage pipes, wood and tires with a very large rock perched on one end.
About 100 yards west of the sandy area where the pavilion once stood (at the southwest corner of the red loop) is a very large multi-stemmed tree with a hunting blind built high into it. This should be dismantled.

#11 Steel drum of cement. This is about 150 feet north of the gate and about 75 feet west of the trail. Yes, the drum is filled with cement. I can't imagine we would want to move this, but I'll record it here so we know it exists.

Debris midway between #1 and #2...

#19 Hot Water Tank This is located about 50 feet north of the east-west portion of the trail between marker #1 and #2, about 100 feet east of the western end. It is approximately 6 feet long and 3 feet in diameter. It is made of relatively light gauge steel so 2 people should be able to get this out. It will not be visible from the trail once vegetation grows in the spring.

#20 Old Culvert. You can't miss this. It is on the main trail about 3/4 of the way from marker #1 to marker #2. It appears to have once been under the path.