The Grand Traverse Conservation District (GTCD) recently received the East Creek Reserve as a donation from Rotary Camps and Services (RC&S). 

The director of the GTCD, Koffi Kpachavi says they have been managing the property prior to the donation. 

Kpachavi explains, “When the rotary decided to not own this property anymore because it didn’t make sense for their mission anymore, they said it made sense for them to give it to somebody who knows the property really well; you know, somebody who’s been maintaining the trials, the trees, and taking care of the land for such a long time.”

According to a press release from the GTCD, the conservation district had been managing the land since the late nineties; a few years after the RC&S obtained the land from Howard and Mary Edwards in 1993. 

By 2001, the conservation district and RC&S had developed a comprehensive plan for East Creek Reserve, which included resource management, land protection, and public recreation. 

Current landscape and uses

East Creek Reserve is located just 25 minutes South of Traverse City, Michigan. 

After being well maintained for decades, the GTCD press release states that the reserve includes “dense mature forests, open meadowlands and the picturesque lowlands of East Creek.”

Kpachavi says how it’s a perfect place for people to connect with nature after a long day at work. In the press release, Kpachavi calls the reserve “an extraordinary landscape that reflects the very heart of our mission.”

Kpachavi describes the GTCD’s next steps. 

“As we move forward, we will do some trailing programs, maybe add some new features to some trails, change the course, or elongate some trails. For the time being, we are working on a management plan to see what we would like to add or change to the property,” says Kpachavi.

Currently, East Creek Reserve has roughly 3.5 miles of trails open to the public. 

Hunting, fishing, and camping is not permitted on the land. 

Restore 94 is a recent Michigan Department of Transportation project that aims to rebuild nearly 13 miles of I-94.

MDOT’s Media Representative for the Metro Region, Diane Cross, says the project requires tree removal for full reconstruction of the Ecorse interchange. 

Cross explains, “Currently, traffic comes in on the left, which is very unusual and it’s a very old style. We are going to bring that up to current industry standards… That involves rebuilding I-94 through a large, wooded median near Ecorse Road.”

MDOT already owned the patch of land where these trees were located. Cross says their plan for construction is the most time and cost effective. 

There are plans to replant trees around the new roadways once construction is finished, says Cross.  

“Obviously they’re not the same mature age and probably number of what we’re removing—that is a large, wooded area that has not been touched for 50 years or so—but that is now where we’re going to move the freeway through, which will make it much safer for drivers.”

This story is part of WDET’s ongoing series, The Detroit Tree Canopy Project.

As temperatures drop and snowfall increases this winter, Detroit’s road commissioners break out their plows and salt trucks in order to maintain safe roadways. 

However, the most common road salt used, sodium chloride, has been known by experts and road commissioners to cause damage to surrounding trees.

Dr. Bert Cregg, a Michigan State University Professor in the Department of Horticulture, says that excessive usage of this road salt can lead to tree death. 

Cregg says protecting trees from salt exposure and selecting salt-tolerant species are the first steps to mitigating this issue. 

Identifying salt damage in trees 

Cregg describes salt damage occurring in two ways: acute damage and chronic damage.

Acute damage refers to when tree trunks, branches, and leaves are exposed to salt. 

“If we think about the white coat of salt that accumulates on our cars this time of year, trees and shrubs adjacent to roadways are experiencing the same thing,” says Cregg

Acute damage is the easiest to identify.

In evergreen trees, such as Michigan White Pines, salt damage causes needle browning and can lead to tree death.

In deciduous trees, such as Oak and Maple trees, salt damage commonly causes “witch’s brooms,” which is when the ends of branches repeatedly die and grow back due to salt exposure, Cregg explains. 

Because chronic injury refers to damage that we can’t see as easily, it can be trickier to identify. Chronic injury occurs when road salt leaches into the surrounding soil and creates high concentrations of sodium and chloride.

Cregg says these high concentrations “reduce the plant’s ability to take up water from the soil solution, resulting in a form of drought stress.”

How to reduce salt damage on trees: protection and selection

Cregg suggests de-icing alternatives, such as beet juice or calcium magnesium acetate, which pose less environmental risk than typical road salt.

While the simple solution seems to be for road commissioners and residents to abandon their usage of road salt, this is an unrealistic approach considering sodium chloride continues to be the most affordable and efficient option for de-icing, and given Michigan’s harsh winters, public safety is often prioritized over environmental concerns. 

Due to this limitation, Cregg emphasizes the importance of creating physical barriers, such as placing burlap wrap or canvas screens around existing trees, to protect them from excessive salt exposure.

These physical barriers would help mitigate damage from the inevitable salt splash caused by cars on the roadway. 

When planting new trees around roadways, it’s important to consider that some tree species are more sensitive to salt exposure than others.

To aid this, Cregg advises homeowners and city planners to select salt-tolerant trees to ensure they can survive in the given environment. 

“Some salt-tolerant trees for our area include Bald Cypress, Kentucky Coffeetree, Japanese Tree Lilac, Dawn Redwood, Horse Chestnut, Hackberry, and Swamp White Oak.”

This story is a part of WDET’s ongoing series, the Detroit Tree Canopy Project.